Email Marketing 101: Five Tips For DMOs
April 29, 2016 | By: DCIIn this marketing age where social media rules, email marketing seems like an antiquated activity. However, today’s focus on content marketing means email provides another important distribution channel for DMOs to reach consumers who have opted in to be engaged. In fact, email marketing is probably the most important channel for DMOs to use – it’s consistent, targeted, effective, inexpensive and used by more than half of the world’s population.
- Direct Marketing Association reports that email marketing yields an average 4,300 ROI for U.S. businesses.
- McKinsey and Company discovered that email conversion rates are three times higher than social media, with a 17% higher value in the conversion. Also, email is nearly 40 times better than Facebook and Twitter at acquiring customers.
- Campaign Monitor found that 68% of Americans say they base their decision to open an email on the ‘From’ name.
Here are five tips that DMOs can use to ensure success when it comes to their email marketing activities:
1. Don’t Discount The Value Of A Good Subject Line: This is your first impression – don’t screw it up! Write a short, benefit-focused subject line to pique the recipient’s interest. Although research has shown that the length of a subject line doesn’t affect open and click-through rate, it’s best to keep it under 30 characters to ensure it appears in full on both desktop and mobile devices.
2. Mobile Friendly: The latest data shows we are past the tipping point between desktop and mobile usage. Mobile digital media time in the U.S. is now significantly higher than desktop time (51% to 42%). Use an eMarketing distribution platform that ensures responsive design for all types of screens.
3. Keep Copy Simple, Stupid: The preheader is the short summary text that follows the subject line when an email is viewed in an inbox. This copy is a critical component subscribers use to decide whether or not they open your email and engage with the content enclosed. Keep body content simple so consumers can quickly understand the offering and its benefits. The PAS, 4 P’s, and BAB formulas are frameworks to follow for high performing email campaigns.
4. Address Your Customer Directly: It’s always nice to receive an email that personally addresses you. Ensure you include a mail merge field in your email template. On the flip side, make it easy for your subscribers to opt out. There’s no reason to keep an unsatisfied subscriber in your database.
5. Testing 1, 2, 3; Testing 1, 2, 3: Test your emails regularly. Send them to a variety of email platforms such as Apple Mail, Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo to determine if the message displays correctly. Also test email template formats to fine tune which receives the best open rate.
Here are two specific DMOs that do email marketing campaigns well:
Meet Puerto Rico
Lara Ondina, Marketing Manager sends quarterly emails to the organization’s database of meeting and incentive planners. Her recommendations for an e-marketing campaign are:
- Make the email copy succinct. Readers have short attention spans.
- Emails are purposely designed with a clean look, offering brilliant images and not too much text.
- Make content as informative as possible. Showcase new developments and unique selling points. Include information about new members and their services which could be useful to clients that are bringing their groups to Puerto Rico.
- Avoid bombarding clients with communications. Her distributions are scheduled every three months.
- Allow them to opt out of communication. It’s better to have an engaged reader than a “delete.”
Newport Beach & Company: Dine in Newport Beach eMarketing Campaign
Mark Rudyk, Senior Director, Online Marketing & New Media , has implemented a strategy to engage consumers and bring them to Newport Beach & Company’s website and blog. The blog platform is used to post destination stories, living on Newport Beach & Company’s website and from there, offer plenty of links to additional content. He recommends the following tips for a consumer-facing e-marketing campaign:
- Use vivid and professional looking imagery. It helps bring sophistication to a piece and draws consumers in immediately, especially for food!
- Keep a clear and prominent footer that will offer links back to other content and social sites.
- Use ad space to promote events and to offer sponsorship opportunities to generate additional revenue.
- Make sure to use responsive templates so that translation from desktop to email will be seamless and content easily consumed.