If you’ve been following the Make It Happen blog, you know that we recently covered why a recession is the perfect time for responsible, ROI-focused marketing. Yes, the sad truth is that Australia is forecasted to enter into a recession, but that shouldn’t make you panic.
Thankfully, marketing doesn’t always have to be costly. In fact, many marketing strategies are relatively cheap compared to their high ROIs. One such strategy is EDM marketing.
EDM (Electronic Direct Mail) marketing can benefit your business or NFP (non-for-profit) greatly during an economic downturn. So let’s take a moment to look into the ins-and-outs of how to execute EDM responsibly and effectively.
But first, let us recap what exactly EDM is, and how it differs from email marketing. EDM is defined as:
A marketing strategy that sends out targeted and personalised messages to large groups of potential and existing customers in order to foster relationships, generate new leads and maintain customer loyalty.
EDM differs from regular old email marketing because the strategy refuses to stick to email as its singular media channel to reach customers. While email marketing exclusively relies on email blasts, EDM uses an initial email blast as a launching point for a more holistic, multi-media campaign.
So why is EDM an appropriate strategy for businesses as Australia enters an economic downturn? Let’s take a look…
EDM is very cost effective
Low Cost
EDM is an extremely cost-effective marketing strategy. Generally, assembling a subscriber list doesn’t have to cost much money (though it can take time). There are creative ways to do that too, including offering a discount code, interactive quizzes that help customers discover their ideal product or service, or a 30-day trial.
If you have an in-house design team, they can create beautiful emails at a fraction of the cost of creating a traditional mailer. Further, sending out emails in-house is so much cheaper than relying on a delivery service and uses less materials as well.
High Return
Email has the highest returns out of any other platforms used in marketing campaigns. Considering the low costs, the strategy provides a high return on investment (ROI).
More people in the world use email than any other platform, including social media, snail mail, text messaging and mobile apps. The likelihood, therefore, of reaching customers directly and converting leads into buying clients is high.
By primarily using the power of email to engage customers and then following through with a variety of other channels, EDM guarantees a robust strategy that is sure to gain you more conversions.
How to execute EDM Marketing responsibly
Have your legal bases covered
There’s a difference between unsolicited communication and EDM marketing. Unsolicited communication has virtually become illegal thanks to the CAN-SPAM Act and EU’s GDPR. In Australia, a Spam Act was put in place in 2003, acting similarly to the policies in the USA and the European Union mentioned above.
In order to utilise the power of e-blasts appropriately, you have to make sure you’ve gathered your email list consensually. This means that individuals must willingly give out their contact information directly to the business they’re engaging with.
Being clear and intentional about what you want from customers can instantly increase their trust and willingness to engage with you. Consider this cleverly written conversational copy from Really Good Emails:
The pop-up also directly asks customers if they are ok with getting emails and having their activities tracked. This is a clear example of responsible EDM marketing, and how to build your list ethically.
Profile your Data
Data profiling simply means analysing a dataset that you’ve gathered. In big EDM campaigns, it becomes increasingly important to profile your customer data. This includes making sure your customers’ emails and contact information are up to date. Equally important is segmenting your customer email list.
EDM consists of intentional and specific targeting, meaning you have to know your customers. Start by breaking up your customer list into groups that share common traits. These can include demographics such as age, gender, location, profession and income.
You may also want to pursue advanced segmenting like online behaviour such as website dwell time, browsing habits, spending habits and loyalty to the brand.
This data will help you gain an understanding of what your customers want and thereby specify which group to segment them into and how to proceed accordingly.
Utilise an Email Platform for effective monitoring
Especially during a recession, monitoring your EDM campaign is of utmost importance and will help you allocate your budget properly.
Using built-in analytic tools offered by email software platforms (ESPs) will shed light on whether or not you are reaching your marketing objectives and key performance indicators (KPIs). Some great ESPs to consider are MailChimp, Hubspot, Marsello, and Wrike.
The analytic tools that ESPs offer effectively monitor things such as email sharing rate, unsubscribe rate, bounce rate, open rate, click through rate (CTR) and list growth rate. Couple an ESP with Google Analytics and you’ll also be able to track metrics like cost per lead, customer acquisition cost, customer lifetime value, customer retention and more.
Final Thoughts
While a recession might cause businesses to freak out and go into panic mode, there really is no need. Cost effective marketing solutions exist, and EDM might be the most impactful one of them all.
Email is a far reaching platform. Creating a robust EDM campaign will get you even farther. Make sure to market methodically and responsibility by keeping your legal bases covered, profiling your data and monitoring your campaign’s progress.
By managing your expectations and following EDM best practices, you’ll not only establish good rapport with your clients, but also increase your company’s revenue during hard times, and who doesn’t want that?
So here’s a quick suggestion: drop whatever it is you’re doing right now and get on that EDM train.
It is definitely worth it.