Contrary to what some people might think, email marketing is still ranked as the most effective marketing channel, surprisingly outperforming SEO, social media, and affiliate marketing. Data shows that the number of people using email continues to increase every year. With email marketing, you won’t have to worry about constantly changing algorithms and how they will affect your campaign’s reach.

Email marketing can help businesses reach a wider audience, drive sales, recover abandoned carts, and further develop customer relationships. What are the factors to consider to run a successful email marketing campaign? Charlotte NC PR Firm McKeeman Communications answers some of your questions.

How does one start building an email list?

A simple way to do this is to add a banner or form to your website asking people to subscribe. Follow it up with an incentive. What can you give to convince people to share their email addresses? It can be a checklist, ebook, white paper, podcast access, or other valuable content. You can also run a contest or a giveaway.

Be clear with your objective. People won’t immediately share their emails just because you asked them to. Explain what the emails are for and get people interested in receiving them.

What are some best practices when it comes to email marketing?

It helps to follow email marketing laws and regulations. The US Federal Trade Commission has released a guide on the CAN-SPAM Act, a law that sets the rules for commercial email and establishes requirements for commercial messages. The law also gives recipients the right to have you stop emailing them, and spells out tough penalties for non-compliance.

Some best practices include: not buying email lists, consider using double opt-in options so people know what they are getting into, and making it easy for people to unsubscribe.

How does one deliver great email content?

Keep in mind that each email you send has a purpose: to engage customers and generate sales. Having said this, however, you don’t want to start your email communications with a sales pitch; many customers can sense a pitch a few sentences in and will be put off by it if you have yet to establish a relationship with them.

Warm-up your audience with an introductory email that explains what they can expect from your organization. Your follow-up email should then detail what you plan on doing with your new subscriber’s email address.

Put yourself in the reader’s place. Ask yourself if your messaging is consistent with the expectations you’ve set. If possible, identify what the customer has shown interest in before and send similar offers down the line. 

Strike a balance between product updates and personal messages. Use email campaigns to further your relationship with the reader/customer, and be consistent. Remember, you are a “guest” in their box. You might be asked to leave for good when you send out irrelevant offers or email them every day or (or once every 6 months) when you said that you’d do so once a week.

How can email automation help?

As you run more complex email campaigns, manually following through with everyone all the time would be virtually impossible. The solution: email automation. It lets you automatically send out emails that have been scheduled in advance.

How can we make sure our email campaigns are targeting the right audience?

Organize your email list into more targeted groups; this process is also known as email segmentation.

You can segment a larger email list according to:

• Customers with actual purchases (in comparison to leads who haven’t bought anything)
• Newsletter subscribers
• Frequency of emails sent out (daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc.)
• Demographics, such as age, location, or job title
• Interests

Just like targeting in paid social media ads, dividing your list gives you the ability to send more targeted communications.

A top PR firm in Charlotte NC, McKeeman Communications works with companies that are experiencing rapid growth or change. We help localize and share messaging that builds awareness and trust for their brand. Call (866) 341-2650 or email info@mckeemanpr.com to learn more.

According to a WordStream article, more than 56 percent of adults online use multiple social media platforms; 75 percent of men and 83 percent of women who use the internet are on Facebook; there are more than 500 million user profiles on LinkedIn, and nearly 80% of all social media activity is taking place on mobile devices.

With these figures, organizations should have realized by now the importance of maintaining a presence – and engaging – on social media. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn are not going anywhere anytime soon, and they provide instant, 24/7 access to their target audience.

If you are on top of your company’s marketing strategy and are working with PR firms in Raleigh NC, you could encourage the rest of your team to advocate for your brand through social media. Here’s why it’s important, according to everyonesocial:

• Employees have an average of 1,090 social connections
• Employees have 5x more reach than corporate accounts
• Their followers are 7x more likely to convert

A Nielsen study found that 84 percent of people trust recommendations from people they know over other forms of marketing.

While your company’s social accounts are important for sharing, interacting with customers/clients, and establishing a brand presence, PR firms in Raleigh NC will tell you that it is your employee’s social connections that will increase brand visibility, generate quality leads, and drive web traffic.

And yet, employees have reservations about engaging in social media. Some of the factors that hold them back include not knowing what content to share, not having time to post on social, not wanting to share work-related content; and believing that they don’t have enough followers to create a difference.

It can be challenging, but there are ways to get your team onboard and engage on social media on behalf of your company. Here are a few tips:

1. Educate your team. Make them aware that the likes, shares, and comments on the content they post all contribute to the brand’s success.  

Teach your team the basics of good content creation. McKeeman Communications, a top PR firm in Raleigh NC, shares some video recording advice: phones should be held horizontally, the video should be shot in a quiet location with a distraction-free backdrop (bonus points if the company logo can be subtly included in the shot), and there should be generous amounts of natural light. There should be pauses between questions and answers to allow space for editing.

2. Have a clear social media policy. Before asking team members to be brand advocates, simple and straight to the point social media guidelines should be in place. Vague instructions on what – or what not – to post will make them reluctant to share anything on social media. Make sure they are visual examples and all policies have been reviewed as a team.

3. Communicate early and often. Sharing the company’s mission is just as important as having a clear social media policy. This will serve as the rationale behind social media initiatives and how these initiatives help achieve the organization’s overall goals. 

Build trust by being transparent with your goals, having open communication lines, and sharing monthly reports on social media efforts. Knowing that they are making a difference will encourage your team to participate more.

4. Make it easy and fun! While social media participation should not be mandatory, make it fun for those who do participate by giving them incentives. It could be anything from a free lunch to gift cards, extra time off, donations in their name, or a recognition. Setting up a leader board brings out everyone’s competitiveness, driving participants to share more.

PR firms in Raleigh NC suggest keeping team members engaged through entertaining 

            polls or quizzes. Start conversations on trending topics, and interact with their posts.

5. Allow for collaboration and feedback. Schedule regular meetings with social media participants to ask for feedback, report observations, answer any questions, share best practices, and assess what’s working and what isn’t. There are no right or wrong answers; keep the discussion casual so everyone remains open to suggestions for improvement.

While employees won’t mind sharing company-related content, they also do not want to sound like a hard sell. PR firms in Raleigh NC recommend allowing them to share quality third-party content. This helps employees showcase their knowledge, paving the way for bigger professional opportunities.

With careful planning and encouragement, the best brand champions can be found right there in the workplace. Your team can help your brand build rapport and overall trust with their social connections.Looking for top PR firms in Raleigh NC? McKeeman Communications is an independent PR agency working with companies that are experiencing rapid growth or change.  We help localize and share messaging that builds awareness and trust for their brand. We can help you take on a total team approach when it comes to your social media strategy. Sign up here to receive a copy of our Social Media Policy Guide.