In 2020, new marketing strategies and technologies are emerging. However, data still shows that the most tried and true means of attracting and retaining loyal customers is through email marketing. This popular trend is affordable, lucrative, and easy to set up, giving you an accessible means of growing your business. So why does your email marketing suck so bad?
It’s not your fault! Despite the average business having an impressive return on investment when it comes to email marketing, you still have to know the tricks of the trade if you want to take advantage. As with any business strategy, getting advice on the best ways to move forward (and the worst methods to avoid) is key in breeding success.
In this article, we’ll explain some of the most likely reasons why your email marketing sucks and how you can pivot your strategy to be more lucrative down the road.
Not Appreciating Your Customers
Perhaps one of the biggest mistakes you can make when it comes to email marketing is not appreciating your customers, particularly given the appreciative potential of email as a means of communication. Considering 68% of customers opt to leave a business due to perceived indifference towards them, showing them that you care could be the difference between a loyal customer and a one purchase wonder.
So how can you show your customers you appreciate them through your email marketing? There are plenty of emails you can send your customers to show that you care. From birthday celebration messages that contain coupon codes for discounted products or a recommended items notification to keep them engaged with your brand, just showing customers that you’re interested in them beyond their dollars is an invaluable tool to building a loyal customer base.
Selling Too Hard
With only 24% of sales emails being opened by customers, it can be tempting to play the numbers game by sending a lot of emails. However, email marketing is about more than just selling your products; it’s about cultivating loyal customers that will not only buy your products or services, but also spread the word about the awesome company that isn’t aggressive about selling those products or services.
The key to email marketing is diversification. Don’t only send sales emails to your customers; you can also send celebratory emails for holidays, anniversaries, and birthdays. You can send new product launch announcements or news stories about your business that make you look good. Just make sure you aren’t overloading them with sales pitches, or you’ll find yourself without a loyal customer.
Foregoing Personalization
What’s the point of utilizing email marketing if you aren’t going to personalize your customers’ experience? After all, they’re providing you with their name, email address, and birthday, so the least you could do is use that information to make them feel welcomed on your site. Plus, 80% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase from a company offering a personalized experience, so it’s kind of a no-brainer from a return on investment point of view.
In addition to personalizing specific emails to individual customers, segmenting email lists for specific types of customers is an incredible value and easy tool for your business. With many services like MailChimp offering simple segmentation features that allow you to break up your email list into specific groups, you can cater your email marketing towards specific ages, locations, and even gender to give you the best chance to develop a loyal customer on the spot.
Ignoring Customer Feedback
The best way to figure out why your email marketing sucks is to just ask. As you might’ve noticed in recent years, customers are more than happy to provide businesses they don’t like with all the feedback they need, albeit occasionally laden with swear words. While it might be hard to endure the criticism, customer feedback is one of the most valuable, affordable data sets you can use to make your company better.
With email marketing, you can illicit this feedback rather than waiting for it to show up on your Facebook page. By sending out something as simple as a survey, you can glean meaningful information about what your company is doing right, what it’s doing wrong, and how your customers think you can fix it. And with 52% of consumers agreeing that companies need to take action on customer feedback, it’s safe to say your customers will be on board with your new, open-minded approach.
Additionally, ignoring customer feedback makes all the above methods infinitely worse. Asking for customer feedback is a good way to appreciate your customers, display your personalization, and discover if you’re selling too hard in your email marketing. Simply put, customer feedback is one of the best ways for you to figure out why your email marketing sucks and how to fix it.
