If you follow us on Facebook, you have probably already seen us mention how beneficial email marketing can be. If you don’t, then the one piece of information you need to know is that for every $1 a business spends on email marketing, their average ROI is $44 or 4400%.
Yet, there are still plenty of businesses who do not see that high of a return. Why is that? The short answer is that email marketing takes a bit more thought, structure, and planning than your regular email. However, that does NOT mean you should shy away from using email to your advantage!
Email marketing can be a simple, effective tool when used correctly. Having these 10 tips will help guide you in the right direction, and if you need more help, contact Webster Digital Marketing (WDM) today!
1. Be Consistent
It is vital with email marketing that you be consistent. Whether that means your sending emails weekly, monthly, quarterly, all depends on your business and what your recipients respond to best. But above all, you must be consistent! We find that a lot of business owners struggle to stay on target when they try to manage it themselves, but that is where we step in. WDM knows your busy running the day-to-day, so we manage your email newsletters for you.
2. Plan Ahead
Start thinking ahead of time and you will thank yourself for it. Whether you’re advertising for a holiday a month in advance or your business is more seasonal, you have to stay ahead of the competition by offering products and services before customers have had the chance to get them from someone else. Sure, last-minute gifts are a good thing to have in your back pocket, but you will reach a wider audience by advertising early.
3. Words Matter
Your subject line is crucial! It is what makes or breaks a click-through on an email. The best way to determine what type of subject lines your recipients respond to is by A/B testing! If you can test subject lines, you can guarantee the most opens. As a Constant Contact partner, WDM does A/B testing on subject lines for a majority of our clients for the best results.
4. Think Mobile
If your email isn’t mobile friendly, your losing at least 42% of subscriber’s attention. Be sure to use responsive email design, and consider using single-column design, large typeface, and easily clickable buttons. It is a simple but necessary step to make sure your emails are easy to read, no matter what device the subscriber chooses to use
5. Get Personal
People love exclusivity! Give them offers that are only available to email subscribers. It can not only help to prevent unsubscribing, but also attract new subscribers when advertised on your website and social media properly. In addition, most email service providers (ESP) give you the ability to add people’s names into the subject line or text of your email. If you want to see asignificant increase in your engagement rate,personalization will give you the right tools to do it.
6. Start a Conversation
How many of us receive emails that ask us NOT to respond? As business owners, we should be encouraging conversations with our customers, not hindering them. Not only should you use an email that subscribers can respond to, but you should also be incorporating questions that prompt them to reply. Easing the ability for consumers to communicate with businesses directly leads to conversions!
7. Add Links
Links are an email’s best friend. Whether it is your website, product page, or social media accounts, links should be used frequently and made obvious. You always want readers to be able to get more information if they want it. The problem is, they will not go looking for it! You must lead the way, and the best way is with links!
8. Create Clear Call-to-Actions
Speaking of leading the way… every email needs a call to action. What is it exactly that you want readers to do? Sign up? Read more? Contact you? Buy now? Always direct subscribers to complete your desired action, and be sure it is big, bold, and extremely clear.
9. Use Segmentation
For more advanced email marketing, segmenting your emails gives you the ability to group subscribers based on their needs. This is extremely beneficial to all types of industries, but especially those who have multiple target audiences. Emails sent to segmented audiences tend to have better open rates, too. Example: Men probably do not want to know about the latest sale on women’s heels. So, instead of sending everything to everyone, break up your email lists into groups so you can target them more specifically, resulting in much more conversions.
10. Have Fun!
Why so serious? Do not forget to have fun in your emails! Whether it’s with gifs, funny subject lines, or a personal story that makes people laugh. It can be obvious or subtle, whatever feels right. The key is to not always have your newsletters feel like a business pitch. Break it up with information, fun, quality content, and your subscribers are guaranteed to keep opening your emails!
