Email Marketing 101: Know Your Audience

I received an email marketing communication recently from a company encouraging me to turn my “passion for writing into a lucrative career.”

“Really?” I thought. Hmm. Since I’ve been a professional writer for close to 15 years, I was intrigued. Maybe the sender – a list I’ve subscribed to for about the last decade – had little-known information about how I could become an even more accomplished writer.

So, I opened it. And was immediately sorry that I did. Ineffective email marketing

“Graduating with an English degree or being a talented writer can open up new career opportunities you may have never considered.”

I have an English degree and consider myself a talented writer already. Perhaps the sender should have known these two fairly significant things about me before trying to sell me on something I already have.

Which brings me to the cardinal rule in email marketing: Know your audience.

Sure, it saves time to dump all of your subscribers into one list and blast out one email.

While it may make your marketing life easier (on the surface anyway). Distributing one piece of generic or erroneous email will do little if anything other than annoy your subscribers, causing them to unsubscribe, delete your email without opening or notify the email distribution service that your company is sending out spam.

All of these things are bad. In particular, too many spam reports can cause you to be blacklisted and revoke your right to send any type of email marketing message.

So, how can you avoid these scenarios?

  1. Separate

I suggest creating an email list of prospective customers/clients and a separate list for current customers/clients. Compile as many lists as make sense for your business or organization. Lists could be assembled based on general interests, company involvement or other factors relevant to you and your email marketing campaign.

  1. Differentiate

Be sure to send each list different content. Your current customers, for instance, don’t want to hear about a specially priced offer that does not apply to them. Current customers might benefit more from a referral email offering incentives for suggesting your services to a friend or like-minded business.

  1. Ask questions

If you’re not sure which list is best-suited for your email subscribers, you may want to consider polling people to find out what they hope to gain from your email communications. Knowing what people want from you goes a long way in meeting their expectations.

Are you confused about where to get started? Let us help you devise an email marketing strategy best-suited to your business or nonprofit organization’s needs. Call Theresa Katalinas at 215-519-8833 or email katalinascommunications@gmail.com for a free consultation.

 

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