An Introduction to Email & Remarketing
Internet marketing takes many forms. Perhaps the most recognizable of those forms, and the most infamous, is email marketing. If you were to ask a random person what first comes to mind when they hear the term “email marketing,” then most people would likely reply “spam.” Spam is mass-distributed and unsolicited email. People might think “spam” when they hear email marketing, but the reality is that the two are very different. Spam is a lazy, catch-all approach that is actually only related to email marketing by the fact that they are both delivered by the same medium. Email marketing is the process of advertising directly to interested consumers through commercial email messages. Email marketing is successful where spam fails because it involves interested consumers, rather than anyone who has an email address.
Email marketing can be used as both a form of direct marketing and remarketing. Direct marketing is a form of marketing used to sell products to consumers without a middleman, and is most often performed through email, over the phone, or by mail. Remarketing is a method of advertising, typically through email, to a consumer who has indicated sincere interest in a product without making a purchase. Businesses that include remarketing in their marketing strategy email consumers who have not completed actions on their website (like starting a shopping cart but not checking out). Filling a digital shopping cart is about as concrete of an indicator that a consumer can give to a business that they want to buy a product. So, the major benefit of remarketing is it allows decoration businesses to capture business that they might otherwise lose. Consumers can purchase decorated products at any number of places, both online and in the real world. By staying on top of interested consumers, decoration businesses can increase their sales and enhance their reputation within their communities.
Email Marketing
Email marketing may have a somewhat negative connotation due to the prevalence of spam, but it can be a highly effective form of online advertising. This is because the emails are sent to qualified leads as the recipient has allowed the business, or a third party, to use their email address. This usually means the consumer is at least somewhat interested in the business and its products. Email marketing is most frequently used by businesses to market to existing or past customers to build brand loyalty and encourage those customers to purchase again. A significant amount of sales for decoration businesses come from repeat customers or clients. Engaging with those frequent buyers can encourage them not only to return to the business, but to spread the word to their friends, families, and colleagues. Emails can be used to keep customers informed on the business’s latest offerings or to offer discounts to those loyal customers. Emails offer a personal, and yet simple, way to engage customers and keep a business on their minds.
Decoration businesses can also pay for lists of qualified emails to use, much like paying for leads. Also, as is the case with most digital marketing methods, email marketing offers the ability to simply and accurately track the performance of campaigns. There are tools available that allow decoration businesses to see how many people opened their email, how many people clicked a link within the email, how many selected “unsubscribe,” and more. There are also businesses like Salesforce.com, Zoho, and MailChimp that have created platforms that allow businesses to easily create and track email marketing campaigns. With services like those, email marketing is less expensive than other forms of direct marketing while offering greater tracking abilities. This is especially useful for small businesses like decoration shops that do not have their own advertising departments. All businesses do have to worry about marketing emails being perceived as spam, but they can still effectively drive sales and increase awareness for a decoration business.
Email Marketing Software Features
The features and capabilities of email marketing software like those offered by Salesforce.com, Zoho, and MailChimp help to make email marketing easy even for those inexperienced with the subject. Not only are the tracking capabilities of their software greater than those of other direct marketing methods, but they also offer other excellent tools to help make any campaign a success. In addition to their own tracking tools, these email marketing companies also typically allow businesses to incorporate Google Analytics into their campaigns to track the results. These tracking capabilities allow users to split-test their email campaigns to see which emails or variables work best.
These services also offer templates to simplify the creation of the content, which can save a business both time and money. In addition to templates, users can also upload content to most email marketing software or simply create the content within the software. A business can also set a schedule and even automate the distribution of emails. Email marketing software makes importing email lists and managing them simple as well, with tools that can detect and remove duplicate emails and manage customers that wish to unsubscribe themselves from a business’s email list. Email marketing software is an excellent tool for digital marketers to have in their toolbox, offering both versatility and improved efficiency.
Retargeting
While email marketing has been around since the 1978, retargeting is a much newer form of digital marketing. Retargeting involves placing advertisements for products viewed by consumers on a website on subsequent websites visited by the consumers. Though it is much a younger marketing method, retargeting is quickly becoming one of the most popular methods of digital marketing. The reason that retargeting is becoming so popular is its ability to close potential sales that might otherwise have gotten away from a business. For example, you might go onto Zazzle.com and look at a t-shirt, but choose not to purchase it, or purchase it elsewhere. Thanks to tracking data, Zazzle knows your specific IP address viewed that specific product. When you visit other websites you will start to see ads for the same t-shirt you previously looked at, sometimes even offering you a discount to return and purchase it. This is the power of retargeting; continuously pushing the same products that consumers have clearly indicated an interest in until they make a purchase. The idea is that since the consumer has already viewed a product they are a qualified customer who is at least considering a purchase. Retargeting is basically an attempt to close the sale before, or even after, a consumer makes a decision not to purchase, or to purchase from another retailer.
Conclusion
Both email marketing and retargeting are methods of digital marketing whose aim is to reach consumers that have in one way or another confirmed their interest in a business or its products. However, these marketing methods target different subsets of that group of consumers and use different tactics to do so. For the modern marketer, however, they are both viable options to help increase website sales and interest in a business. As both people and technology evolve, so too must marketing methods. Both email marketing and retargeting are great examples of marketers taking advantage of advances in technology and understanding of consumer habits.
