I tend to strongly disagree with anyone who says that email marketing campaigns have gone the way of the dinosaurs. If you look at the stats behind successful email marketing campaigns (not spam marketing campaigns), then you’ll quickly see just how effective they are at helping bring leads through the lead nurturing process.

Apart from having a piece of quality CMS software to help organize and send out the emails, here are some of the suggestions that I give to my manufacturing clients about email marketing:

Also, be sure to check out our FREE Ebook, “How Successful Manufacturers Grow Their Business Using Inbound Marketing” to learn effective ways for generating traffic and leads for your company. 

Comply with the CAN-SPAM Act

The last thing that you want is for your emails to end up in someone’s spam or junk folder or, even worse, have your emails completely BANNED by one’s ISP. Before you even start an email marketing campaign, I always recommend that business owners print out the latest copy of the CAN-SPAM act. Some of the principals of CAN-SPAM that you will want to make note of are:

  • Any recipient must have given their affirmative consent before receiving commercial email
  • Any recipient must have an option to opt-out or unsubscribe from receiving further emails
  • Any sender of an email cannot mislead the recipient about the content or the origin of the email (i.e. be clear about what your email is about)
  • Any sender must use approved methods to get a recipient’s email address

Do a quick search on the ‘net to obtain the most updated rules on the CAN-SPAM act and check up on the rules and regulations every year.

Personalize All Emails

No one likes receiving impersonal and generic emails. Think about it: would you feel more compelled to read an email that starts with “Dear Sir or Madame”, or one that says “Hi Sarah” (assuming that Sarah is your real name)? Some studies have indicated that having someone’s first name in the greeting of an email can increase your click-thru rate by an astounding 650%.

TIP: If you’ve armed yourself with a quality piece of CMS programming, however, this software will be able to personalize all of your emails for you.

Maximize your Click-Thru Rates

Speaking of click-thru rates, if you want to give them a real boost, you want to get rid of the clutter. Having an email that’s full of graphics and banners will just confuse your readers and leave them wondering what the heck they’re supposed to click on in your email. It’s been shown time and time again that having plain, bold text (particularly blue text) that someone needs to click is the most effective way of increasing your click-thru rate, and the best way of increasing your lead count or conversions.

That’s all find and well, but you may be wondering, “But what do I offer in my emails?” If you really want to boost your click-thru rates, then you’ll want to have some kind of an offer. Freebies, discounts, and other promotional offers are the best way to get people to click on a link, but it’s not the only way. As a matter of fact, I always recommend that an email marketing campaign be more about supplying your subscribers with quality information than sales pitches. Which leads me to my final point…

Offer Quality Information

Your intention of an email marketing campaign is to turn a lead into a customer, sure. But you have to keep that lead first. How do you do that? By giving them what they want. Providing useful, quality information in an email, and links to further information they’ll want and need in that email, is what will make your email marketing campaign a huge hit.

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t be trying to make sales with your emails; you should. But try to keep your emails 80% informative and non-sales related, and 20% promotional – especially in the manufacturing industry. Talk about your company’s safety standards (or the industry safety standards in general), advertise a new blog entry that has an interview with an “expert” in your industry or that discusses a pressing matter in your industry. Include pictures of the products that you’ve manufactured recently, or offer “Top 10”-style lists of things that are related to your industry. You know your particular niche in the manufacturing industry; create emails that are full of information you, yourself, would want to know.

Key Takeaways:

There are a lot of things that go into having a successful email marketing campaign, from complying with CAN-SPAM to offering quality content. The main goal is to remind potential leads that you exist, that you’re helpful, and that you’re there whenever they need you. You won’t see your profits rise immediately, but within a matter of months, you’ll see a steady increase in business.

Need Help?

If you’re a manufacturing company interested in generating more leads from a email marketing campaign, contact us today to schedule your free marketing analysis.