Email marketing is one of the most important ways to remain in touch with your customers and create a lasting relationship. It’s also one of the cheapest, as you can save money on printing materials and postage by using email instead.
This article focuses on 9 email marketing tips that will help improve your open rates, click-throughs, and sales.
Let’s get started!
1. Send Relevant Newsletters That People Want to Read
Nothing is more frustrating than opening an email newsletter that doesn’t have anything in it that interests you. If your newsletters are filled with irrelevant content – or stuffed with ads without any real value – people won’t read them when they arrive in their inboxes.
Instead, try sending emails based on current trends in your industry. For example, if you’re at a conference or meeting where notable people are speaking, send out an email newsletter with the highlights of their speeches. Or, if your customers have just bought something from you, send them a thank-you note and see how they react.
Likewise, send product details to people who are interested in knowing about the product. For instance, if you are promoting a CRM for real estate and people are interested in knowing the pricing, focus only on the pricing option.
2. Avoid Clutter by Keeping it Simple
A cluttered email makes it hard for people to read important information or get to the point quickly. Not only does this make people less likely to click through to your site, but they’ll also feel stressed while reading it – which isn’t something you want while they’re looking at one of your sales letters!
Keep things simple by using only 1-3 fonts, not more than two colors in your design. Similarly, keep things brief. The easier you make it for people to browse through your newsletter, the better they’ll respond.
We suggest that you use tools like Grammarly, Hemingway app, and professional proposal creating applications to keep your content brief but powerful.
3. Respect Email Inboxes
As an email marketer, you want to build trust with your customers so that they know when they’re getting emails from you that it’s worth opening up.
However, if you’re constantly sharing their inbox with unsolicited sales offers or newsletters they didn’t sign up for – no matter how relevant or interesting – then there’s a good chance that you’ll lose their trust (and future business.)
Keep in mind that this also goes both ways; if someone who hasn’t opened anything in over 6 months does get your email, make sure to honor their choice by not sending them anything else.
4. Personalize Where Possible
People are busy – really busy. Between work, school, personal lives, and other commitments, it’s no wonder that many people barely have time to eat proper meals anymore! So, when they’re opening up an email from your business and see that you just used the default ‘Dear Customer’ salutation instead of something more personalized, chances are they’ll consider it spam or junk mail.
However, if you use things like first names instead of last ones (unless you know they prefer otherwise) and job titles and any company name they may recognize, you can increase how much your message gets read. This also applies to what they see when they open your email.
5. Include a Strong Call to Action
I’m willing to bet that you don’t mind getting those ‘coupon’ emails from stores from time to time, right?
But why do you get those emails instead of the store’s actual newsletter with coupons or special offers? Because their email newsletters lack a clear call to action that makes it seem like an offer is worth taking advantage of.
An effective call-to-action can include ‘buy now,’ ‘get yours before they’re gone,’ and even simple phrases like ‘click here.’ Not only does this increase the chances of people clicking on your links, but it encourages them to buy something without delay – which tends to make them happier customers.
6. Include Social Sharing Buttons
If your newsletter is going to be a valuable resource for people, consider including a section on it where they can share the newsletter with their friends and family. This not only helps spread the word about what you’re offering but also increases your email subscribers – which equals more money from sales!
7. Use Bullet Points or Images to Highlight Key Information
When you’re sending out an email that’s packed with information, it makes sense that you’d want people to see every bit of it. However, sometimes this leaves readers bored and uninterested when things get too wordy.
Don’t let your message get overlooked because you couldn’t resist the urge to fill it up with words!
The best solution for this is either to use bullet points or images throughout the newsletter to break things up. You can also add infographics to illustrate your point without words!
This way, people are more likely to stop and look at your most important information, giving them a better idea of why they should buy from you now.
8. Keep Your Email Newsletters Short
There’s nothing more frustrating than joining in on an email chain conversation only to realize that it’s longer than War and Peace – especially if there are dozens of messages that came before yours, which all start rambling off into strange directions. You can avoid these problems by keeping your emails short and sweet; within reason, of course.
Don’t try to cram too much information into one email , and make sure that there’s always a clear and concise call-to-action (see #5 for more on this.) You can also remove some of the fluff you may have added during the editing process, even if it means losing an enjoyable anecdote or two.
9. Make Sure People Know They’re Receiving Emails from Your Company
This is something I wish someone would’ve told me about when I first started; how important it is to let people know who you are and what your company does! This applies to both the ‘From’ field and your main message body.
Other things you could include are your product names, website URL, location info, and any other small details that will help people feel more familiar with you. It also clarifies that they’re receiving an email from your company, which can be helpful when dealing with spam complaints.
Conclusion
No matter what you’re sending out to your email subscribers, these 9 simple steps will help improve people’s chances of reading them.
Remember that following these guidelines doesn’t mean that people will read every word. But if you write an email newsletter that’s packed with vital information, is easy to navigate, and gives people a reason to buy your products or services, it certainly increases the chances.
So, start writing! And don’t forget to keep these tips in mind when you do!
