INsights
Email marketing isn’t dead. Most email is just forgettable.
People have never had much patience for information that isn’t useful to them. What has changed is how much information they can access and how quickly they can access it.
Your clients, prospects and supporters can research a question, compare options or catch up on what’s happening in their industry in minutes. If your email says nothing new or useful, why would they stop for it?
A useful email fills a gap.
No gap, no send.
That doesn’t mean you need a world exclusive. It might be a clear take on an industry change, an answer to a question you keep hearing, an angle they may not have considered or a useful resource they don’t have to hunt down themselves.
For a not-for-profit, it could be what happened after an event, the people involved, progress supporters haven’t seen or something that connects them to work they already care about.
You don’t need to know something nobody else knows. You need a reason for this particular audience to be glad you sent it.
If you’re struggling to decide what belongs in the next email, start here:
If you can’t find a decent answer, maybe there isn’t a good reason to send.
People end up on databases for different reasons. They may have made an enquiry, bought something, downloaded a guide, attended an event, donated or registered for updates.
That context matters, but it doesn’t automatically mean everyone wants to hear the same thing.
Someone who downloaded a guide may appreciate more practical information on that subject. A client might value an industry update that saves them some research. An event attendee may want to see what happened afterwards.
Treating everyone the same wastes what you already know.
You don’t need elaborate automation to improve this. Start with the differences that actually change the message. A good lifecycle marketing strategy uses that context to keep communication relevant as the relationship develops.
If everyone still gets essentially the same message, you haven’t really segmented.
Once you have something worth saying, decide what the email is there to do.
What it probably shouldn’t do is all of those things at once.
When a company update, three promotions, an article, a staff announcement and an event invitation are all fighting for attention, the reader has to work out what actually matters.
One job sharpens everything else.
A clever subject line might earn the open, but it can’t make the email worthwhile.
If you promise practical guidance, give it. If you announce an event, make the important details easy to find. If you celebrate an achievement, tell the story properly. If you introduce an offer, give people a reason to care about it.
The same logic applies after the click.
An event email should lead to the registration page, not an events directory. An educational email should link directly to the resource, not a homepage that makes someone search for it.
If the email earned the click, don’t waste it.
The right email at the right time is.
How often you communicate should depend on the relationship, what people agreed to receive and whether you still have something worth saying.
An industry update that saves a client time may be worth sending. An event recap that lets supporters see the people, stories and outcomes may be worth sending even if you aren’t asking them to do anything.
Another email, simply because the marketing calendar says it is time for one, probably isn’t.
Sometimes the smartest move is to wait until you have something better to say.
Email gives you direct access to people who have given you permission to contact them. But access isn’t the point.
Contribution is.
Before your next send, ask one question:
What will someone know, understand or be able to do because they received this email?
If you have a worthwhile answer, you’ve got a reason to send it.
