Dinosaurs Rule! Email vs. Social Media Campaigns

Compared to social media, email communication is a dinosaur...or is it? It's an older form of communication, for sure, but statistics show that it still reigns as the most effective form of electronic dialog. In fact, email campaigns have the highest ROI of any marketing channel available.

Consider these facts:

• A click-through email campaign is 6x more likely to succeed than a click-through tweet.*
• Email is 40 times more effective at acquiring new customers than Facebook or Twitter.*
• Email marketing drives more conversions than any other marketing channel, including search and social.*
• Including a call to action button instead of a text link can increase conversion rates by as much as 28%.*
• A message is 5x more likely to be seen in email than via Facebook.*
• 4.24% of website visitors from email marketing buy something as compared to 2.49% of visitors from search engines and 0.59% from social media.*
• Sending four emails in a month instead of one significantly increases the number of consumers opening more than one email.*

Surprised? Given that email is a more personal form of communication, maybe not. So, how can you harness this personal connection to build your brand?

8 keys to an effective email campaign:

1. Target audience: Who are you sending this email to and why? Use an existing contact lists (or buy one) and build on these through embedded "share" buttons and links to online subscribe forms. If appropriate, use incentives such as free shipping or first-time buyer discounts to encourage people to join your list.
2. Type of campaign: What's the purpose of your campaign? Are you generating new leads for your sales team? More RSVPs for your event? More donations for your cause? Are you providing industry news? Is this a newsletter? A special offer? An announcement? An invitation?
3. Content: What information do you need to convey? This will primarily be dictated by the "Type of campaign," but in any case, compelling and meaningful content will help to captured your audience. Be sure the content is relevant to your target. Statistics show that campaigns sent to segmented lists with specific and relevant information can increase revenue/response by 760%!
4. Brand design: Is the email campaign in keeping with your company's brand and goals? Align your campaign and it will reinforce your customer's consistent experience with your brand.
5. Layout: Email campaigns are generally deliver in HTML format and are no wider than 600px. Keep in mind, you have about 5 seconds to capture your reader, so design the layout to stand out. Also, research shows that 41% of email opens are on mobile devices, so make sure your campaigns are optimized across all devices.
6. Scheduling: Is this a weekly, monthly, quarterly or one-time campaign? Develop a content schedule to ensure timeliness and expectancy.
7. Sending and tracking metrics: Do you have open rates, click throughs, and other key metrics in place to review for improvement? These measurements provide invaluable information for future campaigns.
8. Blog and other connections: Have you linked to your blog and social media? Be sure to include a "share" call-to-action button to encourage referrals.

Need help with your email campaign? Contact: info@hornsbybrandesign.com.

* Sources:

https://www.campaignmonitor.com/blog/email-marketing/2014/07/email-marketing-vs-social-media/

https://www.campaignmonitor.com/resources/guides/email-marketing-new-rules/

http://www.monetate.com/

https://www.campaignmonitor.com/blog/email-marketing/2014/08/buttons-email-marketing-campaigns/
http://www.radicati.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Email-Statistics-Report-2013-2017-Executive-Summary.pdf
http://agbeat.com/business-marketing/why-you-shouldnt-underestimate-the-value-of-email-marketing/

Micro-targeting

The first question you need to ask yourself when creating any new advertising campaign is who will I be speaking to?

Micro-targeting is a marketing strategy that uses consumer data and demographics to identify the interests of specific individuals in order to influence their thoughts or actions. The goal is to know the target audience so well that messages get delivered through their preferred communication channel. Below are a few tips on what to do and what not to do when selecting a target audience.

1. Market to everyone. Really? You’d be surprised how many businesses think this is true. While understanding that some products/services have broad appeal, not having a specific focus is NOT a plan for success. A bland brand is probably a good example of one trying to appeal to everyone and yet in reality appealing to no one.
2. Market to Millennials. NOT! I know you’re thinking this can’t be true, but it is. This group is too broad and diverse. To be successful you’ll have to be more specific and add sub groups here. Besides, it’s much more beneficial to target a moment in life (getting married, graduating, having a baby, starting a new job, etc.) as opposed to the date on a birth certificate. See #3.
3. Market to “Micro moments” in peoples lives. YES! “Consumer behavior has changed forever. Today’s battle for hearts, minds, and dollars is won (or lost) in micro-moments—intent-driven moments of decision-making and preference-shaping that occur throughout the entire consumer journey.”¹  This is a very interesting way to reach the people you want to speak to. By finding these relevant moments, you’ll create a deeper connection to your products/services and in return find the right mix for achieving profitable and sustainable results.

¹ Source: www.thinkwithgoogle.com: https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/articles/how-micromoments-are-changing-rules.html

Emotional X-rays: Leverage “The Big Five”

Reach your target audience by understanding how emotion plays a critical part in purchasing behavior. 

In general, traditional demographics and psychographics give important statistical data like age, gender, income, education, ethnicity, etc., but ignore basic human personality characteristics that crossover the statistical data. These personality traits are not categorized by numbers and stats, but rather by a person's emotional psyche, which in turn helps direct brand plans on how to best reach an audience and guide them to a particular desired response.

In psychology, “The Big Five” are five traits or broad dimensions of personality that are used to describe human personality. They are openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism (OCEAN).

1. The Open Audience
   Openness is a person’s appreciation for things like emotion, unusual ideas, and experiences. These people tend to be more creative, original, and hold uncommon beliefs. On the contrary, people who are defined as “closed” tend to prefer routine and don’t like change.


2. The Conscientious Audience
   This audience is made up of high achievers and disciplined people. It has a high level of conscientiousness. These people are self-starters, and are not prone to spontaneous acts. If you have a conscientiousness audience, this group is usually not susceptible to impulsive buying.


3. The Extroverted Audience
   This audience is social and full of energy. These people are enthusiastic and have a higher than normal need to interact with the outside world. Brands with identities centered around energy need to capture these individuals. They are your most likely bet for creating brand loyalists.


4. The Agreeable Audience
   These consumers do not like to make waves. They tend to encourage the preservation of social harmony. At their core, agreeable consumers want to get along with everyone. They are not necessarily pushovers but can be persuaded to shift beliefs for the cause of social peace. On the flip side, consumers who are disagreeable put their interests above social harmony.


5. The Neurotic Audience
   These consumers are emotionally unstable and tend to expect the worst in a situation. If you have a neurotic audience, they probably don’t trust your brand. They harbor feelings of anger, depression, and high levels of anxiety. These consumers are also more mentally stressed out where negative emotions tend to linger for a longer period of time. On the other end of the spectrum, non-neurotic consumers are calmer and less paranoid about an imminent threat.

Improve your brand strategy by gaining a better view and then understanding the mind of your target audience.