Your email marketing campaigns must be integrated. Failing to use all your available resources is a recipe for being an also-ran. One of your greatest assets for all sorts of reasons is your website, or if you are a bit canny, websites.
We all know the main reason browsers abandon websites: slow to load, too many popups and, the unforgivable error, not responsive. If your website commits any of these sins you need to start again. However, for most of us there are tweaks, or little improvements, that give a gain out of all proportion to the effort required.
One example is that your site is not different enough. If you would not be able to pick it out amongst a dozen of your competitors then nor will your target audience. There is no need to go to extremes, in fact there are many reasons not to, but the same old colours with the same old typefaces can become a bit same old. Use the returns from your email marketing campaigns to decide whether Times New Roman is optimum.
One of the most irritating features of some websites, not to mention a marketing email, is autoplaying of videos and audio. Even if there’s an X available to stop them, the time customers are engaging in locating the box could be more profitably used in browsing.
Another aspect which can put off people is a site that is not so much difficult to navigate as not intuitive. If you mention a product, have the text or image hotlinked to the item. No one wants to scroll up for the menu.
If someone is brought to your website but finds it is not what they thought then there are two concerns. The first is that you are unlikely to gain a sale. The second, and more important aspect, is that those who might have completed are unlikely to come to your site as they too are deceived.
Cliché alert; you can’t please all of the people all of the time. Just as you would split your email marketing lists, consider having two, or even more, websites. That gives you really precise targeting.
‘Too much info’ is another cliché that has probably run its course, but it highlights an aspect that many ignore. If you have a blog on your site then the amount of copy is an important factor in whether people will start to read it. 750 words is a fair bit to read on a mobile, so check the rate of abandonments.
It is not only the number of words. If you have a few images this adds to the bulk and a reader is not going to count the words. Initial assessment is what governs most readers.
If, for instance, you sell kitchens, there will be some people who live in places that were described as compact by the estate agent. If all they see are images of kitchens that would not disgrace a palace, it could be difficult to convince them of the advantages of signing up to your email marketing lists.
