The Golden Rule Approach to Email Marketing
If it’s your first time conducting an email marketing campaign, the entire process may seem overwhelming. It's true that there are many factors to consider and a lot of work to be done, however; following a simple set of rules can make email marketing simple and manageable.
The major challenges of email marketing can be conquered relatively easily if you're dedication to planning and thoughtfulness. You can create a successful email campaign for your organization by adhering to the golden rule and by relying on some common sense methods.
What do I mean by the “golden rule approach”?
I’m referring to the simple idea of sending campaigns that you would want to receive yourself. It's important to put yourself in the shoes of your recipients, understanding your target market is a crucial component of producing valuable content. The golden rule approach is essentially an exercise in common sense and targeted marketing.
One of the first things that I tell any customer about their email campaign is that they need to be transparent and open with their customers.
We've all heard the phrase “honesty is the best policy,” this applies heavily to email marketing. Your main objective must be to let your recipients know why they got the email, what the email is offering, who the email is from, and how they can stop future mailings if they no longer want to receive the email. If you give your customer all of these pieces of information, your campaign will be easily understood and you’ll receive less complaints and unsubscribes.
The success of a campaign is determined by many factors, but the single most important aspect to any email campaign is the quality of your list.
This is one of the most commonly overlooked of all email marketing ideas. You must have a good relationship with your list in order to have a successful campaign. This is the main reason why buying a list is such a bad idea. If you buy a list, you have absolutely no relationship with your recipients. You want to have members on your list who have signed up for your newsletter, who want it, and who have a firm understanding of what to expect from it. Be clear in the sign up form about what you will be sending and how often you will be sending it .
There are many other examples of common sense practices to improve your email campaign, but most questions you will have to answer on your own. Don’t rush an email campaign and always remember to put yourself in your customer’s shoes.
To stay focused on common sense and the golden rule, ask yourself these questions before sending out a campaign. Does it look trust worthy? Does what I'm sending follow what I told recipients I would send when they signed up? Does the mailing live up to its offers or promises? Are the offers or information provided in the mailing relevant and worth while? Ask yourself these questions with each mailing and ensure that you can answer each question with a firm “Yes!” Don't forget the most important question when using the golden rule approach, how would you feel about receiving your own campaign?