We’re approaching the “most wonderful time of year.” Are you ready?

While I love the holiday season, the hectic months of November and December can wreak havoc on marketing ROI, causing even the most creative email messages to go unopened. With email campaigns being released in high volume as businesses seek to capitalize on holiday sales, it’s more difficult than ever to get your messages heard.

Don’t worry – take a deep breath and consider these 6 ways to rise above the email clutter and drive improved results as 2015 comes to a close:

1. Keep on emailing: Email continues to prove its mettle when it comes to marketing ROI. The latest data shows that most B2B companies rely on email to boost engagement, increase lead generation, improve customer acquisition and retention, and feed lead nurturing. One new study cites that 91 percent of marketers consider their email marketing “very successful” or at least “somewhat successful” in achieving their marketing goals. That’s a big number!
2. Prioritize click-throughs: While email marketing success can be assessed in many ways, click-throughs are the most useful metric tracked by marketers to measure program performance. After all, a response – and engagement with your brand – should be the goal of your email campaigns. Conversion rate, open rates and email ROI round out the top of the list, although these can be a bit harder to track.
3. Create a compelling CTA: To make an impression, a captivating call-to-action (CTA) is a must-have for marketers to increase click-throughs and other measureables. The CTA is the enticing bait on the hook of your email – make it interesting and irresistible, but valuable and helpful as well. Other ways to improve email success are to segment your list(s) for optimal targeting, personalize your message, and test your messages for peak efficiency.
4. Provide real value: The key to email success over the holidays and as we head into 2016 will be to continue to give your prospects honest value in your communications – not just pitching yourself or your products. This can be done with newsletters, how-to articles, webinars or videos, tips and tricks, news on the latest market trends, stories on how others have been successful, etc. Such valuable content is the must-have first step to building trust with your prospects.
5. Focus on quality: Email campaign success today is more about quality than quantity, and a key indicator of ROI is the level of engagement your audience has with your brand. In following your prospects through their buying journeys, a focused, targeted list of those who are genuinely interested in your topic of expertise and, in turn, highly engaged with your company, will deliver more value – and higher click-through rates for your efforts.
6. Patiently guide your customers: Practice patience with your prospects, make a sincere effort to understand where they are in their buying journeys, and aim to create lifetime value. If you merely purchase a list and introduce yourself with a heavy-handed sales message for products (that your prospects don’t yet know they need), you’ll lose them from the start. Have the restraint to build a solid program strategy, parse your sales funnel and provide content aligned to those prospects at specific stages of their buying lifecycle.

Lastly, while email continues to serve as the go-to channel in the marketer’s toolbox, it’s important to remember that unfocused, mass messages will only miss the mark. Marketers need to target their messages and provide real value in helping subscribers be successful in their jobs or lives. When that happens, you’ll have a database full of those who will turn to you for guidance, be receptive to your message – and take action on your offers.

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