How to construct the perfect email campaign
Posted on 17/11/2023
Kirsty Winter, General Manager at Insight Data, explores how your business can build better customer relationships, improve sales and drive lead generation thanks to the power of email marketing.
This autumn, a new exhibition at the Design Museum of London opened to the public. The exhibition, named ‘Email is Dead’, interrogated the impact of email through art and worked to undo the idea that email is old-fashioned. Supported by Mailchimp’s group creative director, Christian Widlic, attendees were called to question how email helps shape our work lives, relationships, cultures and economies.
The exhibition brought to light the staying power of email and its ability to withstand shifts in culture, changes in technology, and numerous trends, showcasing both its cultural significance and its endurance. With the success of the exhibition having made headlines in recent weeks, many are questioning: how can our business leverage email marketing for our own benefit?
A successful email marketing campaign must always begin with clearly defined objectives and an understanding of your target audience’s preferences. To Widlic, an email should ‘smell clean and fresh’, meaning there should be no confusing graphics, information, or attachments polluting the message of your campaign.
The crux of your message should first be made clear to readers in a punchy subject line, and we recommend less than 40 characters to give it that best chance of displaying in full. Email is used by over 4 billion people worldwide and is usually interacted with via mobile devices – those of which act as an appendage to us in the digital age. As people scroll through their inbox, your subject line needs to spark their interest, cause them to pause, then act on their intrigue.
Once your subject line has successfully communicated the intentions of your campaign, you’re against the clock to maintain the attention of the reader. In just one swipe, your carefully crafted campaign can become a distant memory. To avoid this, use a headline that gets straight to the point, a hero image that clearly demonstrates your product or service, and a desired call to action that aligns with the wider messaging of your brand identity. It can become confusing for the recipient to be taken to a landing page that seems separate to the tone or design of the initial email, so make sure your intentions to preserve the reader’s interest sing from the same hymn sheet as your brand.
With an email that is creatively engaging, it’s essential that the campaign is received by the appropriate contacts. Gathering the recipient list for your email campaign is a vital process, though it’s important to note that a one-size-fits-all approach often hinders the success of a campaign. Differentiation is key, and content should differ among emails to existing customers, past customers, and potential leads. This contact data is typically sourced from internal customer databases or systems, though many businesses struggle to collate sufficient prospect data.
If you don’t have the time, resources or experience to mine for appropriate contacts, it’s important not to be tempted by cutting corners. Plenty of companies sell email lists that may appear to be a quick fix for your business, but these can often be fraught with legal issues, outdated information, and cause existing customers to fall away.
At Insight Data, our customers are afforded the best opportunity to target relevant audiences for their campaigns. Our databases, tailored specifically to the fenestration and construction industry, are supported by an entire ecosystem at work, spanning seven different methods that help update and quality assure all information. Boasting a 96% email delivery rate, our databases focus on individual emails so that your email campaign targets the right individuals within an organisation – securing fantastic sales and lead generation results.
Our experienced team offer businesses end-to-end campaign management; collecting appropriate data, designing a compelling campaign, analysing email metrics, and supporting with the development of lead generation. Businesses that have utilised our full-package email marketing service have witnessed increased leads and sales, and the reputation of their brand soar.
To find out more about how email marketing can benefit your fenestration business, please visit call 1934 808 293 or email hello@insightdata.co.uk.
