One element marketers often leave out of their email template is a simple navigation bar. While we focus so much on our promotions, design, and CTAs (calls to action); we forget that our subscribers may not want we exactly what we are sending them in a particular campaign. Ideally you are practicing sophisticated segmentation and personalization to deliver highly targeted content, but why not also give the subscribers options?
Don’t go overboard here, but some core product categories can have several key benefits. Lets examine:
1. The subscriber will have another entry point away from the email and to your website (thus increasing your click-through-rate). For retail companies in particular this is key.
2. You have the opportunity to follow up with extremely relevant landing pages.
3. You can get a gauge of what your subscribers are interested in. If you have a list of 500,000 you are sending to, and 0.0005% are clicking on the ‘dog shampoo link, you can make some deductions.
4. You can segment down further based on click activity. This is a great use of email technology and something I will be discussing in greater detail in a later post. In a nutshell though, your email platform will keep track of who clicks on the ‘basketball shoes’ link, or the ‘skincare’ link. From here you can send a special related communication to that group at a later time, or set up a more advanced sequential sending program where targeted content is automatically based and click activity. There are many exciting options here.
Below is a screen grab of Sephora’s simple header navigation. Clean, basic options, in a traditional location, — oh and they point out that there is free shipping for orders over $50; a nice bonus.
- Forest Bronzan
