No one can doubt the value of email in lead generation. If anything, email marketing is still an important strategy being pursued by those in the IT arena. The reason for this is that emails prove to be effective in keeping marketing costs down all the while maintaining an influx of high-quality leads. For IT and software companies, this strategy would be essential in improving their bottom lines. With that being said, let’s take a deeper look at how email marketing can be leveraged to accomplish such goals.
One benefit of this strategy, according to an article published in Shout Me Loud, emails are highly adaptable, meaning they can be incorporated “into any kind of marketing plan that your business might have, without having any additional costs.” On the other hand, Campaign Monitor points out the prevalence of email across various industries, emphasizing email’s impressive ability in “generating the highest ROI” and in giving “marketers the broadest reach of all the channels available to them.”
From these observations, it is safe to say that email marketing can work for the IT crowd as well. But considering the complexities of creating and implementing an effective campaign, IT companies will have to come up with the right approaches to be able to break barriers.
The “right approach” might sound a little subjective since strategy varies from one company to another. Apparently, there’s really no trend to watch out for or standards to follow when it comes down to generating leads using emails. What is certain, though, is that successful campaigns are the result of mastery of the platform itself.
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A case in point is SaaS leader Moz. In an article on Inc.com, Moz is cited for its highly effective strategy of content curation. Instead of sending its subscribers with original content, the company would rather collect content from other sources and send them to contacts in its mailing lists under its “Moz Top 10” campaign. This strategy worked out for the best as it allowed them to be viewed as “industry experts for providing a simple and highly valuable resource.
Likewise, ERP software giant STR Software was also able to maximize its email campaigns and achieve a significant increase in organic traffic. This was possible by promoting a platform for their content that captures contact information. Using marketing automation, they were able to perform an email blast with relevant content, resulting in several other successes such as higher conversions and a steady flow of web traffic.
Learn how to generate more IT leads.
Despite these successes, however, these companies may have at some point encountered several issues along the way. It is only a matter of knowing these common problems in email marketing and coming up with the needed solutions.
Chief among these is the challenge of targeting the right people to subscribe to your mailing list. Resolving these issues requires that you place your fill form in an area where visitors can instantly see them. Aside from that, you may also need to create an effective call-to-action that will entice the right prospects to sign up for your updates and newsletters.
But going beyond this basic strategy, you will also need to craft content that corresponds to specific details. One thing’s for sure, you will be able to increase your email subscriptions significantly if you aim to hit the right notes. It’s only a matter of personalizing your messages based on demographics, particularly location and job titles. For the latter, opt to promote your newsletters to project managers, IT directors, operations managers, and other executive-level positions that handle IT integration.
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Planning on what to do with your campaign is easier said than done, but you can find a lot of ways to get around. The real challenge comes in rolling out your strategy. When it comes right down to engaging the right audience using your emails, you will only need to underscore the following tips:
- Create short and effective subject lines
- Schedule the ideal time of the day for sending your emails
- Optimize your newsletter for mobile users
- Provide giveaways such as coupons, vouchers, and free trials
- Personalize your content based on the interests and prior interactions of your audience
What other tactics should IT companies use to achieve better results in their lead generation? Let’s talk about it in the comments below.