7 Email Marketing Tips To Get The Most Out Of Every Send
For those of you using email marketing, right on! Keep doing it. According to Direct Marketing Association, email marketing yields an average 4,300% return on investment for businesses in the U.S. And for every $1 spent, the average ROI is $44.25 (Email Expert). That makes email marketing a very viable channel!
If you’re not, then you’re seriously missing the boat on a marketing tool that pays off big time.
Here’s 7 email marketing tips for you to get the most out of your email efforts…
1) Be personal and real.
Using personal, honest language and showing your personality will go further than that sales pitch you’re prepared. Your recipients can sniff out a sales email almost immediately, but when you speak genuinely it’s much more likely to get attention. On that same note, say something unexpected!
To add to the personal touch of your email, have it come from a person instead of a company. Your open rates will improve on average of 3%.
2) If you’re going to use buzzwords like, “free” and “guaranteed”, make sure your audience will care.
Words like “free”, “guaranteed”, and “money”, among others, are said to be common trigger words for SPAM traps. Google it…you’ll find long lists of words to avoid in your emails. But in recent years, that’s become more of a myth.
Here’s the rule to follow when it comes to these types of words: use them, as long as they’re in a context relevant to your audience’s interests. When you know your audience, their interests, and motivations, no specific words are off-limits. For example: If you’re a tourism bureau giving away a “free” waterpark season pass and you’re sending an email announcement to your entire email list, you may run into some SPAM problems. But it most likely won’t be because you used the word “free”, but rather because you’re including folks who may not be interested in your message. Knowing your audience and segmenting your list based on interests will avoid these types of issues. If the tourism bureau segmented the list to include families within a 25 mile radius of the waterpark, the email is likely to be viewed as valuable by the recipients and won’t get caught in SPAM filters due to high engagement.
Just make sure your email is relevant to your audience, don’t worry about the words you use!
3) Brevity works.
Inboxes are flooded with email daily. Using brevity and getting to the point quickly will go a long way. You have a short window to get your reader’s attention before they move on to the next email. Another way to take advantage of brevity in your emails is to use line space between sentences, as opposed to between paragraphs. This doesn’t work in all cases, but can be a helpful trick when used properly. Sentences standing alone can be easier to read and look less daunting than a long, chunky paragraph.
4) Take advantage of preheader text.
The preheader is the text that follows the subject line in the recipient’s inbox view. If the preheader is not set, it will default to the first few words of the email, which can be redundant. Use this space to include additional incentive to open your email.
5) Offer up an easy out.
If a recipient is not interested in your email, you want them to opt-out, not hit “Mark as Spam”, which can hurt your sending reputation. Opting-out will not impact it. Make sure your opt-out (or unsubscribe) link is easily visible and simple.
6) Stay in touch with your audience and nurture their interests.
Keep your organization top of mind with your prospects and nurture their interests using marketing automation. One-off email blasts can be useful in some cases, but often lack the potential to create a deeper relationship with your prospects. Marketing automation allows you to stay in front of your audience, while also getting a better understanding of their interests. You can send automated emails based on those interests, deliver valuable (and wanted) content, and get your prospects further down the sales funnel to produce more and better qualified leads.
Here’s some cold, hard stats for ya: according to eMarketer, B2C companies using marketing automation have seen conversion rates as high as 50%. While B2B companies have increased their sales pipeline contribution by an average of 10% (Forrester Research, 2014).
But…don’t be the 1 in 4 marketers who find marketing automation systems too complex to be used effectively. Outsource it.
7) Test to find your audience’s perfect sending time.
There is no single, ideal sending time. Every audience and person will be different. Try out different dates and times to nail down when is best to send to your recipients.
On that same note, TEST EVERYTHING. Your message, colors, format, display name, etc. Over time you’ll get better and better at knowing what works. Experience matters in email marketing.
Contact MindEcology to expand your reach and get more qualified leads through email.
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