What is Email Branding?
by Heidi Springstube
03/31/2016
While reaching out in conversations, I occasionally get the opportunity to talk to our customers and/or friends and family about email branding. When I recently spoke to a potential customer she fired back at me, “What the heck is email branding?” I was taken aback by this question. My life for the past two years has been nothing but creating, designing, and marketing email branding – with a random dream or two for good measure. It’s been brought to my attention that not everyone has heard of email branding and what it can do for a business.
Here is the breakdown of email branding:
Marketing
You can market your company, association, or corporation through various different methods. Spanning from billboards to websites to direct mail flyers; people take many different approaches with the same endgame in mind. Ultimately, you are trying to get you and your business’ name out into the public eye to make potential customers aware that you exist. In the end the final goal being to have them ring you up or stop on in, and closing a sale.
Website
If you have a website, its most commonly used to get your company information out to your customers using the internet. Most business owners have websites to direct customers to their office information and directions, product information, pricing, and make any customer data they can available so they can access their personal information and pay bills. If you don’t have a website, you can create them pretty easily with intermediate computer experience and using a free hosting site with a builder feature.
Social Media
A study done by Fact Company in 2015 found that there are over 2 billion active social media users worldwide, with reported growth of at least 25% every year. For more information, read this article. More than half of businesses who use social media and take advantage of advertising opportunities on these sites report a boost in sales by using the sites to keep in touch with their clients.
Where does this fit into email branding? Glad you asked!
Social media icons have become a staple in email signatures. If another network is available to turn a customer’s head towards your business, why not take advantage of it? Once the social media accounts are set up, the links get added to your branded email so you can stay connected to your client base on a personal level. If you choose to use subtle advertisements as well, you’ve created an opportunity to draw in new customers.
If you have email, you typically use this for one-on-one conversations between your business and a customer. You may have to send information to a customer about a sale or perhaps remind them their mortgage is due, sometimes a birthday email for that added personal touch. Emails have become the most common form of communication between people. Society is moving too fast and people don’t like to pick up their phone anymore. Whether we like it or not many, prefer a text or email or something they might push off until time allows them to respond.
Website + Social Media + Email = Branded Email
A branded email is essentially an email that’s upgraded and used to boost your customer retention and sales. You are already sending emails to your customers, why not add some pizzazz to it? Email branding is your company logo, information, social media, and personal or team photo(s) integrated into your email messages. It typically has what we like to call “live links” that, when clicked, will navigate a customer to your website, social media, or anything else you want them to interact with. It’s a quick and easy way to tie all of your business communication needs together. If you have an office location that customers like to visit, the email is also set up so that your customers can find you with ease by clicking on map links or buttons. The map link then pulls up google maps and the navigation feature takes over. The appearance of the email is professional and uniform to your brand image and website.
We’ve found that branded emails are more than just emails, they are memorable communications. If you receive an email without branding – the kind that just have a few lines of text, chances are you aren’t going to remember it. Branded emails, our branded emails STAND OUT! They scream your brand. Your company. And customers remember that. We turn the communication into something more – it becomes a personal experience. The studies are in and email branding is the way of the future of the business world. Branding your email is a way to keep everyone interconnected.
To sum things up: Branded Email = Happy Customers = More Sales for You!
Reference Source:
http://www.fastcompany.com/3054347/the-future-of-work/5-trends-that-will-change-how-companies-use-social-media-in-2016