Email marketing can be a tough type of marketing to get right. Crafting the perfect email takes a little bit of skill and here are six secrets from the industry that should help.
Actionable language
The first point of entry in a marketing email is the subject line. It needs to persuade the customer to want to open the email, which is the first action. Actionable language asks your user to do something: open the email, click the link, buy the product, etc. It should be persuasive without being demanding. Your entire email should have actionable language throughout, prompting the reader to move forward. The action you should ask them to do should also be very easy to do, with large buttons and links and easy-to-find contact information. Your call to action should be very clear and if there is more than one call to action, it should all direct towards the main goal (i.e., follow us on social media to find out more about buying this product).Actionable words also benefit from some urgency. Customers who close or delete the email are lost customers who undoubtedly won’t come back to execute the actions. Asking them to perform the action “now” or “today”, will help let them know the importance of your message.
Gets Personal
Emails that get personal with the reader fare far better than general and to-the-masses marketing emails. Your email should actually focus on your reader and their needs and not on your business and what it needs. A study by the Direct Marketing Association found that segmented and targeted emails generated more than ½ of all revenue for the marketers that partook. While adding functionality to include the recipient’s name is no longer impressive, personalizing your email to your target customer’s needs is. To do this, a business will have to segment their list and add targets.Writing in the second person will also make the email more personal to the reader. Pronouns like you and yours orients the copy towards the reader and keeps the focus on them and not your brand.
Provides Clarity
Clear writing is a given in a marketing email, so while your brand’s focus may be on catchiness, uniqueness or quirkiness, your emails should still always be easy to understand. Many readers often skim marketing emails to quickly see if there is anything of interest to them and you need to make it clear in those few seconds of skimming of your important message. Direct and to-the-point text and images are one of the most important features of a marketing email’s copy. Answer the most important question your readers will have: “Why are you emailing me?”.
Give them value
Your email shouldn’t only tell readers what is being offered, it should tell readers why they need it. Getting your reader to realize the benefits to them of taking your requested actions is an important step in email marketing.If they need further incentive, exclusive to email subscriber coupons and sales give them that push towards clicking and buying. These exclusives offers will give readers the sense that they are getting something above what others have and that they are part of something elite or restricted.But, your emails can include more value than coupons and sales. Add e-books, expert advice, tips, answer questions, entertainment and unknown facts to your emails, giving them a reason to want to read on.Subscribers who find no value in the emails they receive will quickly unsubscribe.
Encourages other actions
It may seem like you are asking a lot, as your primary concern is to get your reader to click and buy, but a good marketing email will also encourage other actions. Asking readers to follow you on social media ensures that they have other channels besides email for which to hear about your products and services. Asking them to fill out surveys (with an incentive) provides you with valuable information that you can use to tailor your emails to them, thus creating that personal connection that was discussed above.Sujan Patel, contributor for Forbes interviewed marketing’s brightest minds and found that good content that encourages actions will:
- Answer questions your customers have
- Get them to take the next step after learning about the previous steps
- Set an appointment
- Ask the community for their wisdom
- Create trust
While these five secrets won’t guarantee you’ll have the perfect email, you can use the strategies discussed to experiment and adjust your marketing plan.
