Email marketing is not a new phenomenon; no matter the size of the organization, 97% of companies use email. But it has become an even greater part of our daily lives in the COVID era — to the tune of 44% more emails sent since the lockdown began. And it makes sense; email is still the most versatile form of communication in the professional world. It has become an integral way to open up digital channels for both external and internal communications.
As consumers, we seek and expect regular communication from the brands we love. At the beginning of the pandemic, brands used email marketing as an external tool to express empathy, acknowledge the crisis, and provide important information about how they planned to be there for customers. Internally, email is an effective way for employees to communicate with each other. And, since decision-makers are no longer physically in the office, email has become a great tool to engage with them. However, it’s worth noting that IT decision-makers (ITDMs) have begun to favor real-time/instant messaging applications over emails, with the use of the former increasing by 6% since 2019.
But don’t worry — email marketing isn’t going anywhere. Given email’s increased role in hybrid/remote work, it is imperative that marketers plan and execute a thoughtful and strategic email strategy to best engage with their audience, even if they have to pivot along the way. Below are best practices and concrete suggestions for how to maximize email effectiveness.
Consider Topic and Tone to Maximize Email Effectiveness
When it comes to the content of your email, there are several key considerations:
Topic: When choosing a topic, you have to keep in mind that there is so much low-value content to wade through these days that in order to stand out from the rest, you need a message that really resonates. That message should hit on current and relevant pain points and demonstrate your understanding of the evolving needs of ITDMs. This could look like promoting thought leadership and educational content (such as e-books, webinars, or video events) that provides solutions for ITDMs. Find out what content your ITDMs want and would benefit from, and promote these pieces of content via email.
Tone: Noise doesn’t just show up in the content you choose; it can also show up in the tone of your content. Using language that’s generic or considered jargon/corporate-speak is a quick way to ensure disengagement with your content. In addition, the tone must match the nature of the content (e.g. light-hearted, serious) depending on the topic and mindset of the intended reader.
Prioritize a tone that is authentic, relevant, and empathic. During these turbulent times, marketing with a human touch is needed. We’re all in the same boat, experiencing the pandemic together.
Do
To reiterate, topic and tone are key to thinking about big picture strategy for email content. However, there are also concrete steps you can immediately implement.
- Align your email marketing strategy to the buying journey.
- Entice customers with a subject line that’s engaging and relevant.
- Include relevant and easy-to-click calls to action.
- Offer new customers the option to subscribe to your content, whether it’s a new product release or a monthly newsletter.
- Make your email mobile-responsive (and track how many people open emails on their mobile devices).
- Consider incorporating images/video for added engagement.
- Be mindful of maintaining your segmented lists and stay abreast of regional news and guidelines. For example, those in IT in America might be facing different challenges than those in finance in APAC.
Don’t
Now that you know many of the best practices, it’s just as important to know what practices to avoid.
- Don’t be exploitative, salesy, or aggressive.
- Don’t mass email! Segment your audience and personalize all email communications.
- Avoid generic or jargon-y language.
- Don’t spam your audience with too many emails. Creating effective emails is not as simple as “being noisier” than your competitors and vying for your customers’ attention.
If you found value in the ideas in this article, SWZD has a number of resources that expand on them, such as our guide to best email practices. Find out more about how you can implement a powerful email strategy to reach key decision-makers and the entire buying collective in 2021.