What is Email Marketing?
Email marketing is the process of creating and sending emails to potential customers in a bid to establish a cordial working relationship with them, promote products and services. It is one of the strategies used in digital marketing, which consists of promoting brands using websites, blogs, social media, influencers, and so forth. With an ROI exceeding 3700%, it is the most productive of the tactics employed in internet marketing.
Here is an infographic on how email marketing has evolved over the years.
Source: Chronos Agency
Email Marketing Hacks
Although it has a promising ROI, it is not a guarantee to succeed at email marketing if you decided to adopt the strategy. You need to be smart and adaptive to ensure that your message reaches the right audience and gets the desired open rate and generates leads in Singapore.
The following are some of the proven Singapore email marketing hacks that can help you achieve your business goals.
Review Your Existing Strategy
Before you think of improving, it is essential to evaluate your current methods to see whether they are working. Your email marketing strategy should focus on achieving your objectives, be it increasing brand awareness, increasing sales, or boosting engagement, and so forth.
Some of the areas that need assessing include the formatting of the messages, the frequency of sending emails, automation tools, and so on. This process takes time, but its benefits are worth the effort.
Improve Your Subject Line
The quality of the subject lines used on emails correlates with their open rates. Nobody is going to open your messages if you persist with annoying subject lines. Some of the ways of making the subject interesting include asking questions, highlighting key stats, and using trending topics, and so on. Keep in mind that a reader is more likely to open an email if they know what it contains.
An ideal subject line should be short and concise.
Make Use of Humour
An impressive subject line will motivate subscribers to open an email, but you need to use other means to ensure they read the message it contains. Using a bit of humour in your content keeps the user engaged and encourages them to read on to the end.
By integrating some fun in your emails, you make your brand unique from others who send regular messages to subscribers. People will always look forward to receiving your emails, provide you to avoid controversial subjects like politics and religion.
Proofread
One aspect of email writing that marketers tend to ignore is proofreading. It is worth noting that repeated errors in your work will encourage users to unsubscribe from your mailing list. On the other hand, an error-free email could increase your sales significantly.
The best way of crafting an error-free message is by printing a hardcopy version, as people usually fail to notice mistakes while reading on screens. Keep in mind that the spellchecking tool in your word processor is not perfect at spotting errors.
Test across Several Platforms
Nowadays, most people in Singapore access the internet using handheld devices. Since your target audience is likely to be using a range of devices, it is crucial to test your emails for compatibility on different platforms. You also need to confirm that functionalities such as links and buttons are working correctly on desktop, mobile, and tablet devices. If your messages cannot render correctly on all platforms, readers will disengage, and your conversion rates will drop significantly.
Emphasise Consistency
It is challenging to implement email marketing as a sole strategy for growing your business; instead, it should be a component of your digital marketing campaign. This means that the design, layout, and content of your emails should be similar to what you are using in other strategies.
For instance, if you always feature your logo in your newsletters and brochures, your email should have the same. Consistency is critical in making your brand more recognisable to your target audience.
Cross-promote
Besides using your emails for increasing brand awareness and sales, you can also use them to promote other aspects of your internet marketing efforts. For example, if you have an exclusive offer for your Twitter followers, you can share the information with your email subscribers. This way, you will get more participants in the offer while increasing the number of followers on social media. Making use of all channels available to you is a smart way of increasing leads, and more importantly, boosting sales and improving revenue.
Think Beyond Open Rates
Only a few of the marketers in Singapore pay attention to other metrics besides email open rates. You should know that the open rate is a measure of the number of emails opened against the number of emails sent. It does not consider the actions taken by a user once they open the email, and these are usually more vital than merely opening the email.
Instead of focusing on open rates, you should look at the metrics that impact your business goals. Such objectives include increasing web traffic, improving revenue, and generating leads, and so on.
Unsubscribe Non-readers
Emil marketing is all about nurturing people who are interested in your brand into regular customers. If somebody does not open your emails, chances are that they do not find your products or services appealing. This is why all of your messages should include an option to unsubscribe from the mailing list. You do not want uninterested people to take up space in your subscriber list that would otherwise have been occupied by a qualified lead.
Split-test Your Email Campaigns
Similar to other strategies, the key to a successful email marketing campaign is research and testing. The best way of testing the effectiveness of your emails is by conducting an A/B split test. In this case, you create two samples and send each to 50% of your audience to see the version that performs better. When doing these tests, it is advisable to change one element of the email at a time. For instance, you could start with the subject line, followed by the CTA button, then the images, and so forth.
