As not for profit alchemists, direct mail marketing continues to be a staple in many non-profit marketers’ marketing efforts – it can be cost-effective and impactful when compared to other marketing efforts favoured by the for-profit sectors.
Recent figures concerning return on investment for email marketing come from the American Direct Marketing Association, who report that the ROI is often more than $60 for every dollar spent, compared to other online marketing efforts that see closer to a $20 return for each dollar spent.
Additionally, there is no shortage of options when it comes to available email marketing services and a major factor in the success of an email marketing campaign happens to be the selection of a service that best fits your organisation’s needs, knowledge and purposes most effectively. Perhaps your organisation is new to the world of email marketing or maybe your non-profit already uses a service to promote programmes or distribute e-newsletters to board members, donors or those being served by your organisation’s mission. Either way, the start of a new year is a great time to think about what to look for in a service and how to get the most from your efforts. Consider the following factors as you research:
Free or fee
Whilst cost is an important consideration, and quite possibly the determining factor when selecting a service, there is a service suitable for every budget. Additionally, the expensive services aren’t necessarily any better than the free sites, they may well offer services and features that you just don’t need. Some sites, such as Charityemail, enable users to use their services on a month-to-month basis as needed, with a fee based on how many people an email is being sent to or how many emails are being sent each month. These particular services allow great flexibility for the ebb and flow of non-profit marketing budgets. Constant Contact offers a free 60 day trial for up to 100 subscribers and £10 a month thereafter for as many mailings as you like to up to 500 contacts.
- Hosting
Most email marketing services are based either on your desktop or in the cloud – meaning either you are downloading actual software to use on your computer or logging into a website. With a desktop service, your lists are kept private and secure on your own computer or your non-profit’s server. That’s not to say your information is not private and secure with online services, though. Primarily, the appeal of this difference is found within reconciling data – each time an email list is updated online, offline lists need updating, too, unless there is only one master list as such would be the case when using a desktop service. The downside? Desktop services tend to come with a higher price tag.
- Features
Once beyond price points, the thing that truly sets email marketing services apart is the features they offer. The ability to monitor click-throughs, open rates and links, along with the ability to personalise and schedule emails are three features that should be non-negotiable for most non-profit email marketers. Other features worth considering include:
- Looking for something professional-looking? Choose an email service that allows for you to enter your own custom HTML – these are poised to most accurately represent your brand and visual identity and can often be viewed well by all email accounts and mobile phones. This will however require the design of an initial template to be coded into HTML by a designer or web professional.
- Hoping to entice engagement? Consider an email service that offers online couponing – coupons that can be placed in an email and printed out for redemption, or digital coupons for use in e-commerce settings. Both couponing options should also come with added tracking features. Another way to encourage engagement is through surveys. Many email services offer survey integration into emails to gauge audience interest. Coupon code redemption can often be improved by offering giveaways like printed t-shirts or cotton shopping bags to those who complete the survey.
- Want to use a lot of images or logos in your emails? Look for a service that does not cap or charge extra for uploading photos or logos to the service. If you find a service that you like and it allows for unlimited photo uploads but charges extra for image storage, be sure to use a USB drive to devote to your email images.
- Is your organisation big on social media? Seek a service that lets recipients “like” an email on Facebook®, link on Twitter™ or share via email. Not all email marketing services allow for icon links to your organisation’s social media sites.
- Short on time? Sign up for an email marketing service that automatically manages email lists for you. Subscribers sign up via a link sent to them through email, posted on your organisation’s social media accounts or placed on your website. When they choose to unsubscribe, they click a link to do so and are automatically removed from your lists. Some services even operate so that once someone has removed themselves from the list, you can’t accidentally add them again. These services will also de-dupe lists and alert you to any incorrect or outdated email addresses, making list management much easier.
- Have no idea what you’re doing? Select a service that has a plethora of ready-made templates or an easy to follow wizard creator that will allow for email creation and design from even the un-savviest of designers. Furthermore, be sure to find a service that has a reputation for responsive customer service, extensive help pages, user forums or instant messaging to a helpdesk.
Once you’ve decided which email marketing service to use, the next factor that determines success of campaigns is cross-promotion of your emails – especially e-newsletters. Make sure you include a footnote encouraging website visitors to join your mailing list with a link to do so and remember to encourage staff and volunteers to promote the email list in-person, too – hand out printed pens or Post-it Notes with a note to “Subscribe to our e-newsletter online today!”
Email marketing is a great way to reach audiences in a technical world. Make sure the email marketing software you use is the best one for you and your message in order to ensure optimum success. |