You Have Mail
Whilst technology constantly evolves, the basic principles of advertising haven’t changed much. Any business that wants to target a market to buy products or services, knows that a strong persuasive argument has to be made. The principle idea has always been the same and that is to communicate and share information to encourage customers to buy products or services.
With the introduction of the internet, smart businesses have evolved the channels used to deliver and communicate their message. E-mail marketing has proved to be the most essential and cost-effective solution for most businesses, now accounting for more than 7% of all e-commerce transactions.
To ensure email marketing is at its most effective, we strongly recommend following these tips and guidelines.
Subject Line - Holds the Key
If your subject line of your email does not grab your potential customers’ attentions, they will not open your mail and may instead choose to delete it without opening.
It seems obvious but if you want to convert a customer via email marketing, you first need the customer to open the email, therefore thee subject line holds the key.
Keep your subject line simple and straightforward, but also clever enough to attract attention.
Via extensive subject line testing we have established the following four styles of subject line which ensure mails are opened;
- Outcome: Subject lines that clearly tell the customer what they will get from this particular email.
- Mystery: Subject lines that make the customer curious enough to make them open the email.
- Urgency: Subject lines that encourage action now to avoid missing out
- Social Proof: Subject lines that play on the emotions of ‘fear of missing out’
Subheadings should provide additional information to support your strategy of your subject line
Personalisation
Your email is more likely to be opened if it is personalised. This means your contact database must be in order.
Testing has shown that content containing personalised informations works best.
Timing
The worst thing to do is send your promotional emails daily.
Focus and decide on the ideal frequency to send email, depending on your products or service, audience expectations and campaign type. It is necessary to undertsnad when to send email and when not to.
Get the content right and keep the topic relevant.
Do not send mails too often or too infrequent.
Images
Images create visual impact, much more so than text, so use large, high quality images to deliver your message.
Some users/devices choose not to display images when reading mails so ensure your images are supported with clear descriptive text.
Call to Action
You email must tell your customers what you want them to do, how to do it and why they should do it. If you are promoting a product include direct links to it, if it is a brand awareness or relationship strengthening email make sure you include links to your company website and company details.
‘Click Here for More Details’ gives the email purpose and invites interactions which can be measured.
Surprise
It is crucial to keep your customers engaged. The first time they receive an email from you they may not know what to expect, so will may open your email out of curiosity. It is crucial to maintain this element of surprise in each and every communication.
Try new designs, new subject lines and vary your offers and promotions so that customers are always inquisitive.
Avoid Silly Mistakes
Ensure your email is laid out nicely, your messages are clearly visible and your font/colour choices guarantee readability. Include an unsubscribe link and include your business contact details.
Ensure your email works well on a mobile device.
Email marketing is just one of the elements of digital marketing to utilise to engage customers. Used well it can bring marked improvements and measurable response.
