Effective Email must be Targeted

Email promotions are one of the least expensive marketing campaigns for any company and are extremely effective when directed to the right audience.  While it is tempting to “blast” everyone on your email list (after all, it doesn’t cost any more) it is one of the biggest mistakes that can be made.  Like all good marketing, the best marketing is always the most targeted.

If emails are not pertinent to the individual reader, they will not only be ignored but can be easily marked as spam: which kills your marketing connection to a customer.  The more often irrelevant emails are received by each reader, the more likely your reputation (and valuable email address) will be assigned to a spam filter.   An even bigger mistake is to send email promotions to addresses of people who haven’t requested to be on your mailing list.  If enough folks report you as spam you will end up in junk folders automatically, even for customer’s that desire email contact with you.

Let’s assume you sell men’s and lady’s apparel. If you have a menswear customer and  bombard him with your women’s store ads, he is likely to remove you from his daily feed  and maybe even block your address, even if he likes your store. But if you isolate your customer base and target him or her only with emails pertinent to their needs, both he and she will find your promotions helpful. Take the time to isolate your customers based on their individual needs: know their preferences.  First and foremost, know how he or she prefers to be contacted: email,  home phone, cell, work, snail mail or not at all. If a customer buys sportswear but not clothing, focus on sportswear. Better yet, focus on the vendors they prefer to buy when it matters. While deploying automated techniques the objective should always be personal and one to one!

The truth is that email marketing needs to be even more targeted than all other marketing efforts because it can be turned off by the recipient.  Effective email marketing exploits this advantage by being even more personal. This means that you need the ability to identify your customer’s needs and preferences and provide a service based on that knowledge. This is the independent retailers prime advantage over the competition, both big box stores and eCommerce sites.