Effective email marketing is critical for businesses of all sizes. Having trouble growing your email audience? Think your emails lack pizazz? Feel like you send the same information every time? Read below for five email marketing steps you can take to make your emails more magnetic.
1. Don’t deviate from your area of expertise
You can’t be all things to all people. Readers sign up for your email because you are an expert in {blank}. But sometimes, after we’ve been writing for months or years about X, it can get boring–even for the writers. And we think if the content has become a little boring to us, it has become boring to our readers…and we mess with a good thing. Don’t do it! Don’t give in to the temptation to switch things up. Instead, keep up on the trends in your industry, share your thoughts and offer ways to use that information.
2. Focus on one main message per email
You can have a few different areas of information within the same email, Overall, you should stick to the main point though. If you have tons of information to share, perhaps you need to focus on one topic and send more often, with a theme such as “Makeover Monday” or “Throwback Thursday.”
3. Make your emails personal
How fun is it to receive a message intended just for you? Maybe it’s a voicemail from your best friend or maybe a Facebook message wishing you a happy birthday. Perhaps it’s a special note from your spouse or significant other. You sift through the junk mail and open these more personal messages first. And you are excited to read them, because you know the message is just for you.
With today’s online marketing tools, it’s easy send personalized content too. The engagement factor will rise as they continually look forward to individualized coupons based on buying history, a special tip based on areas of interest, or even an entire email devoted to one’s unique place in his/her relationship with you.
4. Keep your email marketing simple
Your readers want to be engaged in your messages–really, they do. However, if you throw up information all over them with mini-novels each time you send a message, or the emails aren’t “mobile-friendly” and can’t easily be read, forget it. They will simply close the email, delete it and move on. When it comes to email marketing, keep it short and sweet.
5. Have fun!
We humans love to have fun and be entertained. We love color, humor and good writing. You don’t like to read super-boring, sit-up-straight, just-the-facts emails. So why would your readers? Even if your email is meant to be educational in nature, you can still make it enjoyable. Throw in some interesting stats. Add a cartoon or infographic. If YOU are having fun crafting your emails, your readers will have fun reading them and continue to stay engaged.
Bonus Tip: Make Your Emails Mobile-Friendly
With a majority of email being opened on mobile devices first, the best thing you can do is to make sure your email looks great and is easily readable on phones. All of the great tips outlined above are for nothing if your readers have to struggle to read your message on any device.