Email Marketing Mistakes to Avoid
There is a widespread misconception that email marketing is no longer an effective means of growing your business. This is wrong; if you are one of the people who say this, there is a massive chance that you are making mistakes. That, however, should not discourage you – if you identify and correct the wrong tactics you are employing, you can take your email strategy to a higher level.
The following are some of the most prevalent mistakes made by email marketers in Singapore.
Failing to Welcome Subscribers
When a person subscribes to your mailing lists, it shows that they are interested in your brand or website. As a marketer, you should send welcome emails immediately after they complete the sign-up process. The reason for this is that emails with a welcoming message have the highest open rates as compared to other types of emails.
Image source: dyspatch.io
Another reason for sending welcome emails is that they generate 320% more revenue than other promotional messages. This is because most subscribers are usually online when they receive such emails and are likely to click on them. Welcome emails are also an excellent starting point if you want to run a drip campaign.
Overlooking a Call-to-Action
All of your emails should add value or have a clear purpose that encourages the user to complete a specific desired action. Nobody is going to read a message that does not provide a solution to the challenges they are facing. Even if you are sending an informational message, you should include a CTA, the reader to share it on social media, or forward it to friends.
The content of the message should prepare the reader for the call-to-action. For instance, if you are launching a new product, the CTA should encourage them to purchase it. Similarly, if you are organising an event, you should convince the reader to sign up for it.
While it is essential to include a CTA in your emails, using too many can be counterproductive. Too many CTAs often overwhelm the reader and hurt conversion rates.
Sending Too Many Emails
Another mistake made by many marketers is sending too many emails to their subscribers. It is not a coincidence that 46.4% of people who unsubscribe from mailing lists cite bombardment with messages as the primary reason.
The table below shows the top reasons why people unsubscribe from mailing lists.
|
Reason for unsubscribing |
Percentage |
|
Too many emails |
46.4% |
|
Looks like spam |
17.2% |
|
Irrelevant content |
15.8% |
|
Mistaken subscription |
9.1% |
|
Not customised to preferences |
7.2% |
|
Too little or too much content |
4.3% |
Source: GetApp Lab
You might think that sending many emails will make readers attached to your brand, but the reality is that it distances them. Keep in mind that people have other tasks to attend to other than reading your messages. You should send a maximum of one promotional email weekly to avoid disengaging your subscribers.
Ideally, you should ask subscribers to set up their preferences when joining your mailing list. They should indicate the frequency at which they wish to get emails, as well as the type of message they like. You can then segment our audience according to their interests.
Failing to Segment Subscribers
If you have experience in marketing, you know that different people in your target audience have unique preferences. For instance, a product that appeals to the youth might not appeal to the older people; the same way a female product will not appeal to the male population. Failing to segment your subscribers according to their interests is an enormous mistake.
As mentioned earlier, irrelevant content is one of the top reasons why people unsubscribe from mailing lists. By segmenting your audience, you reduce the chances of your content being seen as irrelevant. Some of the commonly used segments include location, age, gender, browsing behaviour, and previous purchases, and so on.
On the contrary, segmenting your audience can help you achieve your business goals. Take a look at the following graph to see the metrics that benefit significantly from audience segmentation.
Source: quicksprout
Delaying Campaigns
Most marketers in Singapore do not know the right time to launch their email marketing campaigns. In most cases, they end up delaying too much that subscribers lose interest in their message and offerings.
Waiting to get more subscribers is the excuse given by marketers who delay their campaigns. As long as the frequency is right, you can launch new campaigns to your existing audience. It is worth noting that the probability of selling to an existing customer ranges between and 60% and 70%, while the chances of selling to a new client fall between 5% and 20%. These stats should provide enough motivation to keep on sending messages even if you are not gaining new members to your mailing list.
Non-responsive Emails
Most people access the internet using mobile phones, meaning that you need to optimise your messages to ensure they display correctly on smaller screens. The easiest way of confirming if your email is responsive is by sending a test message to your address and opening it on multiple devices,
Other methods of making your emails mobile-friendly include avoiding large blocks of texts and limiting the amount of visual content. This is because some email apps do not load images, and large paragraphs are an eyesore on smaller screens.
Source: superoffice.com
Sending Unprofessional Messages
Although delaying emails is a mistake, it does not mean that you should rush your campaign. Your email marketing strategy should follow an approach similar to creating a blog post or a social media marketing campaign.
You should start with planning, create an outline, draft the copy, and, more importantly, proofread the message. The use of slang, improper formatting, and spelling and grammatical errors does not portray the right image to your readers. If you send a message with errors, it is highly likely that nobody will buy from you. Also, make sure that you conduct A/B tests so that the formatting on your emails is professional.
