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Email marketing is like a power tool - it's got incredible capabilities, but you can cause real damage if you don't know how to use it.
Below, we'll explain what email marketing is and give you the keys to make it work for your wellness business:
1) Email newsletters
vs email marketing: not
the same
Email marketing is simply
another form of direct marketing,
like postcards and other
direct mail. When
you send marketing emails,
you're hoping that readers
will take a specific action
that will result in the
successful sale of a given
product or service.
Email marketing is really
about you - your products
and services. Marketing
emails are often unread
(unless you have an excellent
relationship with your readers)
and quickly deleted.
On the other hand, email
newsletters offer information
that matters to the subscriber.
They're often educational
or generally informative.
It's not unusual for readers
to save or print your newsletter.
They may even forward it
to friends or coworkers.
Unlike traditional direct
mail, both email newsletters
and email marketing are
permission-based techniques.
That means you need permission
from the recipients to use
their email addresses for
this purpose.
Once you've got permission, don't shoot yourself in the foot by stuffing your
newsletters full of sales pitches. It's OK to do some "soft selling" in
your newsletter, but it should be secondary to the main content of the
newsletter - absolutely not front and center.
2) First, get their
attention...
Folks scan their email inboxes
very quickly. In mere
seconds, they decide whether
to look at it now, delete
it, or save it for later
(which is almost as bad
as deleting it).
They decide whether to look
at your email based on whether:
1) it's from a recognized
and reliable sender
2) it sounds interesting
enough to deserve a closer look.
That means that you need
to think very carefully
about what will appear in
the "From" area and what
goes in the subject line.
A suitable sender in the
"From" field:
Good: "Maia Morris, President"
Good: "HealthyLife Wellness"
Bad: "mm@domain.com"
or "mm"
Bad: "sales"
Bad: "Maia" or "Maia M."
or "maiamorris" or "maia
morris"
A catchy subject line:
Good: "Complimentary customized
workout log"
Good: "Boost your immune
system before cold weather"
Bad: "HealthyLife Labor
Day Update"
Bad: "Special Letter For
Zoom Ellipticals"
Bad: "ClubHelp Software:
Bulletin"
Bad: "An AudioMessage From
Joe"
3) The heart of
your email: the call to
action
A "call to action" (CTA)
is the action you want a
potential buyer to take.
Successful TAs describe
exactly what you want readers
to do, and gives them reasons
to do it now.
A CTA typically has three
components, whether it's
in a postcard or email:
- reasons a prospect
should buy from you
now - the most important
features, benefits and
advantages of your product
or service
- risk-reduction elements
- elements that increase
the confidence buyers
have in your product
and business practices,
like guarantees or warranties
- price, order and
payment information
- for example, you might
include links to an
online ordering form
or a list of the credit
cards your business
accepts
In email marketing:
- The call to action is
expressed in words, images
and links to make it as
easy as possible for your
readers to take that next
step.
- You'll often split the
elements of the CTA between
your email content and information
on your website. For
example, you might say "YogaFun
enrollment starts at $49"
and provide more pricing
details on your website.
4) What mistakes
should we watch for?
- Reusing the same
offer over and over
We've seen vendors send
identical emails - same subject line, same content - all
year long prompting
readers to listen to
an "special audio postcard."
After the first couple
of identical emails,
do you think many folks
bothered to look at
it? Nope. It's generally
a better idea to switch up your marketing messages. For example, one promotion
might be fitness for working parents, and another might be eating well in a
hurry.
- Sending email to people
who didn't ask for it
You're almost certainly violating the federal CAN-SPAM act. And worse, your
readers will click the "Report as spam" button and blacklist you with their
Internet service providers. That means your emails won't be delivered to many
recipients. Plus, why would you want people to associate your product or service
with unwanted email? That's not a happy thing!
Don't automatically add customers to your email list just because they bought from you once.
Ask them explicitly if it's OK to send them occasional marketing-related emails.
- Too much info
We saw a promotional
email recently from
a software vendor that
consisted of a 300+word
letter from the president
haphazardly describing
a multitude of stuff
- everything from big
picture-ideas to very
detailed feature descriptions
AND the corporate mission
statement! Much too
much info, and it didn't
zero in on what mattered
to its audience.
- Not enough info
In the audiocard example
mentioned above, the
email failed to include
any reasons to buy.
It literally said only
"I have a special audio
postcard for you regarding
ProductABC." Few
readers would be motivated
to invest the effort
to listen based on so
little info.
- No relationship-building
with current or potential
customers
Many vendors reach
out to their customers
only when they want to sell
them something. Look
for opportunities to
communicate with current
and potential customers
that AREN'T exclusively
focused on sales. You've
got lots of options
- newsletters, invitations
to hear a special speaker,
and more. The key is
to do things that mesh well with your business and illustrate
your genuine concern
for making your customers'
lives better.
- Sending would-be buyers to your home page
When you're trying to
sell something specific,
don't send people to
your home page.
Set up a separate landing
page within your website for that specific
product. That's
where you want to send
people for more product
details.
If buyers choose
your service for differing
reasons, consider creating
a separate landing page
for each group of buyers.
For example, if you
sell wellness services
to consumers AND employers,
it usually makes sense to use one landing page
for consumers and a
different landing page
for employers.
- Multiple calls to action
Radial worked with a
vendor recently to streamline
a disappointing email
campaign. One
issue: this client typically
included at least three
competing calls to action
in every marketing email
- for example, a link
to a sample website,
a link to online demos,
and yet another link
to a free trial.
Far better to pick just
one action you want
readers to take, and
focus all your efforts
on that one action.
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