Getting email marketing campaigns right |
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| Sales and Marketing | |
| Written by Paul Williams | |
| Thursday, 02 July 2009 | |
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Top tips to effective segmentation released. Sixty per cent of marketers are not making the most of email campaigns because they are still using ‘spray and pray’ tactics says email marketing specialist Emailvision. Emailvision is warning that this approach can do more harm than good as there is a high risk of irritating recipients and damaging the reputation of the company in the process.Emailvision is advocating the importance of appropriate database segmentation and campaign targeting to dramatically improve return on investment. Marketers are coming under increasing pressure to grow their databases and get their message out to as many people as possible. The most important factor however should be that emails sent out are timely, relevant and above all - wanted. To help marketers increase the chance of emails being delivered and opened by the right audience, Emailvision has put together its five top segmentation tips: 1. Start with the basics – make sure you have a ‘clean’ target list and everyone on it has agreed to receive email communication. There is no point sending unwanted mails, it’s a waste of time and money. 2. Take your time – many companies are in such a rush to gather data and build lists that they end up with missing important information making it impossible to effectively target customers. It’s imperative to gather the most relevant data such as gender specification or age, in order to accurately segment and target later on. 3. Don’t over-complicate: start with the broader categories first, relevant to your industry such as targeting by male/female. It makes a real difference and will immediately increase response rates. 4. Ask the right questions: when a customer registers or opts in to receive emails, make sure information such as age or location is gathered, this will help to target them with specific offers or information. 5. Once you’ve got it, maintain it – update databases when individuals choose to unsubscribe, this will maintain a clean list and avoid unnecessary problems. “In the current climate, companies can not afford to let potential sales drop due to an ineffective email marketing strategy that is not personalised to the needs of their customers,” said Nick Gold, UK MD at Emailvision. “The fact that so many marketers are still using a blanket approach to target customers is beyond belief, they are effectively shutting their eyes and hoping for a good result. Segmentation doesn’t have to be complicated, even differentiating by gender can have a huge impact. The process can be completely automated and is as easy as clicking the right button - as long as the database is strong. Such tactics will lead to demonstrable return on investment and ultimately have a positive influence on the bottom line.”
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