Email Marketing & Automation

The Importance of Email Software

In order to build the best email marketing campaign possible for your business, using an email software to assist you isn't cheating the game by any means. In fact, many companies use softwares such as Constant Contact or Mailchimp to optimize their email marketing campaigns. A few strengths to using these softwares include easy to build templates and designs - this makes it easier on the company to not have to code their own email or put more unneeded pressure on the design team. Email marketing also strengthens the existing relationship the business has with that customer. Emails seem a little more personal than a targeted ad the consumer comes across on their Facebook page since the consumer actually went through the process of signing up to receive these messages.

That is not to say email marketing doesn't collect important information and statistics though. The softwares stated above have the ability to collect e-commerce data from customers in order to report back to the businesses what exactly to target - and we all know targeted campaigns drive conversions. A few other perks to using email software is the ability to test your design by sending the email to a few clients at a time. This is similar to A/B Testing, but only in the capacity of testing out what works best for your company until you narrow down the most effective aesthetic.

Constant Contact vs. Mailchimp

I pointed out a couple solid resources for utilizing email marketing so I think it's only fair to go into detail about them. Constant Contact has a higher average deliverability over Mailchimp with better customer service and a simpler list management. Whereas Mailchimp offers a more extensive reporting suite and you generally will get a better bang for your buck. Seeing as these are both email marketing softwares and can do wonders for your company by helping reach a broader audience and offering great templates to build an email marketing campaign, your business might want to think about investing time and resources into these platforms.

To learn more differences between the two softwares, click HERE!

Marketing Automation vs. Email Marketing

Many of you may be wondering "What the heck is marketing automation?" Fret no more, I wasn't seasoned with these words until quite recently. Marketing automation is a technology that manages marketing processes and campaigns across multiple channels. Simple, right? Since we touched on email marketing above, we can just move on to comparing the two.

While marketing automation tracks every single digital interaction a lead has with your business (cool, huh?), email marketing can only track actions taken by recipients of the email delivered to them. This narrows down the focus a wee bit as to how the consumer moves through and interacts with your emails. Marketing automation is good for helping create SEO landing pages, blogs, social media marketing posts, and integration to outbound programs. Email marketing, on the other hand, is a softer sell that educates customers on products, discounts, and services related to the email's brand.

Best Practices for Marketing Automation

You may be wondering "What are the best ways to implement this process into my business?" Here are 3 important keys to remember when you decide marketing automation is right for you:

1. Know your audience - By knowing who your target market is, you can come up with buyer personas through research, analytics, and focus groups
2. Understand the customer's journey - To know what your customer goes through with your company is to be able to predict their next move and have a little more understanding and empathy toward their decisions.
3. Collect the RIGHT data - You want to have the most accurate information on your target market as possible where behavioral data will offer insightful information to the customer's interests.

If you wish to learn about 4 more practices for marketing automation to maximize your results, click HERE!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read!