Whilst social media may proclaim to be the be all and end all of marketing tools, 95% of online consumers use email regularly in comparison to 74% using Facebook (Lacy, 2013). According to Groves (2009) email marketing is unimaginably financially savvy approach to establish and build relationships that drive business success. To delve deeper into the keys of success this blog will give marketing managers implementations as to the keys of successful email marketing strategy. Google Small Business YouTube video below highlights the ‘Do’s and Don’ts’ of email marketing, however below are the most potent within email campaigns.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9FPrwTwIXU

Creating solid content:

Personalised emails improve click-through rates, creating customised messages requires high-quality that provide value. Using a double opt-in process instead of a single, a brands email list may take longer to compile but will be cleaner and have a more engaged audience, this simple yet technique of personalising emails can help feel a greater sense of connectedness towards the brand which consequently drives loyalty (Ryan, 2017).

Decided ideal email frequency:

This process is not a one-size-fits-all, it is the involvement of segmentation; highly engaged, limited engagement and no engagement (Wallace, 2016). How often does the customer REALLY need to be contacted? 50% of customers feel emotionally unsubscribed to a brand despite being subscribed to their electronic mailing list (Chaffey, 2015). With this in mind there is a dire need to categorize mailers from those who regularly view content and those who don’t, limiting emails to those who don’t. This as a means in which to keep them on side, not losing them from mailing list.

Just visiting or here to stay?

Guests who come to the website, may choose to checkout on one singular purchase and never have a desire to return, this can therefore invite emails to be ignored or placed into the spam folder. As seen below, BuzzFeed’s successful email offering users’ content that invites images and content to attract users back to the page. This furthermore encourages users to revisit the page and in theory build brand loyalty, encouraging users to continue to involve themselves in content.

Overcoming risks:

Although ROI is high in email marketing, investment of time and steady streams of measurable results whereby they are to be nurtured over time. This can be risky to organisation as unlike online media like social networks and app launches, email marketing has no specifics to viral content, as emails are sent to specific recipients. With time and experience ROI remains easy to project and a balance rate of growth (Williamson, 2017).

References:

Chaffey, D. & Ellis-Chadwick, F. 2015, Digital marketing, Sixth edn, Pearson, Upper Saddle River.

Lacy, K. (2013) 50 Email Marketing Tips and Stats for 2014, Exact Target. 14 August 2013 [Online] <http://www.exacttarget.com/blog/50-email-marketing-tips-and-stats-for-2014/

Ryan, D. 2017, Understanding digital marketing: marketing strategies for engaging the digital generation, Fourth edn, KoganPage, London.

Wallace. M (2016) 6 keys to more effective email marketing. Marketing Land. Accessed at: https://marketingland.com/marketers-need-effective-183796

Williamson. W (2017) 8 Challenges of email marketing and how to avoid them. Accessed at: https://blog.jdrgroup.co.uk/digital-prosperity-blog/how-to-avoid-email-marketing-challenges

Email marketing can be considered an important medium utilised by organisations in order to build and maintain closer relationships (Chaffey et al, 2003). There is value in proof provided by Baggott and Sales (2007) implying email marketing builds better connections with customers.

Key factors are inclusive of:

• Personalisation 
• Click Through Rate (CTA) 
• Purchase patterns 

This blog is an exploration as to effectiveness of email strategies for businesses whom are within the retail sector, exploring the defining methods used to utilise strategy of emails.

The future of branding is personal: 

The sending of emails with the purpose of enhancing relationships of a merchant with current or previous customers encourages loyalty and repeat business (Mohammadi et al, 2013). In accordance with Bell and Francis (1995) response rates can increase sales, build loyalty, increase awareness and generate and enhance a customer profile/information database. Therefore, converting this into customers who involve themselves with email offers and conversion of click through rates have more of a likelihood of effectively involving themselves with the brand. 70% of brands still neglecting to customise their messages, furthermore giving competitive advantages to organisations whom make a choice to be more involved with customers (Madden, 2018). Sahni (2018) discovered that simply adding customers name to subject line increased the probability of recipient opening the message by 20%. Retailers can take note from that of Topshop whom puts a focus on new items with enabling customers to pinpoint ideal fits of jeans. Simple diversion makes it simple for customers to begin shopping immediately whilst viewing the emails. Talaya Waller (as seen below) demonstrates the power in which corporations and consumers can have with authentic and personal content.

