More than ever, when it comes to your marketing emails, content is king. That is, you can (and should) make your emails look attractive, but if they’re lacking compelling content, you can bet recipients will shuffle them off to the spam folder. Now, that doesn’t mean you need to be a Hemingway to create effective emails, but you can observe the following tips to make get the maximum value from your email campaigns.
Start with the Subject Line
Pity the poor subject line — it has the weight of the world on its shoulders. A good one will greatly increase the chances that the recipient will actually open and read the email. A bad one is a one-way ticket to oblivion. Do the following to nail the subject line:
- Use a verb: Your subject line should be actionable, calling on the reader to do something. Examples might be “Get the funding to grow your company” or “Order flowers for your mom this Mother’s Day.”
- Customize the subject line to the segment: You should be segmenting your mail lists to make them more targeted. For example, if you own an insurance office, you will want to segment customers and potential customers by the appropriate type of insurance, such as life, automobile, or rental. It would be malpractice to offer homeowners insurance to a tenant when you should offer rental insurance instead. Your subject line should reflect the different needs of different segments.
- Make the topic clear: It’s all well and good to make your subject line catchy, but your top priority is to make it clear. If recipients don’t immediately understand the purpose of the email, they are less likely to open it. If you can state your topic clearly and cleverly, so much the better. For example, “Think plant burgers taste like grass? Think again!”, which is clear, catchy, and commanding.
- Ensure subject line and email copy align: Recipients don’t appreciate emails in which the subject line doesn’t match the email content. The email should deliver on whatever the subject line promises. Failure to do so crushes the chances that the recipient will click-through any link in the email. And it might exile your subsequent emails to spam jail.
Craft the Email Content
OK, you’ve created a killer subject line. Follow through with well-crafted content by observing these tips:
- Establish relevancy early: You’ve used your segmentation strategy to create a targeted subject line. Apply that same strategy again in the opening paragraph in order to establish the email’s relevance to the reader. For instance, use the first paragraph to remind recipients that something is about to expire, or that they’ve just earned enough loyalty points to graduate to a higher reward tier. These examples make the relevancy to the reader clear and personal.
- Address recipient as “you”: That is, write in the second person. “You”, “your”, and “yours” are second-person pronouns that should predominate over third-person words (“we”, “our”, “us”, etc.). This focuses the content on the recipient rather than the sender. Subtle but effective.
- Emphasize benefits, not features: The recipient wants to know the value of whatever it is you’re hawking. If you just talk about the latest whiz-bang features of your offering, you can leave them wondering about the value of the email. For example, don’t just plaster “25% off all domain names” without explaining how having multiple domains can increase web traffic and return on marketing investment.
- Say it succinctly and lovably: You can probably go on and on regarding the email’s message, but don’t. Assume your recipients are busy people, so get to the point quickly and don’t belabor the topic. Instead, offer a click-through link for readers who want more information. While you’re at it, make your copy delightful to read. Let your business’ personality sing out and show your recipient a little love.
Conclusion
We’ve discussed ways to improve your emails. End them with a call-to-action (CTA) that is, well, actionable. Make CTAs easy to recognize, perhaps incorporating a button that links recipients to a dedicated landing page you’ve created just for this email. The CTA can offer many things, such as more information or access to a special deal. The bottom line is that your emails should be the complete package, with optimized subject lines, contents, and CTAs. Now, go get ‘em!
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