{"id":5479,"date":"2016-03-06T15:55:12","date_gmt":"2016-03-06T20:55:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/?p=5479"},"modified":"2019-03-13T15:30:46","modified_gmt":"2019-03-13T15:30:46","slug":"better-email-marketing-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/better-email-marketing-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Steps to a Better Email Marketing Strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Kelly
Kelly Clark, Naylor Association Solutions<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When was the last time you checked on the progress of your email marketing strategy?<\/p>\n

Email has become so ubiquitous that most people approach email marketing with an attitude of, \u201cEveryone uses email, so whatever I send to my recipients is bound to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s true that an overwhelming majority of American adults (91 percent) like to receive promotional emails from organizations with which they do business (Marketing Sherpa, 2015<\/a>). It\u2019s also true that 72 percent of American adults say they prefer organizations to communicate with them via email over any other channel.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Year
Association executives surveyed during our 2015 Association Communication Benchmarking Study<\/a> proved they still value email (or eNewsletters) as the most valuable form of online media. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"Tweetables\"<\/p>\n

Look to your organization\u2019s overall goals as a blueprint for your email marketing strategy.\u00a0\"RealLilTweetables\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Email marketing strategy:\u00a0Start with one simple goal and get very specific about how to achieve\u00a0it.\u00a0\"RealLilTweetables\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t try to accomplish too many things in one\u00a0email. Be clear about what recipients should do.\u00a0\"RealLilTweetables\"<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Unfortunately, because everyone uses email, the only emails that end up standing out to recipients are those that are extremely well-designed and personally relevant. The rest end up deleted or in junk folders, or don\u2019t even make it past the internet service provider\u2019s filters.<\/p>\n

“But we don\u2019t have a graphic designer on staff, and we can\u2019t predict when our emails will be extremely relevant,\u201d you may be saying. \u201dWe can\u2019t afford a fancy designer. We don\u2019t have the time to research what makes any given email personally relevant to our members.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maybe so. But if your association has an organizational goal \u2013 which it very likely does \u2013 you can establish an informed email marketing strategy that yields those well-planned, well-designed emails everyone wants to open.<\/p>\n

Think for a moment: What are some of your association\u2019s goals this year? Maybe you want to increase membership by 10 percent. Maybe you want to enroll more people in your certification classes. Maybe you want more attendees at your annual event to rate it as one that can\u2019t be missed.<\/p>\n

Start with a BIG goal<\/h4>\n

Your association should be using your organization-wide goals to drive your email marketing strategy. Think of your association\u2019s goals and objectives as a road map that can guide your email marketing strategy.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take one big goal your association has for 2016 and make it more specific so that an email marketing plan can help you achieve it. It could be anything you’ve been planning. Boost your membership roll by 15 percent. Increase renewals. Reduce overhead costs. Drive more traffic to your site or your mobile app. Enroll more people in a certain course or certification program. This goal should be somewhat broad, but more specific than, “Be awesome.” That is a given.<\/p>\n

\n

6 Steps to Refine Your Email Goal:<\/h4>\n
    \n
  1. Define your ultimate goal for your emails.<\/li>\n
  2. Define your target audience.<\/li>\n
  3. Determine why someone takes action on your email.<\/li>\n
  4. Determine how people will find out about your offer.<\/li>\n
  5. Determine when members\u00a0will find out about your offer.<\/li>\n
  6. Establish where your members can act on\u00a0your email.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    Step 1: Define your ultimate goal for your emails.<\/h4>\n

    It’s not enough to say, “I want to increase event attendance by 15 percent.” Which event? If you try to increase everything, you’ll probably spread yourself too thin. Your goal should require just one call-to-action, so the end user knows exactly what to do without feeling overwhelmed. With few exceptions, stuffing an email chock full of info about everything will turn readers off. People skim email. They want to check it quickly while they are in line at the supermarket, or waiting in the carpool line, or out for lunch.<\/p>\n

    Does your goal focus on just one product, service or other aspect of your association? If not, take a moment to revise your goal to focus on just one item or concept.<\/p>\n

    \"Focus
    Focus on just one product or service when creating an email-assisted goal.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Step 2: Define your target audience<\/h4>\n

    Who uses the product or service, or interacts with your business concept that you named in your goal? Probably not your entire membership.<\/p>\n

    Here’s an example: I like to eat at Chick-fil-A. But I hate breakfast foods, so when I eat at Chick-fil-A, it’s always for lunch or dinner. It would not be an effective use of Chick-fil-A’s time and energy to send me emails about their breakfast foods and deals. No matter how many messages they send me, I’m not going to eat there for breakfast. But they can send me coupons or information about their chicken sandwiches because I like their lunch and dinner menu.<\/p>\n

    \"Chick<\/p>\n

    You can target potential targets of your product or service, but at some point you will need to find out if you’re emailing people who will actually participate, attend or enroll at some point.<\/p>\n

    Step 3: Determine why someone takes action on your email.<\/h4>\n

    People buy stuff because they really need it, or they feel they need it. Your members will only take action on your emails if your emails contain a clear offer. Put another way, it’s not enough to say, “You should really do this!” to get a member to follow through.<\/p>\n

    What should your offer be? Do some simple research to find out what kinds of calls-to-action will get someone to pay dues, volunteer their time, enroll in a course or whatever you count as a conversion. This could be as easy as asking people who come to your next event why they came, and keeping track of respondents\u2019 answers. Does a certain reason for attending (or not attending every year) keep coming up? Do people constantly ask about a certain benefit your association offers?<\/p>\n

    \"Paint
    Create an offer you can promote via email that will compel your audience to act.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Going back to my affinity for Chick-fil-A, if they were to ask me why I eat there, I’d say, “I love the lemonade and the relaxing atmosphere.” So if I were Chick-fil-A’s entire customer base and they were to tailor an offer to me, they might create a campaign that talks about the benefits of taking a break in a relaxing atmosphere with a cool glass of lemonade and includes an offer for half-off a lemonade after 3 p.m. on weekdays.<\/p>\n

    Ideally, your offer would be just as specific as that, but for now, think of a basic offer you could center an email campaign around. What can you offer members to get them to convert, and propel you toward your overall goal?<\/p>\n

    Step 4: \u00a0Determine how people will find out about your offer.<\/h4>\n

    We’re talking about email here, so in this context email will be how members find out. But you need to decide the frequency of your emails about this offer. This leads us to:<\/p>\n

    Step 5: Determine when members will find out about your offer.<\/h4>\n

    The timing of your email(s) in a campaign should be based on a few things:<\/p>\n