What is the most frustrating/challenging part about sending marketing emails?
-
I'm in the process of gathering research into the challenges most commonly faced by marketers when executing email campaigns. What are yours? And what role do your play in the process? (Job title?) Looking forward to a spirited discussion!
-
I think writing the RIGHT email that is effective i.e. gets read and your call to action, acted upon. We get so many emails, so you only have a few seconds to catch the reader with your title and make the email easy to read or understand upon first look (do call to actions, links, important information, stand out and are easy to understand?)
I recently wrote a post geared towards my clients about tailoring emails to get their applicants to return. I work with organizations that have membership or attendees (events, educational programs, etc) who are always looking for ways to tap into their past attendee and participant lists to get them excited about upcoming programs or events and encourage them to return. Currently for example,it's summer camp registration season so my camp director clients want a way for their email marketing strategies to pay off with past families registering again for this summer. You can check out that post here: http://www.regpacks.com/blog/great-marketing-email-to-applicants/
But like Chris said above, I think its really about figuring out what your email recipients want and figuring out how you can get your email to stand out. Following basic rules like titles that aren't too long, are attention grabbing, and have a clear call to action that is easy to identify in the body of the emails will help. If someone can look quickly at your subject, understand what the email is and find what they want/need in the content of your email easily and quickly, you will have a higher click through rate and response to what your email is selling.
Good luck!
-
Hey John,
The challenges we face are pretty typical of any email marketing campaign really. Email marketing is quite common these days so users have a far better understanding of the intent behind your emails and this in itself can make it quite tough.
Combine that with the incredible volume of emails the average person receives in a day and you're really fighting an uphill battle. The question becomes how you can stand out from the hundreds of other emails that day and give them a reason to click. The answer depends on the target market; clickbait works for some demographics while it just infuriates others.
If you can consistently demonstrate value to your users then the battle becomes a little easier. Looking at my work mailbox from the past week, the only 3 regular emails I've given more than a cursory glance are also 3 that I typically find to be valuable to me professionally while the others I'll usually skim the subject line as I go through deleting the large volumes of lazily templated stuff I receive regularly (the only reason I don't unsub from these is that occasionally I get something useful from them).
By way of example, these 3 quality ones that I've actually opened are from Moz, Backlinko and Google Webmasters. The last one is obvious, but for the Moz and Backlinko emails, they're never "selling" anything, their approach feels like much more of a "here's some information you probably want; read it or don't, your call" which I appreciate. No fear-mongering clickbait, just practical advice or helpful industry info.
As SEO Manager I don't have a whole lot of direct involvement with email marketing these days, though this is what I've found from both past and personal experience.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Community Discussion - How can we apply the skills we have as marketers in new, creative ways?
Hi everyone, I hope you all had a wonderful week! This week's discussion question comes from Tuesday's (December 😎 blog post by John-Henry Scherck, The Step-by-Step Guide to Turning Link Prospectors into Lead Generators. From the post: "Digital marketing is a pretty introverted industry. This tends to make us a bit hesitant to embrace sales and outbound selling. There’s no beating around the bush: Sales can be difficult, scary, uncomfortable, and awkward — but if you want to grow your client base, it may require getting out of your comfort zone." John-Henry shows us the opportunity for people who are good at link prospecting to apply those skills to lead generation, improving business opportunities by creatively using the skills they already have. SEOs and marketers wear many hats, and have a diverse skill set at their disposal—how else can we apply the skills we already have in creative ways?
Industry News | | MattRoney5 -
Best Educational track for internet marketing
My son has a degree in Marine Bio. Has developed a keen interest in SEO and internet marketing. He wants to make a career change. He does not want to go back for a 4 year degree in computer science. Are there graduate programs/degrees that will admit someone with a biological science degree? He wants to have a career in Internet marketing.
Industry News | | wianno1681 -
Want Your Opinions on Search Marketing Conferences in US
If you could go to any search marketing conference in the US in 2014, which one would you choose and why?
Industry News | | dsinger1 -
Looking for an SEO consultant/agency specializing in ecommerce and data architecture? Any suggestions?
Looking for an SEO consultant/agency specializing in ecommerce and data architecture? Any suggestions?
Industry News | | EE-Tom1 -
How do I ascertain how/why a site appears higher/lower in search results, based on different search terms?
The site in question is www.bullethq.comHere are the search terms I used, and what position Bullethq.com appears in the SERP's: <colgroup><col width="188"><col width="58"><col width="95"></colgroup>
Industry News | | PeterConnor
| Search-term | Position | Page returned |
| irish payroll online | 5 | Home Page |
| irish payroll online software | 20 | Home Page |
| online irish payroll software | 20 | Home Page |
| online payroll | 75 | (Blog post) | Could someone be so kind as to help me figure this out?0 -
Picking a degree that will benefit SEO/IM career
I really had no idea where to place this question as there seemed to be no 'suitable' place. I do though feel that it is a viable question and would appreciate any responses that I receive. Essentially, I'm currently working full time doing digital marketing covering most general aspects as it is in-house and primarily local venturing to maybe 50-70 miles in the region of the local area. I'm doing SEO, PPC, Social Media etc. I'm certified in networking (I studied in Australia) and have my UK GCSEs along with a variety of other general certifications e.g. business. The college in the area where I work is offering a NVQ in digital marketing and social media so although I'm self taught I'm currently doing this once a month purely for the paper to recognize that I know what I'm doing. Anyway, getting to the point. I have the opportunity to pursue a degree long term with my employer. I've always had an interest in actually learning to code in a web development language (I can cope at the moment with PHP and do what I need to do) and I've also had an interest in developing iPhone apps etc. What degree would you recommend in aiding a career in SEO and Digital/Internet marketing in general?. To me it seems to boil down to either a marketing degree or a web development degree. Thank you in advance, I would love to hear your own experience and what you have a degree in. Thanks, Luke Hutchinson.
Industry News | | LukeHutchinson0 -
Secondshells.com has $3k a month to spend on SEO & marketing. HOW should I spend it & with whom?
We have a Magento based ecommerce site www.secondshells.com and are looking for ways to improve traffic. Our goal is to drive sales of our products. We are in the Android tablet accessory business, since its fairly new the competition is not that great, we would like to get up in organic rankings for our keywords. We have blog updated daily, building backlinks, PR, facebook, twitter, google+, Videos on Youtube, PPC, product feeds to Bing, Google & The Find. The foundation is there but it's a lot to handle in-house. The real question is who to choose to execute the strategy & where to pick them from. There are 1,000's of companies, individuals, Elance & Odesk. Who to choose to execute is more difficult than choosing the direction. We are straightforward and intelligent and want people who can provide a plan of action, execute and report it. All white hat seomoz style of promotion. There are so many choices and avenues to pursue that it is difficult to make a decision as to which way to go. Any guidance or suggestions will be appreciated. SecondShells
Industry News | | BossMike0 -
What is the Best Way To Structure A Growing Internet Marketing Firm?
I have been asking a lot of personal friends (who own SEO companies) this question and have found that it seems to be on all of their minds. From BlueGlass to a small start up consulting firm, it seems that everyone is doing things different and constantly shaking it up. I am wondering what SEOMozers are doing/have done for their company structure?
Industry News | | NiftyMarketing0