Marketing emails are an essential part of any marketing mix, and many marketers swear by them. It’s wellknown that email marketing can work with automated email campaigns, like autoresponders and email blast campaigns, but that doesn’t mean that all marketing emails are created equal. There are numerous tips and tricks for making your email marketing more effective. Let’s discuss seven of them.
1. Keep it short. Longer emails are more likely to be skipped over.
Try for shorter emails. A few sentences or no more than a few paragraphs. Anything longer and you’re more likely to lose a reader.
Shorter emails are also easier to digest. It’s easy enough to skim the surface of a one-pager, or the first couple of sentences of a three-pager. But if you need to stop and think about what you’re reading, it’s easier to see why some businesses have ditched lengthy marketing emails in favor of more concise ones.
2. Customize the subject line.
The subject line of your email is one of the most critical parts. The subject line should provide enough information for the recipient to know what the email is about, while being short and attractive enough to be snagged by a busy recipient.
The subject line should reflect the quality of the email itself. If you want to catch the attention of the reader, craft a memorable and succinct subject line, using keywords, rather than relying on a boring “Hello,” or “Hey there!”
As much as possible, you should keep your subject lines short and snappy. An easy way to do this is to identify a problem, or the main idea of the email, and write your subject line in the present tense: “The white paper will solve such-and-such problem for you.” Better to write “will solve” than “solve,” or else you’re writing, in the future tense.
If you’re struggling for words, use a tool like LeadSquirrel to find the right ones. They have a whole library of verbs and adjectives that can help you craft the perfect subject line.
3. Always include a compelling call-to-action.
You should always include a call-to-action at the end of your email. It could be a request for the reader to take a look at your white paper, or it could be a request to visit your website, or to sign up for your email list. Whatever it is, you need to include a call-to-action. You can even ask the reader to click on a link or image in your email, to be taken to a special page.
The best part of a call-to-action is that it gives you instant gratification. You’re asking the reader to do something, and you’re providing them with the information they need to do it. If you can get over the mental block that says, “the more information the better” you’ll see the merit in calls-to-action. If you want, you can even ask the reader to sign up for your email list. What you’re offering is valuable enough that they might want to receive more of your emails in the future. They might even recommend your product or service to someone else.
4. Design the email, including the envelop, to look like a real piece of mail.
It’s easy for someone to slip into the mindset that marketing emails are just advertising pieces, or at least, that they don’t need to look like real pieces of mail. But if you want to gain the trust of your audience, you must design your email to look exactly like a piece of mail.
You can use tools like Litmus to test the look and feel of your email, against that of a real piece of mail. When designing your email, include the necessary information, like the recipient’s name and address, as well as a visual depiction of the product or service you’re promoting. You should also include the URL of your website, or a link to a short sales pitch. These are all vital pieces of information, which, if included, will make your email look like a real, albeit digitally created, piece of mail.
5. Personalize the message, including the signature.
If you’re sending the email from a personal account, you can include some personality in the signature. But make sure you’re also being professional, by including your company’s logo and relevant contact information. If you run a business, you can sign the email with your company name and contact details. If you’re just sending the email as an individual, you can put your signature at the end of the email. But again, keep it professional.
You can also make the signature stand out with a brightly colored font, or a unique pattern or design. Your signature is a unique touch to the email, that someone possibly may remember you by.
6. Proofread, spellcheck, and re-read.
It may not seem like common sense, but if you want to ensure flawless grammar and spelling, you must proofread your work, twice. Once, before sending the email, and again, after submitting it. Proofreading is an important step in the editing process. It ensures that your writing is free of errors and that you’re using relevant and adequate words, rather than simply going with the first thing that came to mind. When proofreading, look for spelling errors, as these will appear at the top of the list.
Spellcheck is also an important tool. If you’re relying on spellcheck, your grammar may slip, since the software doesn’t actually check for spelling errors. People who are unfamiliar with your product or service may also question whether or not the spelling is correct. So, by doing some research, and ensuring your spelling is flawless, you’re giving the reader the confidence that what they’re reading is correct, and that you’re a reliable source to be taking advice from.
7. Measure the success of your email campaign.
Now, you may be wondering how to measure the success of your email campaign. The answer is quite easily, stats. You can use tools like Google Analytics to track the success of your emails. With Google Analytics, you can see everything from the time the person opened the email, to whether or not they clicked on the call-to-action, to whether or not they made a purchase, or entered their contact information. Essentially, with Google Analytics, you can measure everything about your email, down to the little details.
Getting the right data is important. While it’s not always possible to know exactly how much traffic you’ll receive, or how many people will click on a particular call-to-action, you can measure the success of your email, and make appropriate adjustments, accordingly.
If you want to get the most out of your email marketing, create a simple system for identifying and responding to key performance indicators. These tips and tricks for making your email marketing more effective will help get you there.