The Marketing Corner: Driving Sales Using Emails

This article explores best practices for targeting consumers using emails.
The Marketing Corner: Driving Sales Using Emails
A person on laptop in Miami, Fla. in a file photo. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
12/10/2016
Updated:
12/10/2016

Consumers receive a plethora of emails daily.

Many consumers check their email daily, if not multiple times throughout the day. And many consumers have alerts set up to notify them when a message has been received. This is due in part that many consumers have smartphones that offer such features. Smartphones are also the dominant point of entry to review emails with any other device as a distant second.

Therefore, receiving emails is not the problem. It’s expected and consumers will see the emails and many do take action. However, given the volume of emails, the problem for marketers stems from when the emails sent to consumers are not relevant or not hitting the right target.

It’s a known fact that the younger demographic is prone to react quicker than the older demographic after receiving an email. These purchases can take the form from purchasing on a company’s website, using mobile phone and/or in-store purchase. Hence, it is important that all touch-points are equally reviewed to confirm ease of transaction. Additionally, when consumers are in-store, maintain that your sales team is knowledgeable and offer superior service. Superior service goes a long way to safeguarding repeat business.

Best practices include:

  • Direct the right messages to the right target
  • Quality over quantity
  • Review your re-targeting strategy to ensure frequency is not overwhelming
  • Promotional, discount and special offers for opting in to emails should be considered to encourage and maintain your customer list
  • Smartphones are main point of entry to reviewing emails. Make sure that you optimize your campaigns for this device
  • Call-to-action should be clear as well as ensuring that the button taking the consumer to your website is immediately viewable
  • The most easily converted demographic are Millennials
  • The more affluent the target the more interested the target is in promotional and/or discounted offers

As always, email marketing is just one aspect of overall marketing plans. Be sure to that all of your marketing efforts are working together.

 Adele Lassere is a marketing/advertising consultant, freelance writer and author of “Elements of Buying” (a self-help advertising guide), available at Amazon.com. Adele was listed as Black Enterprise’s 2016 Women of Power in Advertising & Marketing and 2013 Top Women Executives in Advertising & Marketing. Contact: [email protected]