Overlooking Sign-ups
The number of subscribers on your mailing list has a significant impact on the success of your email marketing campaign. Even if you avoid all of the other mistakes in this list, you cannot grow your business if you have ten subscribers on your list.
As challenging as it is to build a mailing list, you should always be looking to increase your subscribers. Your sign up CTA button should be easy to find so that interested parties can join your list. That said, you also need to give people a reason to subscribe. A smart way of doing this is by offering a lead magnet, such as free downloads, video tutorials, and so forth.
How to Create a Mailing List
According to several studies, emails are the most effective online marketing strategy. This underlines the importance of knowing how to build an email subscriber list if you are a marketer in Singapore.
The following is a step-by-step guide to help you create a mailing list from scratch.
Understand Your Audience
Before you start building a list, you need to define the people you will be targeting. The best way of doing this is by creating a marketing persona, which is a representation of your ideal customer. Some of the elements of a basic persona include demographics (age, gender, income, and so on), goals and challenges, and how you can help solve those challenges.
After creating the persona, you need to identify where to find your audience. Social media platforms are an excellent place to start when looking for people to join your mailing list.
Create a Website
A website is useful for grouping potential subscribers together. That said, you do not need a massive site to do this; a single landing page that has an email opt-in form is enough. The internet has an abundance of resources that offer landing page templates proven to generate high conversion rates.
Invest in an Email Marketing Tool
You need an email marketing platform to communicate effectively with the people on your mailing list. The internet has plenty of such tools, both free and paid.
The primary purpose of email platforms is to help with list organisation and sending emails. As the list grows, the tool will assist you with sequencing, running drip campaigns, and so forth.
Create an Exciting Offer
Regardless of your overall objective, you need to give people a convincing reason to subscribe to your list. Many internet users are usually reluctant to offer their email addresses unless they are getting something valuable in exchange. Some of the resources you can provide include free eBooks, software trials, insightful reports, and so forth.
The biggest mistake you can make when creating an email subscriber list is buying one. If you are struggling to get numbers using organic methods, you should try using paid ad platforms. The best resources in this regard include Facebook Ads, Twitter Ads, LinkedIn Sponsored Updates, and AdWords, as they allow you to target specific audiences that are likely to subscribe to your list.
Once you have a solid list of subscribers, you need to generate valuable content to keep them subscribed. This explains why you should always complement email with a well-thought-out content marketing campaign.
Here is a video about ecommerce email marketing hacks from Neil Patel that you can apply to scale up your Singapore business
Source: Neil Patel
Top 10 Email Marketing Tools in Singapore
When looking for an email marketing software, marketers usually go for an option that is easy to use and has a variety of features that can assist in attaining their business goals.
The following are the top 10 email marketing software that every marketer in Singapore should have.
Constant Contact
Constant Contact is the ideal email marketing tool for small and upcoming business enterprises. Its standout benefits include ease of use and compatibility with third-party marketing software.
Pricing
The tool offers a 60-day free trial, after which you can choose between the Email or the Email Plus plans, the cheaper package goes for $20 monthly, while the Email Plus costs $45. If you pay for a six-month subscription in one payment, you get a 10% discount.
How it Works
When you open Constant Contact, you will see the drag-and-drop editing tool that allows you to create and customise email templates to your liking. Once you create an email template, you can activate the automation feature that helps in audience segmentation, target people who do not open emails, and so forth. The tool also has a feature that enables you to track the actions taken by readers on your emails.
SendInBlue
If your business has a limited budget, SendInBlue can help you run a successful email marketing campaign. Although it is still new to the market, it offers a rich set of features like SMS integration at pocket-friendly prices.
Pricing
SendInBlue has four plans; Free, Lite, Essential, and Premium, which costs $0, $25, $39, and $49, respectively. The more expensive the plan, the more emails you can send monthly.
How it Works
The tool allows you to choose between creating a custom template and selecting a readymade option from their vast library. You can customise the templates further if you wish to. Once you create the copy, SendInBlue allows you to segment your audience by demographics and performs A/B tests automatically to ensure that you send emails at the right time.
Benchmark
Benchmark stands out from other email marketing software due to its ease of use. Its simplistic interface makes it friendly to people without experience in using automation platforms.
Pricing
Benchmark has two plans – Free and Pro, which costs $13.99 monthly and $11.99 monthly if you opt for annual billing.
How it Works
Similar to other tools on this list, Benchmark allows you to customise templates using its robust drag-and-drop editing feature. However, it also supports live editing, meaning you can see how the adjustments you make take effect as you create the email message.
