Top 11 Tips for Email Marketing
There are vital flaws we make when sending out an email retail campaign, 11 flaws in fact. This may be a lot to identify but we make flaws that we don’t even realise. This blog will outline the flaws and give you all a solution that will increase open rates by a mile!
No personalisation
It doesn’t have to be a “Moon pig” card or anything like that; it just has to be direct to the target market you are sending it to. Don’t settle for writing “Dear Mr/Mrs”, “Hello Team”. Include the person’s name and use the right software to do so. I use Mailchimp which has a Personalised “To” Field. The website itself picks up peoples first and last names from email addresses in the email list selected and applies it to the email. If you are sending out a mass emails it excludes the names from going to other people in the recipients, it is easy and free to use!
Cold emailing
When I first started out digital marketing I was collecting emails off of company websites and people’s LinkedIn accounts which isn’t the answer. Cold emailing has its benefits of getting a reply back but to really get the open rates and responses that are relevant to your retail business you should email people directly in your target market, geo target your email campaigns and email the potential customer if the email address is given to you. This will show your professional manner as well as increase open rate & CTR.
Sent at the wrong time
Another trouble that occurs in an emailing campaign is that they get sent out at irrelevant times. No one would read an email about the best shoes of the year at 11:45pm. It is important to consider where your target market will be at the time you send the email, what they will be doing and whether this email will make them stop and read. Did you know that the best time to send a retail email is at 2pm on a Thursday? Who would of thought?
Accuracy
I’m going to keep this plain and simple. To send out an effective email campaign you should grammar check the email for any spelling mistakes and to check if the content itself makes sense, you should definitely check for broken backlinks before sending as this will make your website ranking go down. It will not help readers if the links in the email content doesn’t work!
Too much text in email
Personally, would you read an email with 6-8 paragraphs in it? The answer is no. If you want to catch the attention of people within your target market you need to definitely keep it short and sweet, not too direct and catch their eye with an interesting offer or fact. The following points also associate with email content.
6. Sales type email
I’m sorry to break it to you but if you write purely about sales and how your product/service can benefit them then the reader will get bored and bounced off the email. Readers want to see results, they would like to see examples of user examples and they would like to see something that makes them go wow! Sales emails do not cut it anymore, if you want to see results for yourself then definitely consider using worldwide tops, real life scenarios and always ending with a positive note. This can be a solution. Imagine if your shoe broke, where would you go or what would you do to fix it? Ideally, you would search up for new shoes on a browser and hope for the best. With email you can subscribe to any new offers given and possibly the gateway to new shoes! Use your words effectively when emailing your target market.
Lack of visuals
From work experience, I have learned that visuals in email marketing mean everything. It is important to use appropriate images that catch the attention of readers; this could be anything from product showcasing, highlighting offers and pictures relevant to the text in the email. Visuals make the emails colourful and grab attention. 84% of marketers have said that visuals trigger the reader’s brain to check out your social media, they want to know what you’re about other than producing emails and content. Readers want to know the “secret sauce” you use for your business.
Subject line isn’t enticing enough
As mentioned earlier, you should your keep your email short and sweet. However, you should also have an effective subject line. People will not even read your email if the subject line is not good. No one would read an email if the subject line was “New sale”. Vamp up your email subject lines by asking a question like “How do you plan to dress this Christmas?!”
Make the subject line something worth reading but makes sure it goes with what your content is talking about.
NOT relatable
Make your emails relatable by adding a story with a happy ending in your content, everyone as well as you loves to see results. A happy ending. A solution. No one will read an email if the content is not something to relate to. They will just see it as a sales email and bounce off of it.
Include the happy endings, include personal responsibilities if it is relatable and definitely tell a story with it all.
Include a broken shoe; include how a negative became a positive by using your product/service.
NO CLICK BAIT
If I’m honest, every point I’ve mentioned in my blog has come to this. No click bait. Once again, no one will read your email if this is not shown. The click bait can be anything from new product/service offers, clickable links and buzz words. It is a summary of the email content, the thing that really get people to stop and click. Writing enticing email content is expected when producing email marketing campaigns but click bait beats the content by a mile. The click bait makes your content worth a click. You can include paid advertising in your email as this shows a crisp look to your business and shows that your company has more than one threshold. Think about it.
No current customer feedback
All businesses can lose their selves when there so many new customers on the books, but what about the current ones? It is essential to always remarket to current customers, check how they’re doing and keep them in the know. Current customers will want to know about new deals, retail news and anything that can benefit them through the use of your product/service. Don’t side-track and focus on receiving current customer feedback before considering something new. This feedback can help you in the long run and help you vamp up your business through the use of PPC, Email marketing and Social Media marketing.
Overall, you should outline the selling points in your business and use them to create effective email marketing campaigns. You should use these points as a guide to improve your email content and rock the world of email marketing!
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