What is Email Marketing?



Email marketing consists of directing targeted emails to a contact list in order to increase sales. The emails should contain a variety of information, including helpful tips, images, links and sales pitches. The trick to creating a great email marketing campaign is to vary your content and offer plenty of quality information free before asking your contacts to open their checkbooks.

What is the Open Rate?

The open rate is simply the percentage of emails that are opened rather than deleted or marked as junk mail. Your emails won't do anything but cost you time and money if they are never opened and read. By constructing a quality campaign, you will increase your open rate. One of the best ways to do this is to send a variety of emails, including a high percentage of emails that help or instruct your recipients. People want to get something in return for their time and opening a series of emails that do nothing but attempt to sell a product will quickly convince people they are wasting their time. Instead, provide plenty of useful free content in your emails. This is a great way to build trust with your potential clients.

What is the Click Through Rate?

The click through rate refers to the percentage of people who click on the links you provide in your emails. An email must include a direct call to action, or request to click on the link for more information in order to get the highest click through rate possible. Most people appreciate a straightforward call to action, rather than clever tactics intended to convince them to visit your site. If your overall email marketing strategy provides accurate, useful information and the products or services you try to sell provide true value, you will be able to increase your click through rate and make more sales.

How to Create a Successful Email Campaign

First, you need a lead capture mechanism. This can be a form on your website or a squeeze page you set up in the links you use in your email campaign. A lead capture form provides you with a prospect's name and email address. Equally as important, you need to specifically state that you are requesting to put them on your mailing list to avoid your emails being spam.

Vary the content of your emails. Don't expect every email blast to be a sales pitch or you will lose subscribers to your list. Use a clear call to action, rather than trying to use compelling language to convince them to buy. Of course, your copy is important- it needs to persuade, but clearly asking your mailing list to click on your link is straightforward and honest. A good tactic is to tell your prospects what problem your product solves for them. Create a compelling headline or subject line. If your headline or subject head is boring, or too outlandish, your email risks being dumped as trash without being read.

Creating a successful email campaign can be a challenging task. Many webmasters and site owners find it cost effective and time efficient to outsource their email campaign to a reputable SEO company for a modest fee. Whether you write your own emails or outsource them to an expert, email marketing is an effective way to raise the visibility of your website, drive traffic and increase your page rank.