In 2022, the number of email users worldwide is forecast at 4.3 billion.
Brands have used email marketing for several years, and it continues to get bigger.
Despite its effectiveness, brands have to additionally put in efforts to sustain and nurture customer relations with a customized strategy for the brand.
These strategies can be harnessed to deliver relevant and personal messages to people.
However, the catch lies where the subscribers don’t welcome these unsolicited email promotions. And that’s why bridging the most substantial gaps is essential.
Let's dive deep into the basics of permission-based email marketing first, with expert guidance from a trusted advertising email professional.
Table of Contents
What Is Permission-Based Email Marketing?
Permission email marketing refers to communicating to only those subscribers who have consented to receive the brands’ emails. This method is also known as opt-in marketing.
This requires seeking the audience’s permission before adding them to the email list. A checkbox can help in establishing the same.
A crucial aspect is that these emails must be tailored to the audiences’ interests and preferences. By offering value, and a solution, audiences agree to let you communicate with them.
Value could be offered in the following ways:
- An exclusive discount
- A free trial
- Webinar sign up
- Ongoing offers
- Video access
Importance of Permission-Based Email Marketing
People are exposed to unlimited content with every passing minute. This could be on varied channels such as social media, inboxes, and other apps that are used daily. This is why setting your emails apart from your competitors is substantial to have them noticed.
Those who have permitted you to keep in touch will be more than happy to hear from you about the updates of the brand. Apart from regular communication, this model offers better open and click-through rates, consistent engagement, and enhanced sales generation.
Getting permission can help avoid emails landing in the spam box and reduce your risk of being fined and reported.
Brands should note that permission-based email marketing follows quite strict guidelines worldwide. Although, if you want to operate in other countries with milder rules, you can still benefit from it.
Further benefits it helps marketers with include:
- To strengthen customer trust
- Nurturing leads and sales
- Getting better engagement results
- Maximizing the value of the email
- It helps reach out to previous prospects
- Uplifting the ROI
Apart from the benefits, it is the best time to reconsider the email list. Those who haven’t opened an email for six months are considered cold, and by this time, their interest in listening to you might drop. Hence, brands will require to seek permission once again.
A list scrub or a re-engagement sequence can help brands do so. This can help to re-introduce your brand once more, provide value and paint a fresh picture of the expectations.
Whereas a scrub sequence is a call to action to all the cold subscribers. You’ll ask your subscribers to click a link to confirm if they wish to remain subscribed. You can also let them know that they will be removed from the list if they don't take action.
Permission-based emailing is a great way to touch base with users who have abandoned their carts too. This can also help establish the brand positively. It shows that the brand respects them as people rather than leads.
Permission-Based Email Marketing - Best Practices
The email marketing revenue is estimated to reach almost 11 billion by the end of 2023, and setting the stage with a perfect email strategy can help brands get a piece of the pie.
Here are the following permission email marketing best practices to implement in your workflows:
- Seeking Permission
- Implied permission
- Expressed permission
- Getting Emails Addresses the Right Way
- Complying with GDPR Guidelines
- Adding an Opt-in Box for the Newsletter
- Never Buy an Email List
- An Easy Way to Unsubscribe
- Letting Audiences Know What They are Getting
Seeking Permission
The first step is obvious – seeking permission. Implicit permission emails are sent when the subscribers give you their email address in exchange for freebies such as eBooks, PDFs, discounts, or free trials.
Sending emails to people without them opting in is against the terms of service for most triggered email marketing software, as they don’t want their name attached to a spammy brand. These strategies may lead to financial and legal penalties, which will not be the best way to get loyal customers.
We have divided the same in terms of implied or expressed permission.
Implied permission
This refers to the person who has passed on their email to the brand but hasn’t mentioned that they want to receive emails from the brand.
The most common example is when someone fills in a form.
Expressed permission
Expressed permission is when the email address is specifically asked for, and given express permission.
