The telecommunications sector is a fierce, competitive industry so it is up to traditional and digital marketers to use every trick in the book to get the upper hand on their rivals. When it comes to the email marketing battleground, there are a number of tips that marketers can use to help win the war.

Mobile in mind 10 tips for the communications industry

As you work in the telecommunications industry, it makes sense to design emails with your sector in mind. A growing number of people are checking emails on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets thus there is an increasing need for marketers to optimise their messages for the small screen.

In order to optimise emails for mobile, marketers should consider using single column design layouts, bigger buttons for links and a narrower message width that will allow for easy scrolling with a mere flick of the finger.

Segment your lists…

Sending a generic email blast is always a risk as what is relevant to one user may be irrelevant to another. An irrelevant subject line tends to earn that message a one-way ticket to the Delete folder so it becomes integral that marketers identify groups that share similar interests and segment them to improve results.

…and tailor content

Once segmented, this gives marketers the opportunity to create different content for different segments.

For example, if a customer has indicated a preference for ‘all things technology’ during an initial sign-up survey, this is a solid indicator as to what they are looking for from an email newsletter – the latest gadgets, trends and other tech-based content. Another segment may want to hear primarily about price reductions and sales, so marketers can send messages based on that subject for that segment.

Let your personality shine

With a vast array of telecoms firms all looking to gain an edge on each other, plain product advertisements and prices can only get you so far. Businesses have to make sure their personality shines through in their email messaging – whether that’s an effervescent, fun attitude or a minimalist, stripped-down, serious approach to product advertising.

noreply @ bigfacelesscompany.com

As the telecoms sector is a technical, complex industry that is becoming harder to access for the less technologically-minded of us, it makes sense for marketers to open up the traditional one-way email message into a two-way conversation in order to advise and engage with customers.

Using a noreply@ email address gives the impression that firms don’t wish to talk to customers or hear their views. However, providing a name and a person at the other end of the digital ether gives customers the opportunity to engage, thus generating brand loyalty.

Go multichannel

Telecoms firms, while not a unique ability, do have an opportunity to adopt a multi-channel approach to their marketing in order to extend conversations and engagement with customers. If customers don’t want to reply to an email message with their query, they can always ask a question via social media networks. And how are they going to stumble upon your Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram etc. accounts? Via links provided in your email messaging, of course!

A mix of sales and education

Providing links to the latest gadgets and sales is fine but many customers don’t always want a barrage of the hard sell – they want to be educated, too. This gives marketers the opportunity to provide content that adds educational value, such as useful information about a common question or the latest trends dominating the industry.

However, make sure you send the right educational piece to the right segment. For instance, a ‘hints and tips Q&A for iPhone 5’ piece is not going to be interesting to Android smartphone owners!

Avoid the junk mail folder

It’s an oldie but a goodie. And it’s still relevant to the telecoms industry along with all industries utilising email marketing.

Unfortunately many email spammers have latched on to words and phrases that are commonly used in the telecoms industry so it is important to word your messages carefully. For example, providers looking to promote their “FREE iPhone!!!!” deal are unlikely to reach the inbox, resulting in a large percentage of your recipients not receiving anything at all.

Make sure you’re using a spam-scoring tool or wording your subject lines very carefully in order to satisfy the rules imposed by the recipient’s ISP. You can also ask customers to add you to their ‘safe senders’ list, enabling your messages to land in inboxes with ease.

Click *here* to unsubscribe

Regrettably, keeping all customers in a mailing list happy is marketing’s impossible task and, once in a while, a customer will decide they no longer want to hear from you. A disappointing turn of events but if they want to leave a mailing list then telecoms companies should accommodate their wishes.