Jo Wood is an extremely knowledgeable Telephone Account Director, having been with Thomson Local for over 14 years. She has a wealth of experience in helping customers maximise their return from their email marketing campaigns, having been able to observe the variety of approaches that customers have used and identify what works best.
Here Jo tells us about the benefits of email marketing and lets us in on some of her top email marketing tips...
So tell us Jo, how does email marketing compare to other marketing channels and what do you think are the benefits of the channel?
Email marketing is one of the most effective mediums to achieve a quick response from the business sector.
With a carefully targeted audience, and a compelling message and “call to action” you can lure the recipient through a painless process to produce you instant leads and enquiries.
Email marketing is like having your opened direct mail letter popped directly in front of the key decision maker at a pre-determined moment in time, with the further ability to observe live not only how many people read it but know who they are and how to get hold of them for a follow up call.
On top of this, sending an email costs less than the cost of a stamp and it’s environmentally friendly too...which is nice.
How do you advise your customers which businesses to target using email marketing?
It’s important to aim your message at the people most likely to respond. You can select your audience by industry type, company size and geography. In addition, its also worth thinking about who you want to leave out. Some businesses may not want to target the retail sector for instance or may be less appropriate for a business based at certain premise types.
What can customers do to ensure their email message and creative are compelling enough to get opened and clicked?
The subject line is absolutely key as this will determine if someone reads on or not.
Your creative should be simple and encourage people to take the first step of a contact process, either by submitting a simple enquiry form or clicking on highlighted areas of the email for more information.
What kind of response rates would you expect your customers to generate from a B2B email marketing campaign? Do you know if there is any way to increase email response rates?
The standard average email open rate is 20% with 1% response rates via click through, but I have many customers regularly exceeding these figures.
Response rate varies massively according to your message and your audience. You can also increase your response tenfold by integrating a telemarketing follow up. We can arrange to provide you with this data straight after your broadcast to really maximise results.
And finally, what do you think are some of the key issues for businesses to bear in mind when planning their 2009 email marketing communication strategy?
- Frequency of message – not everyone responds first time. Ensure your message is broadcast...and then repeated or updated intermittently.
- Accuracy and availability of data - Thomson Local email addresses are verified opt-in recipients and are NOT available to purchase. Because of this they are protected limited availability data and therefore more likely to respond.
- Integration with other direct marketing channels – don’t limit yourself to one channel of contact. Try incorporating email with direct mail and telemarketing to really maximise your response. Keep your customers informed and your potential customers interested.
