Customers are constantly bombarded with emails, which can make grabbing their attention through email marketing difficult. But it’s not impossible! With effective copywriting, a sense of urgency, and good design, your business can entice customers to open your emails, read the copy, and take action. Give these email marketing tips a try!
Have a Goal for Each Email
Don’t clutter your marketing emails with multiple messages. Establish a clear goal, such as increasing traffic to a specific webpage or promoting a particular product or service. Keeping that singular focus grounds your marketing copy and doesn’t overwhelm the customer with too much information or several CTAs.
Know Your Audience
The better you understand your customers, what they’re looking for, and what they’re motivated by, the more effective your emails will be. Do they want information on your products and services? Are they interested in limited time offers? Are they looking for a newsletter filled with company updates? Always keep your customers’ wants and needs at the top of your mind when putting together email content.
Consider Using Plain Text Emails
The majority of marketing emails are HTML-based, which allows for images, links, and other dynamic elements. However, plain text emails are worth looking into. These emails display the same way on every email-accessible device, ensuring consistent delivery and appearance. Plus, because there aren’t any graphics or animations, a plain text email loads more quickly than HTML emails. You should also allow subscribers to opt for plain text emails rather than HTML emails if they wish.
Start with a Great Subject Line
Nearly half of email recipients decide whether or not to open an email based on the subject line alone. If you don’t hook them immediately, you might lose them. Keep the subject line short and sweet, using no more than nine words of 60 characters. Inspire readers with action-oriented language like “buy” and “improve” or value propositions like “free” and “days left.” Be sure that the subject line is closely related to the body copy, too, so that customers don’t click into an email expecting one thing only to get another.
Write Smart Email Preheaders
Also known as the email preview text, preheaders give space for you to expand on the subject line and compel the customer to open the email rather than delete it. Most email hosts allow for 35-90 characters, but it’s recommended that you try to stick to around 50 characters to avoid having your message cut off.
Make Your Emails Personal
The more a customer feels as if you’re speaking directly to them, the more likely they’ll listen to you. Look for opportunities to incorporate an email recipient’s name in the subject line and preheader, as well in the email’s intro (i.e., “Hey there, Karen!”). Make sure your email copy is conversational and easy to read. Avoid using overly technical jargon that could bore them or, worse, make them unsubscribe.
Create Urgency
Your email content should convince the customer that, if they don’t act now, they’ll miss an incredible opportunity. Put an expiration date on discounts or free shipping, limit quantities of particular products, and use waiting lists to drive your readers to act quickly. Incorporate time-sensitive words like “now,” “while supplies last,” and “ending soon.”
Segment Your Email Lists
Unless you offer a hyper-specific product or service, your business likely has multiple demographics of customers. These people speak and act differently from one another, so why send them the same message? Use email segmentation to divide your subscriber lists in groups based on demographics—such as age, gender, and location—and personalize your email content to speak directly to each unique audience.
Keep Your Emails Short
Utilize an email structure that keeps paragraphs short and snappy. Shoot for between 50-125 words per email. Use bulleted lists and subheads to break up blocks of text and make the email easy to scan. Include eye-catching images related to the email copy.
Use Social Proof
Social proof is the idea that people will follow the masses. If you provide evidence that your customers’ social circles are engaging in specific actions, they’ll likely follow suit. Anything you can do in your marketing emails to provide social proof, such as product reviews or sales statistics, makes it more likely that customers will be inspired to take action.
Finish with an Enticing CTA
Once your email marketing copy and graphics outline the benefits of your products or services, hit the customer with a call-to-action that leaves them with no choice but to click and learn more. Include a button with energetic, action-oriented language like “Buy Now!” or “Sign Up Today!”
Proofread, Proofread, Proofread
It sounds obvious, but it’s really embarrassing to have glaring errors in your email’s subject line, preheader, or body copy. After you create your email, take a break before coming back to reread it with fresh eyes before sending it. If possible, get another set of eyes on it, too.
Need help crafting an email marketing strategy for your business? Hurrdat Marketing can help you create engaging email campaigns. Learn more about our email marketing services!
