Often, our emails go unopened and you think “whyyyyyy?”
Email marketing is meant to:
- Gain awareness for your business
- Engage your audience
- Allow your audience to discover the benefits of your product or service
- Increase product or service purchases
- Retain customers for the long-term
I’ve got a few tips that you can use NOW to improve your open rates, click-throughs, lead generation, and sales from your email marketing efforts.
List Segmentation
While this can be a lot of work, segmenting your contact list is a great way to improve your email’s open and click-through rates. If you are sending mass emails to a broad range of customers that are not all interested in the same product or service, they are going to become disinterested. When you break up your lists into “areas of interest” categories and send them only information relating to their specific needs- your emails stats will be better and your contact list happier.
Mobile First
More and more people are opening emails with their cell phones- sometimes over 50% of your contacts will open on some type of mobile device. It’s important to keep this in mind when designing your emails. A few things you can do is keep your image files small so your email loads quickly. Also, make sure your email template is responsive and automatically shrinks based on what type of device is viewing the email.
Clear & Short Subject Lines
Your email lands in the inbox of your contact. The first thing they read is the subject line, so it better be GREAT. You want to write a headline that is compelling and entices them to CLICK. Some recommendations I have for improving email open rates are:
- Keep your subject line 50 characters or less
- Use an Emoji or two
- Make sure it’s clear and understandable
- Action-oriented, verbs, excitement, or a sense of urgency language is a must
- Avoid spammy words like “save” “quote” and “free”
Consistency
Sending emails on a consistent basis is key to improving your audience’s engagement. Depending on your business, it might be best to send out an email every Monday, every other week, or on a monthly basis. Whatever you decide is best, stick to it! Email marketing is a process, not a one-time action. When you’re sending emails on a regular basis you are able to stay top of mind, educate your audience, build relationships, and increase your bottom line.
Above the Fold
Looking to make your emails more clickable? Insert more clickable elements- buttons, links, clickable images- near the top of your email. Giving your user something actionable right away after the email is opened will sure to increase your email’s click-through rate.
Minimal Design
Your email campaigns should NOT be flooded with photos, text, and tons of different call-to-actions. People will often get overwhelmed, not understand, and back out of your email if it looks too busy. Keep your email design simple- you can even try sending a plain text email! Break up text into more paragraphs, create bullet points, and section off content to it’s easy to understand. This will make skimming your email much easier for your reader.
Follow the Rules
Always, always abide by CAN-SPAM rules! There is a law in place to keep organizations from spamming recipients. A few things that you need to consider are:
- Emails must include your physical address
- Emails must have a clear way to opt-out or unsubscribe
- You need to include clear “to” and “from” content that reflects who you are
Check out the Federal Trade Commission’s website for the complete rundown.
There ya have it, folks! It’s worthwhile to take the time to improve your email marketing efforts. Sending compelling content to your target market and being aware of how the small details that are affecting your results will pay off. Need help sending email marketing campaigns? Let’s chat!
