How Having A Plan Can Kick Start Your Email Marketing Project
Email marketing is an excellent source for finding, reaching out to and keeping in touch with clients and visitors. All great designs stem from an idea, which is then implemented into careful planning. Discussed in this article is exactly that, how to create a communication plan for your email marketing.
Determine Your Objective
What does your business want to accomplish from your email marketing? Think in general but measurable terms. You want to be able to refer back to your objective and evaluate your positive or negative results. This will aid in change, if needed in your objectives. Lets look at an example:
Maxwell’s Brew will contact 50 clients through email marketing in our first week of program use.
This objective is simple but it can be measured. Did they get 50 peoples email addresses? Did they reach them? Did any respond, bring in coupons or attend a special day event?
Objectives can always be changed as the project increases and becomes more tangible.
For example:
Maxwell’s Brew will contact 100 clients and will chart the coupon return for a month following the email market send out.
This objectives is still general and measurable, but at a more direct scale.
Objective Must Be Directed Towards Your Audience
As in all business plans you will not go far unless you know exactly who your target audience is. This is important to identify because you want to tailor your email plan directly to your target audience. For example Maxwell’s Brew is located right outside a college campus, but within miles from two high schools. Maxwell’s audience would be young adults from 15-23. Additionally researching the demographics surrounding your audience will aid in targeting that right audience. Some examples of demographics include: age, race, income, education, and location.
Your Audience Wants To See Benefits
How will each target audience benefit from your email marketing? They want to know what you can do for them. If your email marketing is weekly or monthly switch it up a bit, give them something new each time. Feature new or old items; offer a percent off, or something extra with a purchase.
Along with developing benefits is creating a meaningful message. What do you want your audience to know? What do you want to tell them? Keep in mind you need to be persuasive in your writing and distinguish yourself from the competitors. Tell them what makes your business unique.
Designing A Look For Your Audience
An email marketing campaign is similar to designing a web site. Does it stay true to your organizations values and brand? Don’t overwhelm your viewer with to many graphics or text. Keep it simple and don’t forget to put your contact information.
Take Time For A Timeline
It’s important to have a written agenda for this project. This will keep you on track and aware of deadlines. Get together with your team and decided how much time each person will need to finish his or her work. If one person can do everything a timeline is still needed. This way they can go from creating the mailing list, to finding graphics, developing text and putting it all together in a well regimented time-span.
Email marketing must be carefully thought out and planned. Start by setting your objectives, determining your audience, describing benefits, communicating a meaningful message, designing a look and make a timeline.
Let Kinetica Media guide you through the process and open your new world of communication. Visit us at www.kineticamedia.com. The author Malerie Giaimo is a spring Public Relations intern at Kinetica Media.
