10 Email Marketing Tips

It’s hard to imagine a world without email – it has become such an integral part of everyday life. It’s no wonder it’s become such an important tool for businesses.

Email is easily used, the world over to promote yourself to customers and prospects.

Let’s get started with 10 email marketing tips

1.  Choose a great subject line

The first step to getting your email opened is to have an engaging subject line – something that contains a benefit to the recipient or catches their attention MailChimp will now let you personalise the ‘to’ field to avoid spam filters. Never settle for a bland subject line just because you’re in a rush to get it sent out. You can do a lot better than ‘Winter Newsletter’ or ‘April promotion’.

2.  Make sure they know who it’s from

Will your reader recognise who your email is from? It’s essential that the name that appears in the ‘From’ field is a name they are familiar with, otherwise you risk having your email deleted. In some cases this will be an individual person – particularly in small businesses – and in other cases the company name will be more appropriate. Check that your messages are not coming from an email address such as admin@company.co.nz or company@xtra.co.nz. Also remember to add your contact details at the bottom of your content such as your physical address and phone number.

3.  Provide interesting content

Be careful not to overdo things on the promotional side by continually pushing your product or service and offering no other value. Give your readers some benefits. Think about what is likely to interest them and not just what you want to ‘say’. By giving them lots of reasons to open your email – handy tips, helpful information, useful resources, interesting articles and freebies – you will foster their loyalty and repeat business.

4.  Imagine you are talking to one person only

Even though you may be sending your message to thousands of people, each person receiving it wants to feel like you are talking to them. The first step is to make sure your e-mail system allows for first name customisation – nobody likes to be addressed as “Hi Customer”.

5.  Keep it short

Shorter is better. Once you’ve written your content, go through it again and see what you can take out. Be concise and get your message across quickly. This is increasingly important as more and more people check emails on their phone. If you have more to say maybe you need a blog on your website. This way you can link off to your blog with only a small introduction in the email. Those who want more information will happily visit your website

6.  Start with the most important stuff

Put the key information and any offer you have at the top of your email or in the headline. You need to get their attention quickly, before they move onto the next email in their Inbox. Avoid the fluff and get to the point. Make sure any important links are near the top as well.

7.  Break it up

Use lots of titles and subtitles in your content to make it easier for people to skim through your email quickly. Using bullet points and buttons to break up the formatting and guide the eye to your call to action.

8.  Proof and edit – always!

Just because email is seen as a more ‘casual’ style of communication, doesn’t mean you can get away with poor grammar, spelling and punctuation. Use Spell Check and make sure you get someone with an eye for detail to read through. Also check to see that your links are working.

9.  Keep graphics to a minimum

Avoid using lots of graphics. Much of the email software now does not automatically show graphic files, so your recipient will have to click to allow them. And when they don’t allow them your email can look rather average, with lots of empty white spaces. If you do use them, make sure they are low resolution images i.e. suitable for emailing.

10.  Prepare for the consequences of your email marketing!

Once you’ve sent your email, you’ll be hoping for some responses, right? Well then you’ll need to be prepared…

• Is your website up to date with your latest offer?
• If a customer phones, will they be able to talk to someone or will they be diverted to voicemail?
• Will your staff have the right information to be able to help them?
• Do you have sufficient stock of the items on promotion?
• Can you cope with a flood of bookings?
• If someone comes into your store to snap up one of the items in your newsletter, can they find it easily? Is it displayed in your window? Does it have the correct price tag?

Email marketing is an effective and low cost tool to promote your products and services to your database and potential clients. We’ve given you an overview on how to write your own email marketing campaigns but if you’re a time pressured business owner, we’ll take this task off your hands entirely and let you get back to what you enjoy and do best. Contact Synthesis Marketing and talk to a marketing expert who can do your email marketing for you.