Five Tactics to Energize Your Startup's Email Campaigns [Slide Show]

by Yo Noguchi |

October 21, 2011

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Email campaigns are one of the most essential components of a startup's marketing strategy. A startup's email campaigns are especially pertinent because a neglected email campaign can result in long-term detrimental effects on sales and on the brand.

Most email marketing campaigns, especially those of startups, are created to encourage prospective customers to look to the startup when they are ready to buy. Consumers buy only from trustworthy companies, and established relationships lead to sales.

Put together a solid email campaign and build a relationship of trust to establish yourself as the expert in your field.

Create a plan that stands out with these five tactics that'll energize your startup's email marketing campaign.

(Image courtesy of Bigstock, Young Businessman.)

1. Pump up your social network connections

Promote your brand via an email that encourages dialogue among your social media followers. Seriously, go ahead and use an entire email just to promote your social networking accounts!

Start with content from your newsletters that promote your brand's social media profiles. Then, use call-to-action buttons and links as design enhancements to your email template, as well as a way to drive traffic from email to social media.

Place text links leading to all of your social media profiles in the footer of your main site, and integrate them into your newsletters.

(Image courtesy of Bigstock, Man Working Out.)

2. Recap your blog posts

Assuming that you have a startup blog, recap your posts and showcase your blog by regularly including the best posts in your email newsletters. Lead subscribers to the blog first, and then to your social media profiles via links.

The key to getting your audience to read your content is brevity. The idea is not to offer digests of your current blog posts, but to summarize your blog's content by topic or subject. Then, find a way to connect readers with other related content by providing links to older posts.

(Image courtesy of Bigstock, Blog.)

3. Include quick polls

Use quick one-, two-, or three-question polls that ask your subscribers interesting, relevant questions related to your startup. Although blog polls are used primarily as a means for research, they also provide the opportunity for your audience to participate, adding a level of interactivity.

Make sure to limit the number of options your participants have to choose from. Suppose you're taking a poll on the best car of 2010. Condense the list of options to create a polling system that will clarify what you are trying to find out.

Be aware that the more choices you provide, the more watered down your results will be, and the less inclined your audience will be to take the survey.

(Image courtesy of Bigstock, Online Survey.)

4. Get a flexible, quality template

Create, buy, or find a flexible template that allows you to include other types of media (video, photos, etc.) without issue. Readers should not merely open emails and recognize the template; they should also be afforded the capability to share your brand via their social networks.

Adjust small parts of your template for seasons or holidays but keep the same general template intact, and remember to always link the content to your social media sites.

(Image courtesy of Bigstock, New Email.)

5. Streamline your writing

Cut out unnecessary words, shorten paragraphs, and get to the point. Engage readers by updating your content in a style and format that is easy for your audience to consume.

The key is to relate to readers while offering them something new that they deem is worthy of their attention.

(Image courtesy of Bigstock, Problem Solving.)

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