Even this far into the reign of social media, email marketing is still kicking. While far from cutting-edge, any marketer can see results by practicing the tried-and-true principles of email marketing. Brushing up on the basics every so often helps with developing any skill, and usually, you’ll find something eye-opening that makes it click in a different way. Let’s review some truisms of raising the open rate, and then check up on any that your campaigns might be missing.
Communicate with Your Contacts
The classic weakness of email marketing is that it’s like sending out a digital billboard – it’s one-way, and your customers know that. Meanwhile, the biggest strength of social media marketing is that your customers can interact with you, whether you’re lending support services or they’re commenting on your posts.
That’s why, before even starting with emails, you should make your contacts feel heard. Don’t let those relationships disappear into your contact list! Try to connect with them through multiple channels and nurture them like you would nurture your personal network. It’s easier for them to get invested in your communications if they feel involved with you.
Personalize
With these relationships built, you can help your customers feel even more special through personalization. This does mean personalized fields in emails, such as “Hi, [name]”, but also references to past interactions and proof you remember who they are. Personalization does a lot to alleviate the sense of facelessness that comes from corporate communication. When your customer has a sense of a two-way interaction, they’re naturally drawn towards where it will lead next.
Distribute to the Right People at the Right Times
If you aren’t using a smart sending flowchart through your marketing automation software, and you can, you should be. Missing emails is a fact of life, no matter how invested a customer may be in them. Send out a second wave to contacts who failed to open the first wave – but remember not to spam! Some people may miss emails sent at certain times of the day, so be aware of when your contacts are most active and give them time to react before sending more.
Write a Strong Subject Line
There’s a thin “line” to toe between intriguing and clickbait. Especially if this is your first email in a sequence, you want to present a headline that will entertain without leading to disappointment once the email is opened and the content comes to light. Ominous, threatening subject lines are typically associated with scams and should also be avoided. Staying honest with the content of the email while still creating a question in the reader’s mind is a good route.
Address Their Pain Points
What better way to grab attention than to make your audience feel heard? Identifying their pain points and speaking to your customer’s needs proves you understand your service offering from their perspective. To do this, of course, you need to actually understand it. Start by charting the customer journey and figuring out whether the average email recipient has found their own pain point, is looking for an offering, comparing offerings, et cetera. Then, you can direct your messaging more specifically and effectively.
Provide Valuable Information
At the end of the day, there are no shortcuts to gaining loyal customers other than giving them good value for their time. While clickbait and other tricks may work to get a single open, just one disappointing read can have your emails routed to spam forever after. Valuable information manifests as how-tos, credible news or research pieces, or educational material. Make sure it fits your customer’s pain points, and use your own standards for good content as a measuring stick.
Develop a Reputation
You’ll know you’re providing good quality when you start getting consistent opens from a growing number of contacts. Good content has a much higher chance of being shared and forwarded, expanding your reach.