Email marketing

Email marketing (also known as electronic direct mail – EDM) has become an increasingly effective way to interact with customers.

The most common form of email marketing is electronic newsletters (e-newsletters) but it can also include targeted messages or promotions designed to keep your customers engaged with your business. For example, you may have a loyalty program and email customers with special offers based on their buying habits.

Email marketing generally requires a database of customer email addresses. When collecting email addresses from existing and potential customers, it’s important to ensure they have agreed to be contacted.

Using email marketing in your business

Email marketing can play an important role in your business’s marketing strategy. Like your website, it’s one of the few digital marketing assets your business truly owns, meaning it can’t be impacted by social media shutdowns or changes to algorithms.

Using email marketing generally involves these steps and processes:

Step 1

Selecting an email marketing platform

There is a wide range of platforms available to help small businesses create, manage and automate their email marketing campaigns. These platforms may be available for free or via paid subscription.

Some factors to consider when selecting an email marketing platform include:

Ease of use, depending on your skill set.
Integration with other digital tools you use, like client relationship management (CRM) software or e-commerce platforms.
Reporting and analytics features that measure the performance of your email campaigns.
Automation features that send emails based on customer actions (eg. sending a welcome email to new subscribers, emailing subscribers that ‘abandon cart’ while making a purchase online).
Compliance with Australian laws, such as the Spam Act 2003.

Tip: Many email marketing platforms offer a free trial period, allowing you to see if it suits your needs before you commit to a paid subscription.

Step 2

Building a customer database

Provide customers with an easy way to opt in to receiving your marketing emails. This could include a ‘Sign up’ option on your website or a tick box allowing customers to ‘receive email updates’ when making an online purchase.

When collecting customers’ email addresses, by law, you need to have their consent to send them marketing emails. The two main types of consent are:

Express consent: The customer knows and agrees to receive marketing emails from your business and has actively opted in, by filling in a form or ticking a box on your website.
Inferred consent: The customer has provided their email address and there is a reasonable expectation that they would expect to be emailed by your business. For example, a personal training business may email a client to notify them that their membership is due for renewal.

When building a customer database, quality is more important than quantity. Avoid the temptation of adding every email address you collect to your marketing list. Sending marketing emails to people who have not consented can impact the performance of your email marketing and lead to complaints against your business under the Spam Act 2003.

Step 3

Planning and designing your content

As part of your marketing strategy, consider the type of emails you would like to send to subscribers. This can include:

Welcome emails to new subscribers (this could include a small discount to thank them for signing up)
Regular e-newsletters
Promotional emails
Surveys

As part of your planning, you should also think about:

How frequently you will send marketing emails.
The design of your email templates (remember to optimise for both desktop and mobile devices).
Your email subject lines. Experiment with different formats and styles to see what gets the best results from your audience. Your email marketing platform may provide you with the option to do an A/B test of two different subject lines, which can be used to see how successful different approaches are.
Your written copy. Ensure you include a clear call to action to encourage activity from your customers.
How to build your customer relationship. This could be by asking questions or offering loyalty rewards.

Step 4

Monitoring and improving performance

Regularly reviewing the performance of your email marketing and finding areas for improvement will help you achieve better results over time.

Most email marketing platforms include analytics and reporting tools that can help you understand key performance measures, including:

Open rate: The percentage of people who opened your email.
Click through rate: The percentage of people who clicked a link within your email.
Conversion rate: The percentage of people who performed a specific action on your website, such as making a purchase or submitting an enquiry.
Bounce rate: The percentage of emails that could not be delivered to recipients.

Email marketing rules to be aware of

There are a range of Australian laws you will need to comply with when carrying out email marketing activities for your business. These include:

Spam Act 2003: Ensure you have consent from individuals before adding them to your email marketing lists. Marketing emails must include a clear and functional unsubscribe option and unsubscribe requests must be processed within five business days. Visit the Australian Communications and Media Authority website for tips on how to avoid sending spam.
Privacy Act 1988: If the Privacy Act applies to your small business, there will be specific requirements you must comply with relating to the collection, storage, use and disclosure of personal information. Visit the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner website to see if the Act applies to you and to learn about your obligations.
Australian Consumer Law: Under Australian Consumer Law, any claims you make about your products and services should be accurate and truthful. Visit the ACCC website for more guidance on false or misleading claims.