What is a direct marketing email?

The content of these marketing emails varies. Some may provide educational content related to the brand’s products or services. Others may introduce new product developments or special deals. Any promotional content businesses send via email to targeted groups of customers is a direct marketing email. 

Effectiveness of direct email marketing

Before investing in this marketing strategy, you may ask yourself, “Are direct email marketing campaigns effective?” The simple answer is: Yes, email marketing is incredibly effective. 

According to a Litmus report, more than 90% of marketers believe email marketing is important in their company’s success. Email marketing provides an excellent return on investment (ROI), averaging $36 for every $1 spent. That’s a 3,600% return. Very few other marketing channels are as cost-effective as email marketing. 

Direct email marketing is not without its drawbacks, however. For example, companies using direct email marketing may run into issues with spam filters that prevent their emails from reaching customers. Designing and writing effective marketing emails is also challenging, especially for brands venturing into email marketing for the first time. 

Luckily, none of these challenges are insurmountable. With the right strategy and direct email marketing solution, you can make this channel work wonders for your business.  

Creating a strategy

Getting started is the hardest part of email marketing. Step one is to develop your strategy. To create a successful direct email marketing strategy:

• Determine your goals: The most effective strategy is tailored to your brand’s specific goals. Do you want to increase brand awareness? Increase your upselling and cross-selling? Improve your customer retention? Your goals will inform your email marketing practices. 
• Build your email list: You need a strong email list to reach the right people with your email promotions. This list is full of customers and potential customers who have already agreed to receive emails from your business.
• Segment your customers: One of the main strengths of email marketing is that it allows you to easily segment your customers into smaller groups by shared characteristics. For example, you can create a segment of customers who have spent $500+ on your products and send them a thank-you email to recognize them. 

Four types of email marketing messages

Your strategy depends on the type of email marketing you plan to use. What are the four types of email marketing? They cover several key areas:

• Transactional emails: Confirm customer purchases
• Promotional emails: Keep customers aware of your special deals and discounts
• Email newsletters: Build brand awareness with updates and other engaging information
• Retention emails: Help you engage and keep existing customers

Key direct email marketing metrics

Tracking and evaluating metrics is a key part of any marketing strategy. These metrics will tell you what’s working and what you can improve in your campaigns. Here’s how to measure direct email marketing success with key metrics:

• Open rate: Your open rate is the percentage of all recipients who open your email. You want this percentage to be as high as possible. One way to increase your open rate is to write more compelling subject lines. 
• Click-through rate: The click-through rate (CTR) on your marketing email is the percentage of recipients who click on a link in the message. If you send 1,000 emails and 100 people open a link in those emails, your CTR for that email is 10%. 
• Bounce rate: The bounce is the percentage of emails you send that do not reach the recipient’s inbox. Emails can bounce for several reasons, such as invalid recipient email addresses, full inboxes, or spam filters. Watch your bounce rate for any unusual spikes that may indicate an issue with your emails. 
• Conversion rate: The conversion rate on your emails is the percentage of messages that result in a customer completing a desired action, like making a purchase. Divide the number of customers who completed this action by the total emails you sent to get your conversion rate. 
• Email list growth: Hopefully, you will continue to grow your email list over time so you can reach more and more customers. Track your email list numbers to know if the growth slows or even stops. A welcome email and email retargeting can help keep your list numbers up over time.