There have never been more avenues available for marketing than there are these days—TV, radio, billboards, website ads, social media, and so on. But even with all these channels to choose from, 80% of marketers agree email marketing remains one of the most effective strategies.
With marketing automation in place, it’s tempting to “set it and forget it” when it comes to email marketing. But, just like life, what you get from email marketing depends on what you put into it. The best way to maximise your gains is to pair a great marketing automation system with a robust email marketing strategy that reflects your customers’ needs and the buyer journey.
1. Create an engaging subject line
The subject line is the first thing a customer sees on any email. If you haven’t tested and optimised yours, you’re leaving money on the table. A/B testing isn’t just for websites and landing pages — it’s essential for email marketing as well. Aim for a casual and personal opening line, and test, test, test.
2. Write to one person
As you might expect, an email is much more likely to be opened and engaged with if it sounds like it’s been written directly to the recipient. Use the recipient’s first name in your opening, and then write your message’s body text as if you were writing to one person alone. This level of focus and familiarity will engage your readers and keep them opening your messages in the future.
3. Write quality content
If customers come to expect that your business sends them interesting, engaging and informative emails, your open rates will skyrocket. If, on the other hand, you’re only sending information they could easily find elsewhere — or worse, all promotions, all the time — your messages will end up in the trash bin. Sending high-quality email less frequently is one of the best ways to keep open rates high.
4. Send from a person, not a company
When deciding to open email, recipients first check to see if they know the person sending the message. An email from a company gets marked as advertising immediately, which can get your email deleted. An email that appears to be coming from an actual individual at your firm is more personal and much more likely to get opened.
5. Send at the right time
Timing is everything in marketing — especially email marketing. Be sure that you’re sending your emails at the best times given their message, audience and intent. You can find this out through testing, or do research on your industry to see what results tend to be.
These hacks are simply put together to take advantage of how the human brain works. But perhaps the most important tip to keep in mind is to be genuine. Make sure to inject a human quality to your emails so that your customers will always find something to relate to.
We know email marketing like the back of our hand at 418, so if you feel you need a bit of help or advice, just give us a shout.
