Email marketing is an easy and straightforward way to communicate and develop relationships with your existing and potential clients. Email is an incredibly useful marketing channel because you can connect with customers straight in their inbox, which is a lot easier than trying to connect with customers on social media! Erik Harbison said it best, “If Social Media is the cocktail party, then email marketing is the ‘meet up for coffee’. The original 1 to 1 channel.” You can capture your clients’ attention and leads with a well-planned email marketing strategy that can grow your business and drive sales!
Here are our ten easy email marketing tips that you can try. Let’s get started!
#1 Create a Content Plan
Good email marketing begins with a concrete plan. Consider your audience and the frequency of your emails. Will you send out a weekly or monthly newsletter? Will your emails be sent to every client or a select number of VIPs? What type of content and schedule will best resonate with your audience? We don’t recommend daily emails as this might trigger your email subscribers to mark your content as spam. However, you’d be surprised to find that for some businesses, like e-commerce, daily emails actually work! Of course, daily emails could be beneficial for your e-commerce business if you had a wide range of inventory and are willing to do daily offers and discounts.
#2 Design an Email Template with Strong Branding
A strong email will feature your company’s branding and will be recognisable to your customers. As soon as they open your email, they should know it’s from your business. Consistency is key! Use your brand’s fonts and colours in your email campaigns. Otherwise, it could be a bit confusing to your customer. This is why creating an email template with strong brand recognition is invaluable. Email delivery services like MailChimp and Campaign Monitor provide easy-to-use template creators. You can add your logo, a navigation bar, images, etc. Once you create your template, it’s easy to update and switch out the content as and when it’s needed. Plus, it’ll save you time by simply switching out the copy in your email template.
#3 Attention-Grabbing Subject Lines
We’d venture to say that the most critical copy in your email is the subject line and preview text (sometimes referred to as subject and preheader). Without a good subject line, potential customers may not even open your email. One of the most practical things you can do to write effective subject lines is to think about what appeals to you. What email subject lines get you to click? Do you like it when companies personalise your subject line by adding your name? Next time you’re sorting through your inbox, pay close attention to what email subjects grab your attention. Here are some examples of subject lines with high email open rates:
- Hi John…
- FREE…
- Action Required…
- X% off items on your Wishlist…
- Last Chance to Save…
- 3 Reasons Why…
Personalisation, numbered lists, questions, scarcity, urgency and offers fare well in subject lines, and while these might not apply to your business or sector, it will help you get an idea of what works. Of course, we aren’t suggesting misleading your clients by adding “Claim your FREE GIFT today!” to all your email subjects, but we do recommend piquing your customers’ interest.
#4 Keep It Interesting
The body of your email should include a combination of copy and a few images. It’s best to avoid large chunks of copy. Break up your copy with graphics or even an embedded video or gif. Also, keep your email length on the shorter side overall. If you have too many graphics and copy, or it takes too long to get to the end of the email, you might get many unsubscribes.
#5 Drive Traffic to Your Site with Links
A good email will drive traffic to your website. When you add any images and copy to your email’s body, you want to create opportunities for clicks that lead back to your website. Any images you have in your email can be made “clickable.” You can also add prominent and clickable buttons to your email that can lead to a specific landing page or product. Text links should also be included but use them sparingly and where appropriate.
#6 Embrace Data and Reports
Every email delivery service provides stats and reports for every sent campaign. Reports will include open rates, click rates, who in your list opened your emails, who unsubscribed and even who marked your email as spam. It’s essential to look through your stats to set goals and also to compare email campaign performance. If you have a significantly higher open rate for one of your emails, you can review it and see why that email performed so well. Was it sent at a different time? Was the email subject shorter? Did you have a great offer? High performing email campaigns will inform your future campaigns and strategy.
#7 Grow Your Email List
Email marketing works best if you have a steady flow of new subscribers. You can gain new subscribers by creating lead magnets. A lead magnet is something of value that is exchanged for a prospective client’s email address. Here are some examples of good lead magnets:
- Free trial subscriptions
- White papers
- E-books
- E-newsletters
- Free consultations
Also, remember your CRM. If you have an eCommerce store, import your new customers into your email subscriber list. Most email delivery services will have tools and integrations to import contacts seamlessly from your eCommerce platform into your email delivery service. Of course, you’ll need to make sure you’re GDPR compliant. That’s easily done, however, and we can help make sure you comply.
#8 Optimise Your List with Segmentation
You can segment your email list and organise your subscribers to create tailored email campaigns. Targeted email campaigns can be profitable for your business, as you can personalise content for a specific demographic. For example, you can have a VIP segment for your most loyal customers or for customers who have hit a certain spending threshold. You can also target customers who haven’t made a purchase recently. There are so many options when it comes to segmentation!
#9 Automation & Welcome Series
Online software can automate emails, and you can create an email series that will help onboard new customers giving them relevant information about your business, an introduction to your services, or even special discounts. Automated emails can even nurture new leads while you sleep!
#10 Repurpose Your Email Content
Once your email is written, consider repurposing the content for other uses. You can create a blog post or use some snippets of what you’ve written for social media. We don’t suggest copying and pasting your email into a LinkedIn post, but you can use the topic of your email to create an engaging social media post.