Full Funnel campaign:

The basic premise of the full funnel is the process of customers entering the top and leaving after making a purchase. The funnel encourages distinction between stages of purchases, considering that by formation of a funnel customers are filtered and channelled; not every customer will follow through with purchase or in some cases remain on emailing lists.

Awareness:

Whilst constructing emails it instructs customers to be trusting with the brand, conveying engaging content instead of pushing sales. This phase is where customers find items or deals that are relevant to them.

Consideration:

This next phase is that of enticing customers into the advantages of the products in which brand has sent to them. Exciting/ colourful images as well as specific/relevant products to customers encourages enthusiasm for the products brands are wishing emailed customers to buy. Yet the advantages of email marketing are that deserted email battles can bring product back the forefront of customers minds.

Preference:

At this stage it is important to keep customers loyal to the brand/ items on offer. Stronger sales are involved, meaning that a previous purchase of an item of clothing or accessory, can then advertise another product in which has similarities e.g. a different colour.

Purchase:  

The messages that are prevailed to customers at this phase include the drive of sales. Emails call to action (CTA) making the emails more transactional and made as easy as possible. Making the conversion between the suggested products and the customers actual purchase of product, moving from engagement to purchase.

Ultimately, are they good for something? 

A study in 2012 carried out by Ellis-Chadwick, F. & Doherty, N. F, indicates a number of factors affect the effectiveness of an e-mail advertising campaign, such as the subject line, illustrations and personalisation. Thus, meaning lack of these factors can indicate an intrusion in effectiveness of campaigns, reducing the chances of customers opening emails. If email is below these standards then company loose out, as if subject line has no worth then customers are highly unlikely to read it; alternatively if there is nothing to catch customers eye, again they are unlikely to read through what the email has to offer.

However, the more prominent of critiques is the handling of GDPR. Can companies find loop holes into customers personal information as a means to exploit customers with trust? Where does this leave customers with trust in the brand? With the dust settling in terms of GDPR, companies can now disguise ‘opt-out’ tabs and furthermore continue to send emails and continue to bombard customers with potentially unwanted content. Consequently, companies handling of data can become the catalyst of both customers belief and disbelief in brand values. Martin and Murphy (2017) make is that competing on privacy is both feasible and likely to be successful under certain conditions. Moreover, hidden ‘opt-out’ can be a disadvantage as influx of emails can put customers off, thus not reading the emails and ultimately becoming a waste of resources and money.

References: 

Baggott, C & Sales,  A (2007) EMAIL MARKETING  by the NUM8ERS, How to Use the World’s Greatest Marketing Tool to Take Any Organization to the Next Level. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Bell, F. & Francis, N. (1995) Consumer Direct Mail Just How Effective is it? ESOMAR, WARC.com.

Ellis-Chadwick, F., & Doherty, N. F. (2012). Web advertising: The role of e-mail marketing. Journal of Business Research, 65(6), 843-848.

Chaffey D, Mayer R, Johnston K, Ellis-Chadwick, FE (2003) ”Business-to-Business Internet Marketing”, in Internet Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and Practice, Chaffey, D. (ed), Pearson Education – China Machine Press, Harlow, Essex.

Madden. M (2018) 5 Drip campaigns every brand needs. Accessed at:

https://blog.marketo.com/2018/07/5-drip-campaigns-every-brand-needs.html

Martin, K. D. and Murphy, P. E. (2017). ‘The role of data privacy in marketing’ Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 45(2), 135-155.   

Mohammadi. M, Malekian. K, Nosrati. M and Karimi. R (2013) ‘Email marketing as a popular type of small business advertisement: A Short review’. Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 7 (4): 786-790.

Singh. S and Sonnenburg. S (2012) Brand Performances in Social Media, Journal of Interactive Marketing, Volume 26, Issue 4, Pages 189-197.