Social Media Campaign Template
How an Email Campaign Can Drive Online Purchasing
Online businesses—whether travel, retail, or service related—all have the opportunity to stay in front of past customers and attract new ones through email campaigns.
According to a study performed by Econsultancy in July 2010, “68% of consumers aged 18 – 26 use emailed coupons online.” The same study also found that “more than half of consumers (57%) appreciate receiving advertising messages if they are directly beneficial, such as receiving a discount on a product or service.”
In order for your email campaigns to be successful, you must understand the basic elements of an effective email campaign and structure. First, it’s important to understand the difference between an email campaign and an ezine, as they are not the same thing.
An email campaign only has two goals in mind: to encourage prospects to take an action—whether that action is to visit your website, learn about new products, or contact you—and to influence them to purchase a product.
Below, I have broken down the components of an email campaign so that you can create your very own sales-generating campaigns:
The Email Campaign
How do subscribers benefit from receiving my emails?
Subscribers to your list voluntarily request to receive emails from you that offer product updates, new inventory updates, free shipping, discounts, coupons, promotions, contests, free gifts, and more. When you give customers discounts on their favorite products or offer free shipping, you are providing them with a reason to look through your website to see if there is anything they need or want for which they can use their newly acquired coupon or discount.
How often should I send out company email blasts?
When sending emails to your subscribers, be sure not to inundate their inbox with junk—this often inspires customers to remove their name from a company’s list. Many companies will perform an email blast 1 – 3 times per week, depending on the promotions, coupons, and popularity of that company. You definitely don’t want to start out with this many updates per week. Rather, try sending out one per week, and analyze click-throughs throughout the month. You may decide to steadily increase the number of emails from 1 to 2 per week depending on your response rate.
What should the email look like?
Creativity is a must when it comes to effective email campaigns. Whether you want to offer a free gift or prize, inform subscribers of a sale, or offer coupons, grabbing the attention of your customers is one of the greatest obstacles you will face in your campaigns.
With that said, think about your website and blog design. Are they fresh, in line with your brand image, and engaging? If so, you’ll want to consider adding some of those design elements to the design of your email templates. Also, make sure the layout of your template is easy to navigate and fonts are legible. If your website or blog doesn’t express your brand image, don’t use those design elements in your email templates—that would simply spread an inaccurate projection of your brand even further.
What kind of content should I add to each email campaign?
Once you have the design and layout of your template created, it’s time to create some juicy content. As mentioned above, your emails should offer product updates, new inventory updates, free shipping, discounts, coupons, promotions, contests, free gifts, and more. When you provide receivers with a reason to open your message, you need to provide them with a further call to action within that email that inspires them to visit your website or participate in a free giveaway. And, the more you provide your customers with reasons to visit your website, the more likely they will be to purchase from you on a regular basis.
Also, don’t forget to add essential contact information in all of your messages. This data can be added to the template of your email. If you have social media profiles, provide subscribers with the opportunity to connect with you on these platforms by placing links to all of your active profiles. Sometimes, these subscribers might be more accessible on social media platforms as opposed to email, so providing them with that option is a great way to ensure you stay in front of them.
How do I influence customers to subscribe to my company emails?
Mention updates on social media, and say, “for more coupons and updates, subscribe to our mailing list,” and add a link that directs traffic to your email subscription page. Also, place a sign-up box on your website so that visitors always have the option to sign up for your mailing list.
Other options include adding a link to the subscription page on the footer of your blog and website. Or, place the link to your subscription page on the Thank You page that customers receive after they have made an online purchase.
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About the Author
Michelle Salater is an award-winning writer and president of Sumèr, LLC, a company which specializes in web copy writing, SEO copywriting, and the promotion and marketing of websites after they launch. As an avid business blogger, Michelle has grown her marketing blog, Copy Doodle, to be a powerful lead generation and client education tool, and frequently guest blogs and lectures on blogging. In 2009, Michelle won the Charleston Business Journal’s Forty under 40 award for her business and community leadership.
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