Rock Your Email Marketing Campaign
Effective marketing works in two directions. You absolutely want to bring your customers to you with a beautiful web site, terrific content that is well optimized for search engine performance, and lots of high-quality links. But that’s not enough—you always want to approach them. A simple and efficient way to communicate with users is by sending them marketing emails that entice them to shop at your site. But wait—you don’t want to end up in their spam folders or, worse, have them click that dreaded “unsubscribe” button. Today, let’s take a good look at what makes for a successful email marketing campaign.
Grab Them from the Get-Go
Don’t wait until the body of your email to appeal to customers. When you’re typing your subject line, be sure it makes a bold, compelling statement—something that answers the reader’s questions of “Why should I care? Why should I open this email?” Your subject line can include a call to action (“Save 20% today”) and/or an invitation (“Join us for this week’s amazing clearance!”) You might also highlight some of your hottest-selling items (“5 Products We Can’t Keep on the Shelves!”) In any case, your subject is your first impression, so make sure it’s a great one.
Make Emails Easy to Read and Use
We’ve all gotten those crummy marketing emails that go straight to the recycle bin. Stop and think about what makes you click delete before you reach the bottom of the message. Sometimes you’re truly not interested in the promotion or products, but other emails are so darn annoying to read that you can’t be bothered. Make a checklist of what you find irritating about lousy emails, and be sure to avoid making those mistakes. Customers will quickly grow bore and frustrated, for example, with an email bloated with big images that won’t load or full of broken links to your web site. Be sure the whole thing is in tip-top shape and doesn’t induce eye rolling, whether the user is on a computer, tablet, or smartphone. This is why excellent design and thorough testing are key!
Include Beautiful Visuals
When it comes to the design your email, ask yourself: what is it you’re trying to promote? Photos of your merchandise speak volumes about what you have to offer, maybe even more so than written content. You don’t want to overwhelm the reader, so choose a couple absolutely gorgeous pictures and make them the focus of the email. Pair them with a simple banner or coupon announcing your sale or promotion, add your logo and any other branding material you use, and you have just the right amount of visual content for a compelling email.
Keep Written Content Short and Sweet
When it comes to writing for email marketing, use the law of word economy—i.e. don’t say anything that isn’t significant and necessary. If readers are going to spend an average of, let’s say, 10 seconds to scan your email, what do you most want them to know? If you’re doing a sweet promotion, like a buy-one-get-one-free deal or 5 top-selling product samples with any purchase of $25, you’ll definitely want to highlight that. Write any content you include with the idea that customers want to know, above all else, what’s in it for them, especially when it comes to saving a few bucks or getting an awesome freebie.
You’re already on your way to a much-improved email marketing campaign. Your customers are waiting!