The Rising Importance of Email Marketing During Covid-19
For a long time, email marketing has remained one of the mainstream channels for brands looking to communicate to consumers about their products and services. But now the COVID-19 pandemic seems to be triggering a surge in its use as businesses strive to help their customers adjust to the changing market trends.
In this post, we take a look at the important role that email marketing is playing during these pandemic times. While at it, we also share the strategies you need to adopt to efficiently communicate with your consumers without scaring them away.
The role of email marketing during the pandemic
When implemented properly, email marketing is a powerful tool for communicating with your audience. Below are some of the roles it’s playing during the COVID-19 pandemic:
Sharing service-oriented emails
Businesses are sharing emails explaining the impact that the pandemic has had on their services. For example, when governments began closing their borders, companies offering flight services were significantly affected. Most used emails to communicate the resulting disruption on flight bookings including possible cancellation or suspension of travel. Besides, they requested feedback on how they could help to fix the inconveniences caused.
Communicating brand acknowledgment of the tough times
A lot of companies are using email marketing to notify consumers about discounts on essential products or services. This is one of the many ways they are using to acknowledge the tough times that the pandemic is causing and letting their customers know that “we’re in this together”.
Auto-generating email content
Email marketing tools are capable of auto-generating content for emails. Some entities are using them to send mass emails to the list of subscribers basing them on popular subjects around the COVID-19 updates. While mass emailing is critical in passing on important information, consumers are increasingly preferring personalized messages. The pandemic is a sensitive subject that can trigger your messages getting “marked as spam” if the content doesn’t show a deep understanding of recipients.
Strategies to boost email marketing during COVID-19
While email marketing is generally effective when used as a communication tool, not all traditional strategies are working during this pandemic. Below are powerful strategies your business can adopt to create value to your mailing list:
Personalized mail messages
Most consumers feel connected to a brand that demonstrates a deeper understanding of their tastes and preferences. So, which approaches can help you understand them more?
First, encourage both new and regular clients to leave feedback on how they feel about your product or service delivery. Use this information to craft emails that guarantee rectification of any previous mishap.
Moreover, promote only the products and services that are relevant to each consumer. For example, if you sell multiple items, create multiple emails that address each class of customers separately. People who buy shoes from you won’t find discounts on plates important, but perhaps they’ll appreciate news about clothes that accompany their shoes.
Reduce COVID-19 news
Unless you’re in the health niche, stick to sending out only the mainstream COVID-19 news. Design your emails to focus on the business part more, including the efforts that you’re taking to improve service delivery amidst the pandemic. Chances are that your target audience has been reading, hearing, or talking about the virus and might not find emails primarily focusing on it enticing or valuable.
Avoid high volume emails
If your pre-covid email marketing routine entailed sending three emails per week, avoid the temptation to send them daily now. While it’s critical to communicate about the disrupted market trends affecting your customers, don’t fatigue them with updates so frequently.
Create outreach emails that cover all the key points to eliminate the need to bombard your subscribers with too much information.
Use versatile email content
The pandemic experience is not similar across all regions where your audience is spread. Craft outreach messages that evoke a sense of understanding by the sender. Use content that demonstrates flexibility and which fits in a variety of situations.
Besides, allow your audience to share their experiences to increase diversity in your content. For example, provide links to community platforms where customers can share feedback. Let them do the groundwork for you so that your communication, and later service delivery, is sensitive to all circumstances.
Conclusion
The Covid-19 pandemic has transformed how businesses promote and communicate with their customers. The best you can do now is to carefully review your outbound marketing campaigns and ensure that recipients look forward to your newsletter rather than avoid it.
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