MailChimp
With over one billion emails sent daily, MailChimp is one of the most popular email marketing software in the world. Its unique combination of a simple interface and powerful features make it suited for both beginners and advanced users.
Pricing
MailChimp has three plans, Free, Grow, and Pro. The free plan allows you to send a maximum of 12,000 emails monthly, provided your mailing list does not exceed 2,000 members. The other two have higher limits and costs $10 and $199 respectively.
How it Works
The platform has a vast collection of predesigned templates that allow you to create emails instantly. Alternatively, you can make yours using the drag-and-drop builder. The integrated content studio will enable you to store your favourite images, where you can quickly access them in case of need.
If you need to monitor the progress of your email marketing strategy, you can make use of the inbuilt real-time analytics tracker.
SendX
SendX already has a substantial number of users despite being a new entrant to the email marketing industry. The platform has an innovative feature called Opti-Send that automatically resend emails to subscribers who did not open the first message.
Pricing
The cheapest SendX plan goes for $29.99 monthly. The platform is also unique from others because it accepts payment made in virtual currency like Bitcoin.
How it Works
SendX simplifies the creation of email lists by allowing you to create inline and popup forms, as well as effective landing pages. You can also improve your campaigns using the automation features such as audience segmentation, drip sequence messaging, and user-based automation, and so on.
The most outstanding feature, however, is the click heat map unction, which shows the sections in your emails that received the most clicks.
HubSpot
HubSpot is a comprehensive digital marketing platform that consists of an email marketing automation tool, a landing page builder, a content management system, and CRM.
Pricing
The cost of HubSpot plans depends on the number of features you want; the cheapest plan goes for $50, while the most expensive costs $2,000.
How it Works
When a user signs up to your mailing list, HubSpot adds their data to the CRM. You can then use the email marketing software to create and design templates and the landing page builder to develop catchy landing pages.
ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is similar to HubSpot in that it combines CRM, email marketing software, and machine learning, and so forth. Its primary objective is to allow marketers to send a few but effective email messages.
Pricing
The tool has four plans, namely Lite, Plus, Professional, and Enterprise, which go for $15, $70, $159, and $279, respectively. You can also try it out for fourteen days, during which you can send a maximum of 100 emails.
How it Works
ActiveCampaign has multiple useful email marketing features, such as multi-user editing, compatibility with third-party platforms, analytics, and managed deliverability. Since it is an advanced tool, ActiveCampaign is ideal for experienced users.
Sendlane
Sendlane is a new email marketing software that came into existence in 2013. It has unique and exciting features such as predictions based on machine learning and advanced audience segmentation.
Pricing
The tool has three packages; Growth, Marketing Automation Pro, and Enterprise. The first two cost $79 and $125 monthly while the Enterprise package requires you to contact the company for custom billing.
How it Works
Sendlane has an intuitive drag-and-drop email builder that allows you to create optimised email messages. If you are good at HTML, you can also build custom email templates from scratch. The most exciting aspect is the open predictability feature that monitors the behaviour of your subscribers and sends emails at the right time.
GetResponse
GetResponse is an all-in-one marketing tool that helps with email marketing, landing pages, and marketing automation. It prides itself as an easy to use and effective platform for creating email messages.
Pricing
The tool has four plans – Basic, Plus, Professional, and Enterprise, which cost $15, $49, $99, and $1,199, respectively.
How it Works
GetResponse allows you to define the type of email you want to send before you start creating the copy. Some of the templates available include newsletters, autoresponders, and automated blog digests. You can increase your open and engagement rates by using subscriber data to display custom and dynamic content in your emails. Dynamic content allows you to show different images, wording and CTAs depending on the preferences and behaviour of your audience.
AWeber
AWeber is one of the oldest email marketing tools in the industry, having existed since the early 2000s. It was also one of the first platforms to include autoresponder emails.
Pricing
The basic plan costs $19 monthly and allows you to have a mailing list with 500 members if you have more than 25,000 subscribers, you have to get a custom quote from the company.
How it Works
The autoresponder feature simplifies email marketing by sending follow-up messages and pre-set intervals. You can send an unlimited number of follow-up messages, create web forms, and track user behaviour and other vital metrics.
Top 10 Email Marketing Agencies in Singapore
The following are the standout email marketing agencies in Singapore.
MediaOne Marketing
MediaOne is a top digital marketing agency that strives to help customers to take their businesses to a higher level. Over the years, the excellence of its services has earned the company multiple accolades, with the most notable being the Top SEO Company in Singapore.
Year of Foundation
MediaOne Marketing was established in 2009 and has a decade-long experience in the internet marketing industry.
