You might not know this, but it turns out sometimes what’s newest isn’t always most effective, especially when it comes to marketing. A lot of business owners are eager to jump on the social media bandwagon for higher ROI, but according to this article by Buffer, good old-fashioned email marketing still reigns supreme.
“Social media may be the young whippersnapper nipping at email’s heels, but the content king of the inbox still holds sway in social influence, according to a study by SocialTwist. Over an 18-month period, SocialTwist monitored 119 referral campaigns from leading brands and companies. The results showed a significant advantage to email’s ability to convert new customers compared to Facebook and Twitter.”
The trouble is, most small businesses don’t have dedicated marketers on their teams, but it’s still important to have an effective way to communicate with leads collected at a trade show, or leads with outstanding quotes. So let’s take a look at how you (yes, you!) can leverage your email marketing potential using your CRM.
1. Create Specific Email Marketing Campaigns by Segmenting Your Contacts
One of the first lessons you learn in marketing is the more specific the message, the better the result. Focusing on the needs of your customers in a granular way lets you address specific concerns and get to the root of their pain points. That means you need to be able to segment your contacts list into groups in order for you to tailor your marketing campaigns to each group individually.
Mailchimp, an email marketing service provider used by millions (and one of Method’s proud app integrations!) demonstrated the impact of segmentation in this report. After sampling 2,000 Mailchimp users and some 11,000 segmented campaigns, what was their conclusion?
“By narrowing your focus and sending messages to targeted groups within your lists, your recipients will find your campaigns more relevant—and relevant campaigns get better results.”
Mailchimp’s study saw more favorable results (especially in terms of click rates) for users who chose to segment their email lists by making use of merge fields that automatically segment your contacts based on criteria you set up.
Your Takeaway
Segmenting your contact list when sending out email marketing results in higher click rates (tweet this)
Now It’s Your Turn!
Segment your email list using Method’s mail merge functionality to create a list based on Contact Type (Customer, Lead, Vendor). To get even more specific with your segmented email list, make use of Method ‘Tags’, which are similar to the tags you use in Gmail or other social media channels.
2. Personalize Your Emails for Higher Open Rates
Even if you’re sending out a mass email, there’s no harm in making it feel more personal to the recipients. In fact, there are huge benefits to this tactic!
Research by Temple’s Fox School of Business found that “…product personalization, in which customers are directed to products that their past purchasing patterns suggest they will like, triggered positive responses in 98 percent of customers.”
Customers like to feel appreciated, and the easiest way to do that is to create a personal relationship with them. Who do you think feels more cared for – Customer 1178 or Bob Crenshaw? If you guessed Bob, you understand why it’s so important to personalize interactions with your clients.
Your Take Away
Personalized emails receive higher open rates. (tweet this)
Now It’s Your Turn!
Address your leads by their first name when you email them by using the function “Firstname.Listbuilder” to pull their first name from your contact list in Method.
If you’re looking to generate new business from existing customers, personalize an email acknowledging a customer’s past puchases. You can also take a look at the Activities with your customer so you can speak directly to their experience with your company!
