Email predates the Internet. Decades of experience make it hard to say anything new or non-trivial about it and how to use it for marketing. But what about sustainability? Now that you know that email can be nicely integrated into your sustainable marketing mix, how do you actually do it?
As I outlined in my post comparing eyeballs and hearts-and-minds marketing, sustainable marketing aims to reach the right people at the right place and the right time. The right content matters as well, particularly with email.
Right people
Seth Godin has beaten the permission marketing drum to kingdom come. (Not enough – the universe awaits.) The recipients of your email must give you explicit permission to send them emails – your subscribers must give you their email addresses for the purpose of receiving emails from you. Opt-in is the number one criterion of evaluating the (social) sustainability of email as a marketing tool.
You can collect emails at fairs, trade shows, service counters, on yourwebsite, or anywhere your customers or prospects appear. You can invite people to subscribe on your collateral, or you can simply ask your contacts whether they’d like to be added to your list.
For example:Â Please subscribe to The Sign e-newsletter in the Join section of the sidebar or here. Thanks!
You’ve probably found yourself, as I have, on email lists of people you met briefly at networking or other events. You give them your business card and the next thing you know, you’re getting their newsletters or special offers. In those cases, I either return the favor and add them to my mailing list right away (and then watch them opt-out at the next opportunity), or I press the spam button. It all comes down to the definition of a relationship: A typical email client will state by default in every email that the recipient is receiving the email based on a relationship with the sender.
To narrow it all down, segment your list by types of subscribers or interests. Pay attention to your subscription form: the best middle way is to require basic information like name and email, and provide an option to add other information. Particularly important from the content standpoint (see below) is segmentation by interest: add all subscribers to a general list by default and offer a variety of specific interest areas or content types (e.g. newsletter, event invitation, or announcement).
Aim for a smaller but loyal list. Asking for permission will make for slower growth of your contact list, but you’ll only get subscribers who really want your content and you’ll see lower opt-out rates. Segmenting your list by interests will help in that regard as subscribers will receive only what’s relevant to them.
Right place
This is the email address your subscribers gave you. You’re a guest at that address. Treat it that way.
Right time
If you segmented your list well, this should be self-explanatory. I believe your general list should get no more than an email per month. If subscribers opt-in to receive email about particular topics or specific types of email, email them as much as the topic or type requires. In general, if anyone gets an email from you more than once a week, you’re probably emailing them too much.
Much fuss has been raised about what day of the week to send email campaigns. Most people, including myself, find Tuesday mid-morning to be the time to get the best open and click-through rates. Others find other days as ideal. Experiment. A lot hinges on what you’re sending as well as the subject line.
Right content
Email is an awesome tool for content delivery. What is the right content? The mere fact that people opt to be added to your list should point you in the right direction. Once again and more importantly, if you segment well, you’ll know what people want because they’ll tell you.
Ask, listen, and follow through. Asking for feedback in your emails will help you tweak your content to satisfy your subscribers’ needs (I need to do this more myself). Some email marketing services even offer a survey function. Asking for feedback on the unsubscribe screen is a must. For example, I’ve learned that most of the opt-outs (my average opt-out rate is 0.4%) who fill out the feedback form unsubscribe not because of me or my content but because of their changed circumstances. I wouldn’t know that if I hadn’t asked.
What is your experience with email marketing?
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Email and your sustainable marketing mix, Part 1
Image credit: cindy47452
