Email marketing is one of the oldest and most effective online marketing techniques. Running an email marketing campaign does not require thousands of dollars, hence can be utilized by small startups as well. Data shows that in USA email marketing garnered 4300% ROI for a wide range of businesses. It is certainly an overwhelming rate of success for any online marketing platform and proves the market penetrating ability of personalized email messages.
However, consumers as well as email service providers such as Google and Yahoo often treat promotional mails as spam and remove them from inbox. So, the challenge is not just to pass through the spam filters, but also influence the potential customers to read your mail.
Here are some Do’s and Don’ts of email marketing. Read on to make sure that you are managing your email campaign properly.
DO
Write attention grabbing subject line: Subject line determines the opening rate of a promotional email because if you fail to attain customers’ attention with the subject line, they will not even bother to know the offer inside the mail. Ideally, the subject line should tell a story or describe an offer to lure the customers. It must be different from the email headline of other businesses in your niche to clear the spam filter. For example, “This Christmas gift your loved one a customized t-shirt for $19.99 only”
Concentrate on a single topic: Tell the customers what you are offering and don’t offer too many things! It is never wise to confuse the potential buyers with a plethora of offers in a single message. For example, “25% off on books” is a simple and focused message compared to “25% off on books, 20% off on game DVD and 30% off on apparels”. The problem with such a message is that it targets book lovers, gamers and fashion enthusiast, but unfortunately, it does not get anyone’s 100% attention.
Add a call-to-action: You have to tell the customers to take an action; otherwise they will simply read your mail and move away. For example, if you have just launched a new smartphone and want to increase sales figures, then use the mail body part to describe the USP of your device and at the footer area embed a “buy now” button that will take people to your site once clicked.
DON’T
Avoid boring sales pitches: Nobody likes to read an email that continuously says “buy our product”. Sales pitch is essential, but should be disguised modestly. Write useful information, elaborate the advantages customers can enjoy and then politely tell them to do business with you. Here is an example: “Do you know that majority of consumers in USA are facing serious credit card debt issue? Don’t feel alone and helpless. You can get rid of all your debt with systematic planning. Want professional help to save you from the trap of credit card debt? Call us now at 555-5555.”
Never include any offensive content: There is a difference between sensational content and offensive content. You have to understand the difference and make sure that there is not a single sentence in your mail that may hurt the feelings of any particular segment of the society. Something may seem funny to you, but it can hurt your potential customers. Therefore, stay away from anything controversial.
Don’t spam buyers: Spamming means sending mails to random people who are not even interested in your products or services. When you spam, it makes your brand look cheap and desperate. Therefore, instead of buying email lists, you should ask people to share their email address in your website and only send promotional mail to those who have subscribed. This way, you may not reach millions of customers, but even if 1000 potential customers get your mail, the chances are that 90% of them will open it, read and take an action.
Keep the aforementioned points in mind while starting your email marketing campaign. It may take some time to witness the expected results, but you will be able to connect with your customers and widen your reach over a couple of months.