Services
- Email marketing
- SEO services and consultancy
- Online reputation management
- Social media marketing
- Search engine marketing
Physical Address
4B Craig Road | Singapore 089664
Phone Number
(65) 6789 9852
Email Address
WeChat Marketing
WeChat Marketing is a Singaporean digital marketing company that operates in the Asian market. So far, the company has served more than 100 clients in the country and assisted them in reaching the Chinese market.
Year of Foundation
The company was founded in 2010.
Services
- Email marketing
- Social media marketing
Physical Address
2 Venture Drive, Vision Exchange, Singapore 608526
Phone Number
+65 6493 7378
Email Address
Impossible Marketing
Impossible Marketing is a Singapore-based digital marketing agency that is certified by Google, Yahoo, Bing and several other reputable institutions. The company strives to deliver targeted, and quality leads to its clients’ websites.
Year of Foundation
Impossible Marketing was established in 2014.
Services
- Email marketing
- Search engine optimisation
- Search engine marketing
- Video marketing
- Influencer marketing
Physical Address
14A Yan Kit Road Singapore 088266
Phone Number
+65 9374 0111
Email Address
Carbon
Carbon is a digital marketing company that operates out of Singapore. It consists of a team of experienced professionals who have a passion for internet marketing and use their knowledge to deliver impactful campaigns and other solutions.
Year of Foundation
Carbon was launched in 2004, making it one of the most experienced agencies in the Singapore digital marketing space.
Services
- Email marketing
- Search engine optimisation
- Search engine marketing
- Social media marketing
Physical Address
50 Ubi Avenue 3, #04-05 Frontier ePark@Ubi Singapore 408866
Phone Number
+65 6293 4373
Email Address
Activa Media
Activa Media is one of the pioneering digital marketing companies in Singapore. The agency so far has grown to become one of the biggest names in the industry and is listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Year of Foundation
The company was founded in 2005.
Services
- Email marketing
- Search engine optimisation
- Search engine marketing
- Social media marketing
Physical Address
60 Paya Lebar Road, #12-51/52, Paya Lebar Square, Singapore 409051
Phone Number
+65 6235 6678
Email Address
Notion SEO
Notion SEO is a leading digital marketing agency in Singapore. It is a company dedicated to helping clients stand out in the competitive online space in the country.
Year of Foundation
The company was founded in 2007.
Services
- Email marketing
- Search engine optimisation
- Search engine marketing
Physical Address
1Kallang Junction, Vanguard Campus Level 6, Singapore 339263
Phone Number
+65 6438 8303
Email Address
Evian Media
Evian Media is a digital agency that aims to help forward-looking brands to connect with their target audiences on online platforms.
Year of Foundation
The company was established in 2011.
Services
- Email marketing
- Search engine marketing
- Social media marketing
- Web design and development
Physical Address
78A Tampines Rd
Email Address
Construct Digital
Construct Digital is a data-driven agency that relies on marketing technology to propel clients’ online advertising campaigns to higher levels.
Year of Foundation
The company was established in 2010.
Services
- Email marketing
- Search engine optimisation
- Web design and development
- E-commerce development
- Marketing automation
Physical Address
114 Lavender Street CT Hub 2, #11-85, Singapore 338729
Phone Number
+65 6438 4886
Email Address
Bray Leino Splash
Bray Leino Splash, formerly known as Splash Interactive, is a creative and technology agency that helps businesses to succeed in online marketing by focusing on user needs and improving user experience. The company is a part of a syndicate that runs firms in the UK, the US and Asia.
Year of Foundation
The company was formed in 2017 following a merger between Splash Interactive and Bray Leino.
Services
- Email marketing
- Web design and development
- Social media marketing
- Graphics and UX design
Physical Address
51 Tai Seng Avenue, #04-04 Pixel Red, Singapore 533941
Phone Number
+65 6702 5080
Email Address
enquiry@splashinteractive.com.sg
Brand Rich
Brand Rich is a web design and digital marketing agency based in Singapore. The company focuses its efforts on improving customer experience.
Year of Foundation
The company was founded in 2008.
Services
- Email marketing
- Search engine marketing
- PPC marketing
- Web design and development
Physical Address
5001 Beach Road, 06-26 Golden Mile Complex, Singapore 199588
Phone Number
+65 6392 4590
Email Address
Conclusion
Email marketing is by far the most effective digital marketing strategy in the world. However, launching an email campaign does not guarantee success- you need to implement a smart approach and avoid making rookie mistakes. More importantly, you need to invest in an automation tool and adapt to any changes in the industry.
Get in touch with us for custom email marketing services in Singapore. We will help you set up an emailing list and campaign.
