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12 TOP TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE EMAIL MARKETING FOR YOUR FASHION BRAND

Email marketing for a fashion brand, is one of the most powerful and effective ways of building relationships and trust with your target customers.

Email marketing for a fashion brand, is one of the most powerful and effective ways of building relationships and trust with your target customers.

This is your opportunity to communicate your brand message and connect with your customers. Over time it will give you greater understanding of their behaviour and interests, helping to build loyalty, and encourage referrals.

A successful email marketing strategy includes campaigns that are personalised & targeted to create the best possible experience for your customers.

Here are our 12 top tips for an effective email marketing strategy:

  1. Build a mailing list -build your email list organically. You should avoid buying email address lists, as contacts that haven’t opted-in to receive emails from you are very unlikely to become your customers.  If a subscriber finds your email content interesting, they will hopefully recommend you to someone else, so the more relevant your emails, the more subscribers you’ll get.  Adding a pop-up to your website can also increase email sign-ups.
  2. Understand your subscribers – you need to know your subscribers! You could start with your existing contacts and research what forums they engage in and what social media they use. Send emails only to people who are actually interested in your products or offering. Don’t give them a reason to unsubscribe.
  3. Segment your contacts – segmenting your email contacts allows you to send different messages to different groups of subscribers, and tailor the content so it’s relevant to their interests. This personalised approach will help improve engagement. If you segment correctly, subscribers will hopefully find that your emails provide them with offers and content that is tailored to their needs.
  4. Make new subscribers feel special – start by welcoming new subscribers and introducing them to your brand. An automatic email should be sent immediately to every new contact. It should showcase your product or service offering, outline the benefits of receiving your emails, and get them excited. Ultimately it’s an another opportunity to encourage subscribers to check out what you have to offer, and convert in to a sale.
  5. Create a snappy subject line – using an attention grabbing subject line will give you a better chance of the email being opened in the first place! A clear identity and subject with convincing keywords such as SalesFree Delivery and Discounts is crucial to making your email campaigns successful. Mixing up your email subjects with differing offers and content keeps your recipients engaged. However, bear in mind that the word ‘free’ tends to trigger spam filters. When your emails get marked as spam too often, email clients such as Gmail and Yahoo, will start diverting all of your emails to recipients’ spam folders. If that happens, your open rate will plummet and many of your contacts won’t see your emails at all.
  6. Content is king – the content on your website can have an impact on the quality of your email list, so make sure it’s also targeted and useful. Write engaging, persuasive content that encourages the customer to take action. Your campaigns must look professional as well as catchy, so aim to make everything look flawless, including spelling, grammar and all design elements & graphics (don’t forget to use a spell checker).
    You’ve got about three seconds to grab attention, so less is more when you’re writing copy. Try to keep things short and to the point so customers click through to your site. Leverage images, headlines and sub-headers to highlight what’s most important. A regular blog can also be a great way to drive traffic from search engines and generate back links.
  7. Use A/B testing – don’t assume you know what will work best with your subscribers.. Aim to test every single email you send out. The test should include single elements such as copy, colours, visual design, frequency, time of day, day of the week, CTA (Calls to Action) and product placement. It can be time consuming, but is vital that you test your subject line as this will have a big impact on open rates and is a useful way to determine what’s working and what could be improved.
  8. Personalise emails – personalise emails by addressing users by their name and offering targeted & relevant content (refer to segmenting). This can also  influence the level of sales and help you establish and nurture relationships, build trust, create excitement, and drive action. If you want subscribers to visit your product pages and make a purchase, you have to make them feel like they have a personal connection to the brand.
  9. Offer rewards and incentives – people are unlikely to give their email addresses without an incentive and will expect something in return. Incentivise them with special offers such as coupons, flash sales, or discounts. High-value, time-sensitive offers give people a good reason to take immediate action.
  10. Reduce basket abandonment – set up a system where you can detect when customers place items in their baskets but don’t follow through with the purchase. Set up a trigger to send out a reminder email, encouraging them to complete their purchase.
  11. Use a mobile friendly layout – it’s critical to ensure your email text and design layout works well on mobile devices. Use live text embedded in images, so users can easily copy/paste a coupon code from a mobile.
  12. Comply with GDPR  – make sure you protect your customers’ data and privacy and are compliant with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). If you are collecting any personal data, you need to register with the ICO. Your data collection & privacy policy needs to be transparent & easily accessible. Website visitors & subscribers should specifically opt-in and be able to decide on how they wish to receive communications. More information on GDPR here.

Email marketing should be your top priority as it’s your most powerful marketing tool with the highest Return on Investment (ROI) and conversion rates. Continually test and analyse your campaigns to help you learn about your customers’ and understand what they want. This will then lead to brand loyalty and increased sales.

At Fashion Angel we offer fashion business mentoring, events, workshops and access to start up loan  funding to fashion start-ups and established fashion business entrepreneurs. We are here to help and to give you the support you need at all stages of your business journey.

Our expert mentors can give you guidance with our 1-2-1 business mentoring packages. Fashion Angel Business Club members receive 20% discount on our mentoring and events and have access to FREE downloadable toolkits, a suppliers directory & other benefits, all tailored for the fashion industry.

By Augusta Hajalie.

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