4 Secrets to Create a Successful Email Marketing Campaign
By Nikki Olson
I don’t know about you, but one of my favorite parts of the day is opening up my email.
You may be thinking, “What? That’s the worst part of the day! So much spam! So many newsletters! Ah!”
Yes, my email is always full to bursting each morning, but truthfully I love it. I love staying caught up with my favorite businesses. It makes me feel like I’m more connected to them, and it helps me find ways to get involved.
So how do you craft emails that people actually want to open? Let’s take a look at four secrets that will help you create a successful email marketing campaign that doesn’t get moved straight to the trash.
How Does Email Marketing Work?
Before we get to the secrets, we need to know how email marketing works and why it’s so important.
Email marketing is an essential part of any marketing strategy. This is because email is an effective way to personally get in touch with your audience. It lets you share your message with them in a clear and specific way.
Email marketing may seem simple, but there’s a lot that needs to go into it to make it successful. Basically, email marketing gives you a way to communicate directly with people who are already interested in your business. You owe it to them to send out quality content that they’re actually interested in.
4 Keys to Email Marketing
Of course, your email campaigns won’t be successful if your audience starts unsubscribing or if no one opens your emails in the first place. That’s why there are four things you absolutely need to make sure you do when you create your emails.
1. Personalize Each Email or Response
You can always tell when an automatic email goes out. The generic language. The cold tone. The impersonal content.
It’s not fun to feel like you’re just a number on a spreadsheet.
This is why personalizing emails is so important. And I’m not just talking about plugging in the recipient’s name. I’m talking about addressing them directly.
Almost every email I receive has a call to action (more on that later). This CTA is usually asking me to do something, and often it’s to reply to the email. Getting your audience to engage in this way is excellent. It means they are invested enough in your message to take the time to craft a reply.
And they expect a reply back…
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve replied to an email only to get crickets. Or worse, a clearly generic, scripted reply.
If you want your audience to engage with you, then you need to recognize them as individuals. You do this by personalizing your emails and your email replies.
2. Make Each Email Interesting
No one is going to waste time reading a boring email. Each email needs to be interesting and grab your reader’s attention.
This starts with a catchy headline. Something that hooks your reader and makes them eager to see what you have to say. Then you need to deliver on the promise of your headline with content that is just as interesting.
It’s important to remember that many people only skim the emails in their inbox. I certainly do when I go through them all every morning!
This means you need to make sure the most interesting parts of your email stand out and catch the attention of your readers.
Using bullet points or lists is a great way to do this, and you can link your email to a longer document (such as a blog post or article) for readers who want to learn more about the topic.
3. Be Helpful in Your Emails
Your emails should provide value for your audience. After all, these are people who have already committed to you by signing up for your email list, and they deserve a little something extra than you might give to people who haven’t taken that leap.
My favorite marketing emails are the ones that teach me something I don’t know. Maybe it’s a new technique for grilling put out by my local butcher, or tips to make a project I’ve been dreading go more smoothly (I’m looking at you, cracked bathroom grout).
Whatever it is, make sure that it is something that will help your audience accomplish a goal or learn something. This will keep them opening your emails again and again and establish you as a trusted source of help and advice.
4. Always Include a Call to Action
A successful email marketing campaign is part of a larger strategy. This means that each email needs to include a call to action telling the reader exactly what to do next.
The CTA you write will depend on your goals. Maybe you want to increase engagement. In that case, your call to action might be for your reader to reply to the email with the answer to a question. If that’s the case, remember to personalize a reply back!
Maybe your goal is to send people to your website. A call to action could be for them to learn more by checking out a more detailed blog post.
Another CTA could be for your audience to purchase something. You could provide a button in your email that would direct readers to your landing page.
Whatever your goals, make sure it is always clear to your readers exactly what the next step is, and how they can easily take it.
How Will Email Marketing Help Your Business?
Keeping connected to your customer base is one of the most important things you can do to keep your business growing and thriving.
Email marketing provides a scheduled and predictable way for your target audience to hear from you and to feel more connected to you. This keeps them engaged and keeps you in their mind for whenever they may need your services or products.
Of course, crafting a successful email campaign takes time. Time you may not have as a busy business owner. This is where a copywriter can help take some of the load off your shoulders.
Need help to craft your email marketing campaign. Reach out here and let’s hop on a call to get you started!
About the Author: Nikki Olson is a copywriter and editor for small businesses and creative entrepreneurs. Learn more at www.nikkiolsoncopywriting.com
