On the right track
So what makes it so darn good? The advantage that email marketing has over pretty much any other type of marketing is its trackability. Instant, live results from a marketing campaign were a marketers dream just a few, short years ago. Now they are a reality.
But not everyone is taking advantage.
Emailing your database from Outlook or using bulk email sending software is usually a waste of time. Mainly because you get little or no feedback – unless a recipient chooses to email you back. True, you can set up a read receipt in Outlook but that only tells you a very small part of the story.
But imagine if you could tell, at a glance, who isn‘t interested in your services or product and really doesn‘t want to hear from you again? Or who opened your email and read it repeatedly? (Wow, those people are keen!) Better still, imagine if they clicked directly through to your website from a link in the email? You would know exactly what interested them. How useful would that be?
Fortunately all that information is really easy to obtain if you use a good email marketing tool like ShineEmail rather than Outlook. There might be a learning curve for a few days but it‘s worth it to make your emails 100% more effective, right?
Use all the information
Email marketing can give you something special: instant, live, two-way communication from every address you deliver to. That‘s right, every single one.
Even emails that bounce back tell you something: it may be that those addresses are dead and you need to update your database.
You can also tell instantly if your email is engaging your reader: if you‘re getting 20% ’opens‘ and only 22% ’reads‘ then you know something about your email isn‘t connecting with your recipients. If it was they would be reopening the email to reread it or show it to the boss, and the percentage of ’reads‘ to ’opens‘ would be much higher.
With this kind of in-depth information you can really understand what‘s working. And what‘s not. And you can begin to target your messages; improve your response rates; and follow up on click-throughs.
To get you started, here are 5 tried and tested ways to improve the effectiveness of your email marketing.
1. Short and sweet
Keep your subject line short: about 40 characters or ten words. Any longer and the subject line will be cut off by most email clients. And make it punchy and interesting so your reader will be compelled to open your email.
Avoid words like OFFER or FREE or exclamation marks for emphasis!!! These will guarantee your email will end up in the spam folder quicker than you can say junk.
2. Keep it simple stupid
Don‘t make your emails too long or try to cram in too many offers. You‘ve got a second or so to grab your reader‘s attention. So keep it simple with short sentences, small paragraphs, and bullet points.
3. What next?
Let your readers know what to do next: Call us. Email us. Visit our website etc. Make sure all your contact details are big and bold.
4. Time‘s up!
Putting a deadline on your email can increase response rates. So ask your reader to respond by a certain time or day to receive their, for example, free goodies or discounted offer. Let your reader know that if they snooze they lose!
5. Timing is everything
Don‘t send your email at 10.00am on a Monday morning when everyone is manic. It will never get read. Instead choose a day of the week and time of day when your reader will be more receptive to your product or service. Friday afternoon is a good time for alcohol related products!
Follow these five golden rules and I guarantee you will improve your response rates. Good luck.
Stephen Pratley has been managing email campaigns for companies since 1999 and has worked with one man start-up to the UK‘s largest retail brands. During this time he has generated more than £15 million in revenues for his clients.
To find out how email marketing can grow your business contact Stephen at 020 973 4609 or visit www.shine-marketing.co.uk/email.html