Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to reach your audience. But it’s only effective if your audience engages with it. Here are a few of our tips to make sure your emails are opened and well received:
You have to remember that no matter who your audience is, they’re still people. Whether you’re emailing corporate executives or service team members, they’re all people who are taking the time (or not) to read your email. Don’t bog them down with huge amounts of copy and details, and write your email in such a way that it’s easy to follow and get through. This is especially true for B2B emails, which may not have the flashy promotions and consumer familiarity of B2C emails. Keep it short; make it engaging with videos and images; don’t overcomplicate anything; and if it’s appropriate for your audience, try some humor.
For the love of all that is good and holy – segment your database! This is one of the biggest hurdles to jump over for email marketing, but it is so important. A segmented database is hugely helpful in terms of audience engagement because you can be guaranteed that you are emailing an interested audience. Your messaging should be targeted to the specific prospect – don’t email someone with content that isn’t relevant to them. That’s a quick way to get them to unsubscribe. Some thoughts on database segmentation:
- Start small. Try simply organizing the database into current customers and prospects. The messaging will undoubtedly be different for the two audience groups.
- If you can, segment it even further. If someone is a customer – do you have a record of what they purchased from you in the past? Can you cross-sell or up-sell them based on that information?
- How about geo-targeting? What are some regional trends you’re seeing, and how might they affect your audience?
- What about age/demographic? Would you speak to a woman differently than you would to a man? How about a 20-something vs. a retiree?
Mention benefits early and often. If you’re promoting something, having a sale or sharing an announcement, put it front and center in your email. Don’t make them dig for content, because they most definitely won’t.
Whenever possible, email from a PERSON not a THING. In our experience, emails with “from” addresses that are actual people are opened far more often that those with info@, webmaster@, or companyname@ addresses. This goes back to the idea of speaking to viewers as people. People like to interact with people, not things.
Write a subject line that gets noticed.
- Keep it short and sweet (6-8 words MAX).
- Remember that your email needs to catch a viewer’s attention in their inbox among all their other emails – don’t be afraid to be unique!
- Use action words whenever possible. For instance, if your email includes a link to a video, make sure the word “Video” or “Watch” is in your subject line. If you have an announcement, use words like “Remember” or “Bulletin” or “Report”. Make it clear what they’ll find when they click-through.
- Avoid using superfluous punctuation or fake promos in a subject line to get attention. Not only will it annoy your viewer, but it will also most likely mean your email will be quarantined and they won’t receive it. Mail servers are smarter than ever, and they’ll do everything they can to eliminate spam from their viewer’s inbox.
Finally, make sure it’s clear to the audience what action you want them to take. What are you asking them to do?
- Fill out a form?
- Take a survey?
- Attend a webinar?
- Click-through to watch a video?
- Learn more about a new product?
- Sign up for a maintenance plan?
Have a clear goal for your email communications, make sure it’s obvious for your audience, and provide them with they steps and information they need to make it happen.
Now, let’s start emailing!
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Once you craft the perfect campaign, don’t forget about analyzing your email marketing results!