Email is still the best performing marketing channel, according to research, despite the growing popularity of social media. This means that, for any business, it is critical not to neglect your email marketing campaigns when trying to win new business.
However, this is not as simple as creating an email with a great offer and waiting for the business to come flooding in. Prospective clients (particularly those in the B2B sector) will receive hundreds of emails every day from businesses just like yours, and that’s not even including the spam emails! Most recipients will scan their emails quickly and decide whether or not to pay full attention to one, or relegate it to their deleted folder.
Here are some tips for making an email that will grab and hold attention even when competing with hundreds of others. Make sure that your email answers the questions:
Who Is It From?
This may seem irrelevant but the very beginning of your email campaign process should be setting up a serious business email address and setting your sender name to something that commands respect and attention.
If you are a legitimate business then you must have a legitimate business email address, and this is where all of your marketing emails should be coming from. Something like Dave@yourbusiness.com is so much more professional than Dave123@gmail.com, and shows that you are a reliable company, serious about what you do.
Your sender name should also be your full first and surname; no nicknames, no quirky names or in-jokes. Even if your personality as a brand is fun and silly, this is about proving that you are serious about your business in order to get someone to read further than just the email address and title.
What’s It About?
The next important thing to focus on is your subject line and first sentence. You might think that once you’ve hooked someone with your name and subject line then the email is at least likely to be opened. However, in some email apps and services, the subject line and first sentence will what the recipient is able to see, meaning whether or not they open it could still hinge on that first line.
Even the best salespeople occasionally do this this wrong way round, creating a perfect email but then adding an uninteresting or uninspiring subject line just before sending. The subject line should be compelling and offer value to the reader, making them want to open the email. Meanwhile, the first line of the email should be tailored to the recipient and the individual campaign it refers to.
Why Is It For Me?
People want to receive interesting emails and useful offers, but more than that they want to receive things that are designed specifically for them. A personalised deal, email or offer is far more likely to appeal to your recipient, and lead to conversions.
Having the person’s name in the title of the email is a simple and effective way to personalise your email campaign, and easy to do when you create your content forms. However, this is very basic-level personalisation that, chances are, everyone else is doing too.
To better tailor your emails to individuals, you need to research and segment your audience so that slightly different emails go out to people in more specific groups like (for example) customers with children, customers over the age of 50, those who have purchased from you before and so on.
This will make your message interesting and relevant, and make the customer feel like they are better understood by your brand.
Why Are You Still Talking?!
One of the biggest mistakes you can make when sending out a marketing email is to talk for too long. Remember that if your recipient has got as far as reading your email, they have already taken valuable time out of your day to listen to what you have to say, and you should capitalise on this by making the interaction short and succinct.
You don’t need to use your emails to educate potential customers about your brand or industry – chances are they don’t care at the moment. You need to offer far more value and take alot more small steps before they will. In this case, all you are looking to do is to get a response from them, which indicates interest. With this in mind, always try to ensure that your initial emails are kept to below five sentences. The shorter you can get them the better!
What Do I Think?
A key skill to learn when creating any marketing campaign is to ask questions with it that your target audience will want to answer. Getting your recipient to think about your email and, thus, your brand, is a great start, but you should make them want to get back to you with their response.
Ask questions that expect and require a response such as “What times are you free next week to chat?” or “Which of these issues is the most important to you?”, alongside your own contact details or phone number so that they have somewhere to respond. You can even include a call to action button where they can quickly leave details and their response if you want to make the process even easier.
Where Did You Go?
Of course, even the strongest email campaign will not grab everyone’s attention on the first try, and this could be no fault of your own. If someone genuinely was interested in your email but was very busy at the time, or simply forgot about it during the course of the day, you could still end up getting no response in the long run. But this is where the rest of your email campaign sequence comes in.
You should always prepare follow up emails to continue your campaign for those who have not converted from the first email. As with the previous email these should be engaging, short and valuable, and sent out quickly enough that they remind the recipient of your brand without harassing them. Your follow-up emails must be just as carefully crafted as your originals, to ensure the success of your campaign.
Making the most of Email Campaigns with Maxweb
Here at Maxweb our email marketing team will help you create your own bespoke campaigns that will not only raise your brand awareness, but also reach out to as many potential customers as possible with a compelling offer that is designed to grab their attention.
To find out how Maxweb can assist you please contact one of our friendly advisors on 01516524777 or email info@maxwebsolutions.co.uk
Posted on Thursday, November 28th, 2019 in Branding.
