There is no doubt that customers now seek to engage with companies through different channels and via a variety of on-line platforms. Companies must comply. However, despite the demand to interface via varying platforms, the fact is that email continues to dominate as the channel to engage customers. Email marketing still heads the list of digital channels, and companies that understand this would be able to engage better with their customers. According to a research, at least 77% customers are happy to receive marketing communications via email, post permission being sought from them. This is a whopping number and no company can afford to ignore it. What can companies do to ensure that their endeavour to engage customers through email marketing bear fruit?
Remember to have a well-structured mobile email strategy. Customers are always on the go now and want to have access to their emails and other information from wherever and whenever they want. With millions of people having access to mobile devices, using mobile email marketing would be a game changer. The content that companies send out through emails to customers must not only be readable on their mobile devices, but must also be engaging and enticing enough to make them want to read it. The content via the small screen of mobile devices must pack a punch when customers attempt to read the emails. Another research shows that at least 71% people would delete emails that either do not load properly or are tough to read. For a company to engage customers through email marketing, it must ensure that the content of the emails are easily accessible via mobile devices.
As mentioned above for email marketing to be successful, the content must be enticing. One of the top ways to do so is to send relevant and personalized content to customers. This would only possible when companies understand the target audience to whom they send out the emails. For example – sending out the latest teen trends to a middle-aged childless couple could trigger annoyance and could lead them to block out the company and their emails. To make email marketing a success, a company must focus on the value the receiver would get from the content of their messages. The ‘experience’ a company can create for the reader via their messages, would determine whether the company gets a new customer, or loses even an existing one.
To engage customers through email marketing, it is now becoming increasingly important that content should be as interactive as possible. Many companies now add videos and research shows that doing so increases ‘click rates’ by 300%! With a higher number of clicks and opening of emails, the chances of ‘conversions’ increases significantly for any company. Interactive content adds a human touch and in business, it is a known fact that the more human a company appears, the better are its chances of gaining and sustaining the attention of customers.
Share intellectual and interesting content – something for your company to be known as a subject matter expert. By doing so consistently, engaging customers becomes easier, as people tend to trust people who appear to be ‘authority’ figures on a variety of subjects. By giving customers something new and interesting on a daily basis, it is possible to sustain their curiosity and interest – they eagerly wait to read what your company has to say next. In addition, allow your readers to comment, share, and like the content your company sends to them. By doing so, they would feel important and involved in your company and over time would become engaged to the point, where they would feel responsible for the success of your company. Such engagement is not easy to get but when a company does manage to gain it, the benefits are recurring, manifold, and prove to be a competitive edge, so necessary in today’s cutthroat business environment.
To engage customers successfully via email marketing, ensure that every piece of content addresses the top reason for which customers buy. A number of studies have proved that customers buy more for emotional reasons than logical ones. To engage customers therefore, build an emotional and personal connection with them via the content your email marketing endeavours. Understand their needs and expectations and then use email marketing to display your understanding of their pain points and their current situations – the more problems your company can solve for them, the higher would the level be of engagement with the customers. It is hard work but the pay-offs of engaging and retaining customers, are high and numerous.
A willingness to invest sufficient time, effort and other resources will lead to success and an increase in engagement of the email subscribers. By making your email marketing engaging, a company would be making great use of its resources and would add value to its customers each time.