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EMAIL MARKETING BEST PRACTICES FOR B2C BUSINESSES


Email marketing is an efficient tool when used correctly. Marketers swear by this technique as a revenue generic tactic. However, there is a fine line between overselling and underselling your offers through email marketing. It becomes vital to figure out the frequency to send your promotional emails.

According to a report by the Direct Marketing Association’s National Client Email, it shows that around 35% of marketers send up to two to three emails per month, while 19% just send about one email per month. In another survey conducted by Marketing Sherpa, it shows from the consumer’s point of view about 61% have said they don’t mind receiving one promotional email at least once a month, and 15% said they wouldn’t mind receiving one promotional email per day. The same study concluded stating that around 91% of the users have no issue with email marketing.

However, experts and the constant increase of unsubscribers say otherwise. So, how many emails are too many emails? A definite number cannot be given, but here are few factors to keep in mind while deciding on the frequency of your mails:

Industry stats

It is important to analyse your competition and see the frequency with which they send emails per week, noting their return-on-investment, and reach.

Nature of product or services

The number of emails one sends largely depends on the product or service one offers. Hence, it is seen that fashion brands can get away with sending 1 email per day, but it’s not the same for e-commerce companies.

Nature of the email

The goal of the email should be known. Is the email being sent for higher reach? Engagement? Or simply for CTR?

Consumers Decide

Keeping the user in the loop is important, hence offering an option to the consumer to signup for a weekly, monthly or daily update would be crucial too.

Data

Data should be analysed frequently in order to understand the opening rates, the number of subscriptions or unsubscription received, etc. Future adjustments can be made keeping these factors in mind

Engagement rates:

This rate is important in email marketing too. By understanding the engagement rate one can note, which content is preferred by the consumer. If an increase or decrease in the frequency of engagements needs to be done, and develop a well-rounded strategy.

A/B tests

Companies can stick to a testing approach to understand which plan works and which doesn’t, and as always it would be vital to keep an eye on data and its figures.

Hence, if companies keep in mind all these factors, developing an efficient and effective email marketing strategy will be easy, also one should keep updating themselves with trends they see in the industry. Approaches that work in 2020 similarly won’t work in 2021, and so on. Hence, updating along with the above-mentioned factors would be important for a marketer to follow.

BEST PRACTICES

Curated below is a list of marketing practices that a B2C company needs to follow to create their own efficient email marketing campaigns.

1. Send welcome emails

It is important right from the get-go for a company to keep in touch with its customers. Hence, a welcome email, either to a first-time shopper, a user who is prescribed to the newsletter, etc, will go a long way in increasing the engagement rate.

2. Integrate data-driven campaigns

The data available online and through past purchases of a consumer can help in understanding which strategy would work best for a particular user.

3. Focus on personalization

Marketing campaigns need to be relevant. This relevance starts with personalization. Perlization can be done just by inserting the user’s name, to when a prospects sign-up to receive emails to provide a poll to understand what the consumer is looking for. Is it sales alerts? Restock information? Newsletter updates? This can help in cutting out the spam and personalizing the emails.

4. Plan ahead, make a schedule

It is important to plan ahead. If one is sending recurring newsletter subscribers, even if it’s monthly, weekly, or daily, the marketer should stick to a consistent time, and ensure the goals are being met.

5. Stick to consistent branding

Email is a super-personal way to speak to an audience; hence the brand’s voice and values need to be made consistent while sending out promotional messages.

6. Make sure it renders correctly

Mobile is BIG. People are shopping more, browsing more, and buying more on mobile. This also means they’re checking their email on the go. Marketers need to ensure that their email templates are optimized for a mobile viewing experience–and any landing pages they direct to are also mobile-friendly.

7. Make sure your emails are appealing

Spam can be avoided by making your promotional messages appealing. By keeping your lists of subscribers clean, and making sure unsubscribers are being deleted, and not over-emailing any particular segment of your audience, can ensure that the emails are appealing.

8. Put CTAs and important information above the fold

For an email to be effective and drive conversions, one needs to get to the point fast. Inboxes are overwhelmed with promotions, it then becomes crucial to make sure you are explaining the main value proposition in the first section of the email and including a clean call-to-action without making anyone scroll.

9. Appeal to emotions, not logic

In B2C email marketing consumers are moved more by emotions than by logic. For a company to be in line with B2C email marketing best practices, one needs to ensure that your emails tug at your customers’ hearts.

10. Report on your email marketing campaigns

To have a truly successful email marketing program one needs to be able to know if the campaign is performing successfully. That means reporting, it is important to choose the right metrics, to get the data collected more efficiently. This data needs to be tracked and analysed to choose your best B2C email marketing campaigns.

In conclusion, the right email marketing strategy is one that is in accordance with industry best practices, one that sits well with your goals and appeals to your audience by providing immense value at all times.

Prachi

Prachi

Hey there! I'm Prachi. I've always welcomed diverse experiences that have shaped my adaptability and broadened my perspective. Here, I share insights from my ongoing learnings in eCommerce, aiming to spark ideas and conversations. In my free time, you’ll find me volunteering with my crisis response dog or trekking in the high mountains. There really is no limit to how much we can explore, learn, and grow!