Do you know what the next word is in Google’s top search terms when you type in “email marketing….”? Don’t worry, I don’t really expect you to know it, I’ve done the work for you! The top 5 next search terms are:
- email marketing platforms
- email marketing specialist (Hi 👋, that’s us 😉)
- email marketing tools
- email marketing software
- email marketing template
On that basis it looks like you’re interested in the best platforms and how email marketing can help you. So here is a little information to help you decide on the best email marketing platform for you, and the internal tools you require!
Firstly, we need to understand the goals of what you would like to achieve with your email marketing. Is it to grow your database? Generate sales? Reward loyal customers? Increase brand awareness? Or is it all of the above? Whatever your goals, we need to make sure the platform you select has the capability to do this for you.
Let’s address how you can use email marketing to help achieve those goals.
Database Growth
If you’re a small-medium business your database is vital. Ensuring it is healthy and growing is going to help you find new business, connect with potential customers that are interested in your product or service, and keep your brand top of mind for customers. Database growth can be achieved through a myriad of ways from pop-up sign up forms that automatically welcome your customer, to customer referrals, and giveaway competitions for new subscribers.
Generate Sales
If sales are key for your business, using email marketing campaigns is a no brainer. It’s important to note your customers don’t want to feel like they are being bombarded or annoyed by your emails, otherwise you will start to see those unsubscribe rates increase! Therefore, the more knowledge we have from your customers on their communication and purchasing preferences the more likely we are to drive the structure of your sales email campaigns. If you have a bricks and mortar store, perhaps your email campaigns will drive customers instore to purchase. If you have an upcoming sale, e.g. Black Friday, you can use your emails to create a customer journey to warm your customers up with a release date and time, so they know when to check their emails for your special offer.
Reward Loyal Customers
We know that persuading the customers you already have to repurchase your product or service is going to cost you less time, money, and effort, than finding new customers so rewarding those that are loyal to you makes sense. Through email marketing platforms you can segment and target your VIP’s with an exclusive offer, or let them know they are $XX dollars away from a special gift. Retargeting campaigns are a great way to communicate with those who haven’t visited your store or purchased after a certain amount of time to re-engage with your email campaigns and incentivise customers to return.
Brand Awareness
The people on your database are on there because they signed up to receive your emails, right? So, you’ve already got a bunch of people who are interested in your business and products or services, but how do you get them to think of you when they need your product or service? By being reliable, consistent, and frequent. Ensure your email template is consistent, so the minute your customer opens an email, they know it has come from you. Don’t forget your tone of voice, style and imagery should be consistent too. Consider welcome emails, reminder emails and highly personalised emails, make your customer feel seen! Ensure you are sending frequent emails, if you’re sending one email every 6 months, they are bound to forget about you (sorry, the truth hurts). So, make sure you are in their inbox and on top of their mind!
Platforms
Now we know what you want to achieve, is there a marketing platform that is going to suit you best? There are plenty to choose from! Below are a list of some of the platforms we have extensive experience in at Purple Giraffe.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is an intuitive email marketing platform. It’s user friendly, with easy block builders to add content into your emails. Segmentation and tagging allow you to target the right customers with your messages. It integrates with most website platforms and has over 300 app integrations. Products can easily be added from your shop to emails. Mailchimp can also be used as a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. Customer journeys (automated emails) are easy to set up and start using. The reporting and analytics from campaigns also provides insightful information. Excitingly Mailchimp has launched AI generated content with their emails too.
Campaign Monitor
This is a very simple to use email marketing platform. It has lots of email templates to choose from that can be customised to suit your brand. Content building blocks are easy to add in as needed too. Campaign Monitor integrates with over 100 applications, including most major website platforms. It also offers CRM, automated emails, personalisation, reporting and segmentation plus SMS.
Klaviyo
Klaviyo is specifically designed for ecommerce. It has over 300+ integrations and links with most major ecommerce platforms. Klaviyo has automated emails, segmentation, web forms, and easy to use templates. It acts as a CRM platform, and also has predictive analytics as to how your customers will behave. With Generative AI Klaviyo can generate written content, offering subject lines. Klaviyo has just launched a new Customer Data Platform (CDP) that they claim will be revolutionary (stay tuned!).
If you’d like some help with your email marketing, contact us today. We’d love to help your business!