There’s a lot to consider and do when it comes to email. At Zool Agency, we can help you at any stage of your email marketing. From strategy to copywriting and everything in between! If you need our creative services, we can design your email templates, or if you need help with your contact segmentation, we’ve got you covered. Contact our friendly experts at [email protected]
10 Easy Email Marketing Tips
Creative / Jan 25, 2021
Email marketing is an easy and straightforward way to communicate and develop relationships with your existing and potential clients. Email is an incredibly useful marketing channel because you can connect with customers straight in their inbox, which is a lot easier than trying to connect with customers on social media! Erik Harbison said it best, “If Social Media is the cocktail party, then email marketing is the ‘meet up for coffee’. The original 1 to 1 channel.” You can capture your clients’ attention and leads with a well-planned email marketing strategy that can grow your business and drive sales!
Here are our ten easy email marketing tips that you can try. Let’s get started!
#1 Create a Content Plan
Good email marketing begins with a concrete plan. Consider your audience and the frequency of your emails. Will you send out a weekly or monthly newsletter? Will your emails be sent to every client or a select number of VIPs? What type of content and schedule will best resonate with your audience? We don’t recommend daily emails as this might trigger your email subscribers to mark your content as spam. However, you’d be surprised to find that for some businesses, like e-commerce, daily emails actually work! Of course, daily emails could be beneficial for your e-commerce business if you had a wide range of inventory and are willing to do daily offers and discounts.
#2 Design an Email Template with Strong Branding
A strong email will feature your company’s branding and will be recognisable to your customers. As soon as they open your email, they should know it’s from your business. Consistency is key! Use your brand’s fonts and colours in your email campaigns. Otherwise, it could be a bit confusing to your customer. This is why creating an email template with strong brand recognition is invaluable. Email delivery services like MailChimp and Campaign Monitor provide easy-to-use template creators. You can add your logo, a navigation bar, images, etc. Once you create your template, it’s easy to update and switch out the content as and when it’s needed. Plus, it’ll save you time by simply switching out the copy in your email template.
#3 Attention-Grabbing Subject Lines
We’d venture to say that the most critical copy in your email is the subject line and preview text (sometimes referred to as subject and preheader). Without a good subject line, potential customers may not even open your email. One of the most practical things you can do to write effective subject lines is to think about what appeals to you. What email subject lines get you to click? Do you like it when companies personalise your subject line by adding your name? Next time you’re sorting through your inbox, pay close attention to what email subjects grab your attention. Here are some examples of subject lines with high email open rates:
- Hi John…
- FREE…
- Action Required…
- X% off items on your Wishlist…
- Last Chance to Save…
- 3 Reasons Why…
Personalisation, numbered lists, questions, scarcity, urgency and offers fare well in subject lines, and while these might not apply to your business or sector, it will help you get an idea of what works. Of course, we aren’t suggesting misleading your clients by adding “Claim your FREE GIFT today!” to all your email subjects, but we do recommend piquing your customers’ interest.
#4 Keep It Interesting
The body of your email should include a combination of copy and a few images. It’s best to avoid large chunks of copy. Break up your copy with graphics or even an embedded video or gif. Also, keep your email length on the shorter side overall. If you have too many graphics and copy, or it takes too long to get to the end of the email, you might get many unsubscribes.
#5 Drive Traffic to Your Site with Links
A good email will drive traffic to your website. When you add any images and copy to your email’s body, you want to create opportunities for clicks that lead back to your website. Any images you have in your email can be made “clickable.” You can also add prominent and clickable buttons to your email that can lead to a specific landing page or product. Text links should also be included but use them sparingly and where appropriate.
#6 Embrace Data and Reports
Every email delivery service provides stats and reports for every sent campaign. Reports will include open rates, click rates, who in your list opened your emails, who unsubscribed and even who marked your email as spam. It’s essential to look through your stats to set goals and also to compare email campaign performance. If you have a significantly higher open rate for one of your emails, you can review it and see why that email performed so well. Was it sent at a different time? Was the email subject shorter? Did you have a great offer? High performing email campaigns will inform your future campaigns and strategy.
#7 Grow Your Email List
Email marketing works best if you have a steady flow of new subscribers. You can gain new subscribers by creating lead magnets. A lead magnet is something of value that is exchanged for a prospective client’s email address. Here are some examples of good lead magnets:
- Free trial subscriptions
- White papers
- E-books
- E-newsletters
- Free consultations
Also, remember your CRM. If you have an eCommerce store, import your new customers into your email subscriber list. Most email delivery services will have tools and integrations to import contacts seamlessly from your eCommerce platform into your email delivery service. Of course, you’ll need to make sure you’re GDPR compliant. That’s easily done, however, and we can help make sure you comply.
#8 Optimise Your List with Segmentation
You can segment your email list and organise your subscribers to create tailored email campaigns. Targeted email campaigns can be profitable for your business, as you can personalise content for a specific demographic. For example, you can have a VIP segment for your most loyal customers or for customers who have hit a certain spending threshold. You can also target customers who haven’t made a purchase recently. There are so many options when it comes to segmentation!
#9 Automation & Welcome Series
Online software can automate emails, and you can create an email series that will help onboard new customers giving them relevant information about your business, an introduction to your services, or even special discounts. Automated emails can even nurture new leads while you sleep!
#10 Repurpose Your Email Content
Once your email is written, consider repurposing the content for other uses. You can create a blog post or use some snippets of what you’ve written for social media. We don’t suggest copying and pasting your email into a LinkedIn post, but you can use the topic of your email to create an engaging social media post.
There’s a lot to consider and do when it comes to email. At Zool Agency, we can help you at any stage of your email marketing. From strategy to copywriting and everything in between! If you need our creative services, we can design your email templates, or if you need help with your contact segmentation, we’ve got you covered. Contact our friendly experts at [email protected]
