Well, since you’re reading this, we’ve probably done a fine job of catching your attention. So you know you’re reading it from the right people!
In the age of digital media with almost everything online and yes, groceries and pets too, it’s essential to tap the email marketing channel the right way. And how can email marketing possibly translate into anything big, you ask? A well composed email to the right audience can be the 1st step to ensuring a customer base.
The relevance of emails has undergone a change over the years. The way an average user looks at emails and how much time he/she spends on an email has changed drastically. But that said, ‘email’ as a concept continues to flourish; every portal / platform we sign up for requires us to enter our email address. Ergo, email is very much here to stay and effective email marketing is possible. In the couple of seconds that users glance over at the mailer notification, you have to captivate their interest. Let us come back to this discussion in one of our following blogs.
With an ROI of 144%, email marketing is worth all your while and attention. But before you compose an impressive email and start thinking about the buzz it’s going to create, it helps to understand how to get your audience to open the mail.
As someone who regularly works on marketing emails, I have covered some aspects of sending an email that you might want to get right –
Subject line
It’s the prologue to your email and as they say ‘well begun is half done’. A crisp, relevant subject line can save your email from being ‘marked as read’ and getting lost amid a bunch of other marketing emails. While a great subject line can be a lot of things, you must keep in mind the following:
- Spam words – hurry, this is guaranteed to be a spam mail, you’ve been chosen for this once in a lifetime sham offer so call now and try now. This and plenty of other annoying pleas work wonders at plummeting the open rate. Avoid.
- THE PARADOX OF ALL CAPS – WHILE IT DOES ATTRACT ATTENTION, IT MIGHT MAKE YOUR READERS POLITELY RELOCATE THE MAIL TO THE JUNK BOX
- Personalize it, Mr xyz – addressing the mail to someone indicates that it’s relevant. It definitely merits interest and the readers might want to check what’s on the other side
- Generate curiosity – Without running into hundreds of characters, let out the amount of information that’s just right. And just right to generate curiosity and not sound vague.
- Do not sound like a call centre employee pitching a boring product – if the subject line is not pertinent, exciting, or catchy, let the email rest in your ‘draft’ folder
Be careful with the ‘from name’ as well; it’s often more prominent than the subject line itself.
Timing of the email
If you have a huge subscriber base (perhaps across countries), be mindful of the local time and send when the user is expected to be checking mails. Usually Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays are the best days to send promotional emails
Now if I receive this weekend offer mail on Wednesday morning or Friday night, I’m probably going to miss / forget it
Frequency of sending emails
List fatigue can kill the buzz around your emails. We’re sure you’ve got the best content writers but don’t bombard your readers with emails or other forms of communication. 2-3 emails per week is a good average, any lower than 2 a month and your reader base might be looking you up on Google the next time
Double opt in
This gives you a subscriber list that looks forward to, or at least doesn’t mind emails from you. It also helps you understand your target audience and its behavior better
Content really is king
The importance that Content marketing has gained is testimony to the importance of good, clear and useful content. Great copy in one mailer can help improve open rate statistics of subsequent mailers. Needless to say, you have to maintain the quality. Connect with your readers and give them what they’d like to read.
It’s okay (and at times important) to build a relationship with your readers over mails, you may also keep it informal depending on your industry. However, do not indulge in too many internet slangs, it can get quite annoying and incomprehensible.
Visual appeal
Coming to the email itself, you need to have a structure in place and make it visually appealing. Make the important announcements / offers stand out. The goal is not only to get your readers to open the email, but also to come back to it. Remember, open rate also derives from repeat opens. So if it’s a shabby / irrelevant mail they’re looking at, they won’t come back to it and probably won’t even check another mail from you.
Last but not the least (please don’t use such clichés in your mailers) – we cannot emphasize enough on the importance of impeccable language, with equal regard to both grammar and punctuation.
The to do list is endless, these are just some ways to boost the open rates. Do share your strategies with us on an email ; )
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