Email marketing is a topic of conversation that keeps popping up this week! Always a good sign that it’s something I should be writing about here on the blog! If I were to summarise the conversations I’ve had, it’s simple. We’re all sick of seeing those highly Americanised marketing emailers that offer sleazy sales messages. As business owners, we understand that email marketing is still one of the most successful forms of marketing, so we’re missing a trick if we don’t do it… but nobody wants to be ‘that guy’. Nobody wants to send salesy emails and add to the noise! (FYI, the fact that this is the conversation that keeps coming up and this is a shared view is what convinces me we’re only working with the best people here at Green Umbrella!)

I don’t want to send salesy emails

Let’s be clear, there are a bunch of different types of email campaigns you could be sending.

Email marketing campaign examples

The Storyteller: There’s a trend right now for essay-length emails in bulk. They’re often described as storytelling emails, and for some, they work really well. Coaches, for example, find their audiences are interested in hearing about experiences and the learning that can be derived from the experience. This is mostly because, in this situation, the marketing activity is heavily invested in the personal brand of the individual and so the people responding are consuming the content as if it was an entry in that individual’s diary.

The Newsletter: Value-based and designed to be a balance of content that’s about you and about the recipient. It shouts about what’s happening in your shared world, but with your opinion being front and centre. If you’re a brand looking to establish credibility and have a voice – this is the perfect campaign. You can add the odd advert in, but this is about nurturing your audience, not selling to them. This campaign type usually incorporates some kind of design element and so also helps to contribute to brand awareness. I love a newsletter campaign for keeping your database active and for keeping those leads that said no connected to you so that when the time is right for them to buy, they come to you.

Curated Content: Again, a highly value-based communication intended to keep your audience up to date with the key articles in your shared sector, but in this situation, the content is mostly from external sources. You might add a line or two of opinion or a reason why this article is a must-read for extra kudos, as this will show you are not simply regurgitating the content of others but raising it as being meaningful, which, in turn, raises your own profile as a thought leader in your industry. (Remember, thought leaders use their voices!) One of the things I love best about this is that if personal brand/thought leadership is an objective in your marketing strategy, then you will also be using curated content to post to your social media channels. This gives you a testing ground. Simply include the articles you’ve posted that have had the most engagement or reach, as these have already been signalled as meaningful to your audience because of their performance in the algorithms!

Campaigns mean sending multiple emails

I hate the word ‘campaign’ when it comes to email marketing. The word itself is defined as being an organised course of action that makes it seem that there would be a number of things that happen. So from an email marketing perspective, we’re immediately thinking we should be sending a string of emails – not true. I would suggest that sending a campaign would include three actions as a minimum…

1. Select your audience
2. Create and send the email
3. Follow up accordingly – it could be another email, but it could be a phone call, something in print… it doesn’t necessarily have to be another email!

I said three actions as a minimum… if you want to create a chain of emails, that’s cool. But there is nothing wrong whatsoever with just sending one! Don’t get caught in a myth that says every campaign should be a nurture sequence of x emails within x days. You know your audience… do what you think is right, perfect that and then maybe play with the cadence and start to add more in or reduce down.

Nobody reads marketing emails – I don’t!

Do not, under any circumstance, underestimate the power of your email pinging into someone’s inbox. Even if they don’t open the email and click through, taking the end action you want them to take, there is value in that recipient seeing your name! Yes, we all receive a mammoth number of marketing emails every day, but take a second right now and think (other than me), who have you had emails from in the last day or so? Which of those names are top of mind? Wouldn’t you like your name to be recalled into the minds of your clients with the same ease?!

It’s important for me to mention at this point, you are not your audience. These communications are for them – not you. If the reason you don’t want to send salesy emails is you don’t we at to spam people, send emails that are packed with value. The videos you create, the guides and cheat sheets, all the stuff you create that fulfil your need to serve… send them that!

If you opt for one of the campaign examples I mentioned above, keep it regular! Educate your database that they’ll be hearing from you on that same day each week; for some of them, reading your email will then become part of their daily or weekly activities. Over time they’ll come to notice should you not appear in their inbox, whether that’s because you’ve missed your usual scheduled slot or if, for whatever reason, that particular email ended up in their junk folder!

In summary, there are so many options when it comes to email marketing that for anyone in business to not be utilising this strategy… well it’s criminal! And if this article doesn’t have you convinced that you should be getting out of your own way (ugh, I hate that phrase), then you need to arrange to jump on a call with me. I’ve never been given a reason strong enough for me to agree that sending marketing emails is a bad idea!