Firstly, the acronym EDM stands for Electronic Direct Mail. Secondly, EDMs and email marketing campaigns are not actually the same thing.
An electronic marketing campaign is solely based on email send-outs. It is the process of building an email database of customers and/or potential customers and sending them communications or special offers directly.
An EDM on the other hand is a much more lengthy process and involves more than just email communication. An EDM utilises multiple forms of communication to relay and reinforce the campaign message. This can be done through:
However, the outcome for both EDMs and email marketing campaigns is generally the same, which is to either build brand loyalty or convert sales. Below are some of the key benefits and recommendations involved with both.
The main benefit of strategic email campaigns is that it’s one of the only forms of mass communication that provides usable data. No matter whether or not your campaign was a success, the best thing about email campaigns is that the analytics you gather afterwards can assist with future planning.
The beauty of email communications is that you can view how many people opened your email, how many took action as a result, what device they viewed it on, what time they viewed it, where in the world they viewed it, and almost anything you could think of, helping you calculate an exact return on investment (ROI).
The other major benefit of email marketing campaigns is how much time and money it can save a business. Email service providers make it as simple as possible for small and medium-sized businesses to reach large audiences that would have previously been out of their reach.
Another huge benefit of email marketing campaigns is how incredibly personal you can make them. Unlike traditional marketing platforms, email allows the sender to add personal touches, which go a long way with consumers. Email campaigns can be tailored to include the recipient’s name, their nearest store, localised news and customise the products or services they are interested in. All these things improve the user experience and therefore increase the likelihood of conversions.
The type of email you send really depends on what you want customers to do. Do you want them to buy something or are you just trying to strengthen your relationship?
Here are a few ideas for your next email campaign, split by eCommerce and non-eCommerce deliverables:
eCommerce
Non-eCommerce
There’s nothing worse than creating an email or marketing campaign, sending it out and realising it looks nothing like you wanted, or it looks completely different on varying devices.
Like the value of thorough research for journalists, comprehensive testing is crucial for any email marketer. It’s worth taking the time to ensure it’s done properly.
Most email providers also provide the opportunity to split-test an email campaign. This means you can test different elements of an email to see what version generates the best results. Testing can be applied the subject line, the content, the images and pretty much anything else.
Read more about email split testing here.
Another thing worth testing with your next email campaign is the best time to send for your particular audience. While there are guidelines available about the best hour of day and also the best day of the week to send emails, it’s not generally the same between industries.
The best thing to do is to conduct your own email campaigns and take time to review the analytics. This will give you the best indication of when and what device your customers prefer to receive your information.
Find out more about the best time to send emails here.
If you are ready to make a serious commitment to online marketing, then planning an EDM or email marketing strategy is one of the most cost-effective ways to generate results.