Franchising Today - Summer 2016 - 15

EMAIL MARKETING

from you if you are providing value in a way that gives them room to
breathe and consider your offer and
how it fits into their needs and objectives. Understanding the pulse of an
industry and the standards by which
it operates is a great starting point to
determine a suitable frequency and
timing of emails. When you find the
sweet spot, you'll know it, and your
audience will respond to your campaigns in kind.

CONFUSING

THE

AUDIENCE

All too often, online marketers try
to cram too many messages into one
email. There should always be one
clear call to action and any messaging
or imagery. Links should always direct
the customer to a landing page where
they can act upon that main call to action. When an email campaign vehicle
is cluttered with multiple messages,
the recipient can be distracted from
the main reason for the email.
Stick to one primary message
around which all else is focused, and
be sure to tell your potential customer what you want them to do next.
Don't cause them to wander aimlessly
around your website or landing page.

BOMBARDING

When an email is cluttered with multiple
messages, the recipient can be distracted
from the main reason for it.

THE

AUDIENCE

Marketers get excited when they're
embarking upon an email marketing
campaign. It's where the rubber meets
the road. As touched on above, they
often try to throw everything they've
got at their audience in the form of too
much written copy and too many design features. While you can include
all of these bells and whistles from a
technical standpoint, it's simply not
necessary or even beneficial to do so.
The best email campaigns are those
that keep the design interface and
messaging simple. That means clearly written and formatted content, as

well as clean, fresh graphics and design. Keep in mind that even the best
email marketing vehicle won't convey
your message as effectively as a well
conceived and executed website. This
is why the email campaign should
compel the recipient to head to the
website in an intuitive, efficient and
streamlined fashion.

MISSING

THE

AUDIENCE

At a high level, email marketing seems
simple enough, but when you dig into
all of your options - with data filters in
particular to specifically target certain
audiences - it becomes clear just how
complex the endeavor really is. Today, online marketers have countless
list-segmentation options but, sadly, they often choose poorly when it
comes to filtering their email lists.
Many mission-critical segmentation options should be considered,
such as geographic, socioeconomic
and demographic filters that allow
the user to refine a list. For example,
a Mercedes-Benz dealership would
target potential customers who live
within a certain zip or area code radius of their location, have certain interests and earn sufficient salaries to
afford a high-end vehicle. In this way,
online marketers can use list-segmentation filters to target an audience

with a high likelihood of being receptive to your message.
Although nothing in the advertising
and marketing realm with notable upside comes without risk, and there are
definitely ways to waste money and
ruin opportunities with email marketing, there are even more ways to
increase site traffic, lead generation
and revenue, among other goals. The
key is to invest the time up-front to
design an effective email campaign,
which starts by heeding the blunders
detailed above.
For extra assurance, digital marketers often enlist the help of field
experts and outside voices who can
consult on the preparation process
and catch errors that may have otherwise been missed. When executed
properly, email marketing can grow
a business in a very strategic and calculated manner, not just delivering a
good return on investment for a single
campaign but also ultimately growing
your business over the long term.
Kevin Layton is CEO of Data-Dynamix, a premier
source of demographic data and a go-to partner for
delivering digital marketing campaigns and experts
in advertising sales training. Layton is author of the
upcoming book, "Building Your Digital Marketing
Machine," and is also an inspirational speaker on digital
marketing, international business and business strategy.
Reach him online at www.data-dynamix.com or via
Twitter @DataDynamix1.
SUMMER 2016

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Franchising Today - Summer 2016