This can be done via a checkbox or a form.
Knowing the difference lets you know which conversion marketing emails are to be sent and if they are sent to the right people. The more knowledge, tips, and resources you share, the more likely a prospect will move down the funnel.
Getting Emails Addresses the Right Way
While collecting emails to build a list is invaluable, having a system that notifies users about a confirmed subscription is imperative.
Once contacts are added to the system with a signup tool, audiences will receive a welcome email immediately. Initial information about the business, the expectations, and the ways prospects can connect with the company can be shared in the first set of emails. This is the perfect opportunity for brands to begin their relationship on the right foot.
Complying with GDPR Guidelines
In GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) regulated countries, you need explicit consent before sending emails. Permission-based email also helps the efficient use of marketing resources to align with these regulations.
Popups allow targeting the users based on their location. This can help create a campaign that complies with the GDPR.
Adding an Opt-in Box for the Newsletter
A past practice that marketers followed is adding a quick disclaimer at the bottom of the popup box to let people know that they will continue to receive marketing emails.
If missed disclaimers can be counterproductive to nurturing good relations with your prospects.
Here’s what the opt-in options are divided into:
- SOI – is a one-step process to gather a user's email during the signup activity.
- DOI – is a two-step process that includes email confirmation after the signup activity. Give them more choices, in terms of emails and frequency.
Never Buy an Email List
As mentioned above, there are no shortcuts to building a long-term and sustainable relationship with your audiences. If audiences haven’t consented to the emails, they are more likely not to be interested in the emails you're offering.
This can lead the results in the opposite direction, which is unsubscribing from the emails or marking them as spam.
Moreover, buying an email list isn’t worth the time and effort as it can lead to rock bottom click-through and open rates, hitting the brand’s reputation.
An Easy Way to Unsubscribe
Each email should have an unsubscribe button towards the end of the email. If so, this can leave your audiences frustrated with your brand and eventually unsubscribe to your email as soon as possible. You shouldn’t give your subscribers a tough time finding the link to do so.
Letting Audiences Know What They are Getting
Nobody wants to have their inbox filled with emails that aren’t useful.
When subscribers know what they are getting, they will not mark those emails as spam when they land in their inboxes.
Here’s what else you should keep in mind:
- Frequency – How often will they receive emails from you? In a week or month. If this gets too frequent for them, subscribers may opt out. Some may like to hear from you, but certainly not daily. Ideally, brands should be sparse enough to break the monotony, while not bug the audience with an email every other day.
- Content – They might have chosen you for a specific piece of content from a particular niche. You should let them know to give them a choice if they need to opt out.
Another excellent practice is to segment the audience using links. This is great if you send various topics or if your audience comprises groups with multiple tastes.
Keeping the Opt-Out Button Visible
Nobody wants their audiences to unsubscribe, but what if it happens?
The last thing brands want to do is make their brand look cluttered and deceptive by keeping the opt-out button hidden.
Brands can help them opt out of promotions, this can help them engage in the current content. Ideally, 49% of the consumers would like to receive promotional emails from their favorite brands. Hence, following a concrete timeline can save your emails from being unsubscribed and labeled as spam.
Examples of Permission-Based Email Marketing
Brands need to craft an offer that fits nicely with the readers' expectations. Otherwise, it will be sent to people who aren't interested in the first place.
You can offer this expertise by sharing your business assets. These resources include:
- Whitepapers
- Exclusive content
- Free marketing resources landing page
- Webinars
Permission-Based Email Marketing – Key Takeaways
As many as 87% of marketers use B2B email marketing to spread the word, making it the most rewarding marketing strategy.
Gaining the subscriber’s trust and respect takes time, money, and effort. One of the many ways is to create user personas to get them down the funnel.
Since email fatigue is a possible threat to the brand, it should be noted that email marketing strategies aren’t aggressive. Brands should instead make use analytics to dive deeper into insights to ensure quality over quantity.
