You may say to me "What is Inbound? Inbound marketing is a non-intrusive marketing that, thanks to a precise analysis of prospects and their behavior on the sites, allows to distribute targeted information at the right time on the right communication channels.
Inbound Marketing is based on the creation and distribution of content adapted to the target; the distribution of this content on a dedicated blog and social networks; the analysis of visitors and prospects in order to optimize the communication strategy in real time.
The leitmotiv of Inbound Marketing is: do non-intrusive marketing, do marketing that people like.
Knowing this, can we consider emailing as an Inbound strategy?
Can email marketing be done in such a way that prospects feel they are receiving these emails voluntarily and that they are adding value to them?
Or is it that emails are and have always been considered as spam?
Email marketing can be inbound
When done right, email marketing can be considered as a full-fledged element of an inbound strategy. Considering what has been said above, email marketing, to be effective, must provide added value to prospects who are already interested in a company and its services.
How do you know if a contact is interested in you?
It's pretty simple: if someone spontaneously asks to receive emails from you, it's pretty clear that they are interested in the information your company can provide.
But how do you prevent your qualified contacts from unsubscribing from your database and how do you get them to open your email and engage with your brand?
Provide added value in your emails
This is where many companies fail. It's easier for a company or marketer to focus on what they want the potential customer to know or do than on what they actually want to learn or see.
You probably want your prospects to fill out a contact form or call one of your sales representatives to find out more about your services for example. But what percentage of your prospects are ready to take that step after an emailing?
As a rule, only a very small percentage of contacts are ready to make a purchase after receiving an email. An email that pushes a potential customer to buy, to call, to commit is more likely to be deleted or to have a high unsubscribe rate.
To avoid this, every time you send an email to your contacts ask yourself these questions:
- What does my prospect really want at this stage of the buying cycle?
- Do you want more information about our products and services?
- Does he want more information about our company, expertise, case studies?
Always try to put yourself in the shoes of your prospects and give them what they want right now!
Adapt, target, segment
No, email marketing is not drowning among the new emerging marketing strategies. But realizing this does not mean doing it right!
The key words for successful emailing? Segmentation and hyper-segmentation!
Keep in mind that your prospects are not all the same, they do not all expect the same information, they are not at the same level of the conversion funnel, they do not have the same goals regarding their relationship with you and your company.
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Even if you sell the same product to your different prospects, they are different and so should be your communication.
This is why segmentation and hyper-segmentation are essential strategies for good emailing.
What is segmentation and hyper-segmentation?
It's quite logical in itself: it's the analysis of your contacts and the personalization of your emails according to the segments that you can draw from this analysis.
Our advice: make lists of prospects according to the company in which they work, their position within that company, the date of their subscription to your newsletter or emailing, separate your customers from your prospects, etc.
Group your prospects based on their similarities and personalize your emails based on these groups.
For an emailing campaign to be successful, it must be closely monitored. To do this, you must use good tracking to measure the behavior of your prospects and the success or not of your emailings.
Keeping a critical eye on these numbers and strategies allows you to fully understand your prospects' behaviors and needs, but more importantly to adapt your strategy throughout the conversion cycle.
Still skeptical? A HubSpot studythe American company behind the concept of Inbound Marketing, should convince you. The segmentation of emailing generates results that speak for themselves:
Segmented emailings adapted to the information needs of the target generate a click rate of 8%, mass emailings hardly reach 3%.
The relationship between you and your leads must be a perfectly mastered waltz, adopt their rhythm to avoid missteps!
In view of these reflections, it seems that it is justified to say that yes, emailing can be inbound and has its place in an inbound marketing strategy.
But for this statement to be true, certain efforts are required:
- Analyze your target
- Segment your contacts
- Establish a mailing schedule
- Personalize your emailings according to your contacts' needs
- Answer their questions and give them the information they are looking for
Communication is an art that must be handled with scientific fingers! Be human, be close to your contacts, be attentive to your prospects and above all be good marketers!
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