Although most people use them for this sole purpose, email does not have to be restricted to promotional messages. One of its advantages is precisely that it is multifunctional.
There are many different types of messages that can be sent, regardless of the type and size of your business.
Whether you are taking your first steps in email marketing or you already have some experience, it is very likely that more than once you have wondered what else you could send, apart from promotional messages.
Here we will review different types of communication pieces that you can send by email, their advantages and disadvantages.
Try to project them to your business and determine which one would be more useful in your case, evaluate which one to prioritize and which one best suits your business objectives.
- Newsletter
The bulletin -or newsletteris a widely used type of communication. However, before deciding to elaborate one, it is important to review its objectives.
What do you want it for? It may be to capture more prospects, to retain customers, or both. This must be very clear, as it will allow you to establish how to evaluate whether that purpose is being fulfilled.
Advantages
- It helps to generate brand recall. It is an element that, on a regular basis, sends content related to what you do and sell.
- It brings relevance to your communications, i.e. they are valued by your audience. This medium only communicates the main thing (headlines and one downvote); the real material is on your site, which will be revitalized with an increasing number of visits.
- It gives you the possibility to freely choose what to communicate, what content to highlight, what to emphasize.
Disadvantages
- You may be tempted to include multiple calls to action, distracting somewhat from the main focus and detracting from the effectiveness of your communication.
- Their design requires more work, dedication and time (although if the return is greater than the cost, none of this matters).
- Dedicated messages
Dedicated messages are those containing information specific to a particular topic or offer.
It can refer to the launch of a new guide and offer to download it; an invitation to a webinar or event, or to complete a survey, for example.
Advantages
- They contain only one call to action and one offer, i.e., the audience will focus on a single action, as we expect a single, clear objective from them.
- They are simple to create, since the same template can be used for several different messages.
- They are easy to measure, since, being limited to an incident, it is simple to track your click-through rate, conversions, or lead generation.
Disadvantages
- Their delivery schedule is less clear and regular, since they are sent sporadically.
- As in the case of the newsletter, they can also tempt us to (or generate the need to) include more calls to action, which diverts the focus.
- Prospect nurturing
After adding new prospects to your contact base, who have arrived for a variety of reasons, you will want to engage with them, gain their trust and guide them down the sales funnel. In other words, you'll need to nurture them.
Many prospects sign up for your newsletter, download a guide or participate in a webinar, but are not ready to buy.
The idea is that you design a campaign composed of a series of messages aimed at showing what you do or sell, to get these new prospects to get to know your company and engage with it.
Advantages
- Maintain contact with your prospects, which allows you to generate awareness and brand building.
- They have a high return at a low cost.
- According to some studies, they generate up to 8% more clicks than a normal message.
Disadvantages
- Regular and automatic delivery is required, which may detract from their personalism.
- Sponsorship messages
If the objective is to reach new people who are not in your contact list, this is a good alternative to do so, without falling into the temptation of leasing or buying databases, which is always a problem.
You can sponsor another company's newsletter (or other message), with advertising or specific content that captures visitors to your site and registers them there.
Advantages
- Avoid leasing or buying contact bases.
- It is effective and economical.
- It is easy to measure in terms of ROI.
Disadvantages
- It is not free, you must pay with redemption or incur an associated cost.
- Depends on a third party for deliverability, openability and clicks (not your base, not your message).
- Transactional messages
These are messages that are triggered by an action performed by your customer, both offline and online.
If you registered for a webinar, this is the confirmation message. If you downloaded a document, this is the message that gives you access to the file. If you requested a visit from a salesperson, this is the message confirming that someone will contact you.
Generally, a transactional message is one that, at the time of purchase, confirms the transaction and shipment to the customer.
Advantages
- They reflect high open and click-through rates.
- Increase audience engagement.
- They are used to include links to further information.
Disadvantages
- They are not as attractive as a promotional message.
- They are shorter and more specific.
In conclusion, the different types of messages you can send diversify your communication and increase the opportunities for interaction and conversion with your audience.
Implementing a variety of these messages can help you get the most out of your email marketing strategy and build a stronger, more effective relationship with your customers.
