Why Email Marketing Part Two?

By Carl Giavanti

This article is an update of Part One which I posted in December 2012. Much has changed with email marketing over the last three years, especially how ubiquitous and technologically improved email marketing systems (EMS) have become, and how valuable email marketing as part of your DTC arsenal.

Why discuss email marketing at all? There are so many other marketing subjects of interest i.e. Loyalty clubs, social media, mobile marketing, winery PR. Mid-year planning is a good time to get back to the basics, and email is one of the primary branches of the content tree, leading to many other points of connection with consumers. I still meet people who are just getting started with social media, mobile devices and other tech, but I know for a fact that just about everyone already has an email address.

The value of email is to facilitate communications and build brand loyalty. It is likely that some form of social media will replace email communications in the future. Evidence of this is generational. My mother who is in her 80’s doesn’t have email and can’t be bothered. My niece who is 15 may have an email address, but has only given me her phone number for texting.

There are several things I like about email marketing compared to social media (at least right now):
· Subscription is opt in and can easily be cancelled, so there is little risk for new followers.
· Subscribers will receive your communication, unlike social posts which are now highly filtered.
· Promote adding the winery email to address books, and your email will definitely land in In-boxes.
· Email Marketing System (EMS) publishing is now highly integrated with social media networks.
· Analytics and Tracking allow you to see results (opens, clicks, bounces), so you can take action.

All of this brings me to the point of this article. Email Marketing is a proven driver of actions you want current and prospective customers to take. It’s inexpensive and you can segment your audience (prospects, buyers, club members), target specific to their interests and track the results. If your winery has a tasting room, this is how you drive traffic to promote your wines, and where you’ll be able to really connect with people. And, if subscribers are out of state, you can communicate by pointing them to your website and hope to transact business there. If you’re one of my email subscribers and read this article in my next newsletter, I’ll suggest that you “click here to read more”, which takes you out to this blog post where the balance of this article resides. I want you to read the conclusion of this article on my website, which is my point here. It’s difficult to sell wine using email and social media, but you can create calls to action that take your customers to where you can sell wine – in person or on your website.

Content has become as important as the media through which it is conveyed; and targeted content even more so. Use strong Subject Lines and one good call to action to build immediate curiosity, as attention spans and reading time are so shorter these days. Segment your email lists and deliver content relevant to specific group interests. Shipping promos for out of state subscribers and local events for those in state are simple examples.

Newsletters are just one of many ways you can build customers and followers. It is critically important that your newsletter is consistent with your advertising, presents well on social media sites, sizes correctly on mobile devices and is easy to share. Additionally, you can create integration and build your emails lists with signup forms on your website pages and your social networks.

I see so many newsletters with content that seems very noisy and spammy with lots of pitches and sales promos. I get that, but your newsletter needs to be simple and appear educational. Use the 80/20 rule (Educate/Promote) and you’ll be fine. People will appreciate it, and when you do offer special deals they’ll take notice. Newsletter marketing will boost wines sales and the effect can be immediate.