193.3 billion emails are sent and received globally every day. On average, that means each person’s inbox is hit by about 120 emails a day.
Breaking through to your target audience when you’re against the odds can be tough. Even with all the inbox competition, email marketing can be quite lucrative when handled correctly.
The foundations of strong performance with email marketing is content – from the subject line to the body of your email, you have to be concise and persuasive.
Tip Number 1 - Less is More in Email
Almost no one is short on email, but time isn’t plentiful for anyone.
Encourage a prospect to open and read your message by making everything about the process easy. A reader shouldn’t have to try to figure out what you mean, and no one wants to read more than one or two short paragraphs when they open an email.
In fact, some experts recommend limiting your message to just two or three powerful sentences.
The Opener. This is what the recipient sees in the inbox. It consists of the Subject and the first 20 or so words of the email. If the opener is intriguing, the email gets opened; if the opener is boring, the email is skipped or deleted.
The Benefit. This is the meat of the email. It explains why the customer should be interested in what you've got to offer. If the benefit is clear and understandable, the email gets read; if the benefit is obscure or complicated, the recipient ignores it.
The Close. This is where you tell the recipient what to do next (i.e., the "call to action") along with your contact information. If the closer is simple and easy, you get a response. If it's complicated and onerous, you don't.
Tip Number 2 - Spend Time on Your Subject Line
Subject lines must be enticing, but honest.
They should provide an idea of what’s inside, but not give the whole package away. The point of a subject line is to encourage the recipient to self-identify as a relevant reader.
“Yes, that seems like something I want to know more about,” the reader should say.
Avoid gimmicks such as all capitals or a row of punctuation and use a subject line that identifies the content as simply and powerfully as possible.
Tip Number 3 - Create a Straightforward, Simple Call to Action
No matter how creative your subject line or compelling your content, if you don’t provide instructions for the reader, they can’t begin a conversion.
Include a call to action in every email, whether you want the reader to click a link, make a phone call, or respond to the message. Make sure the call to action is short and easy to follow – someone might be reading the message on their break or working from a mobile device.
If they have to jump through numerous steps, they’re more likely to abandon the call to action midway through. Avoid more than one call to action options in the same email, as that can be confusing or cause prospects not to take action because they don’t want to make a decision about which action to take.
Tip Number 4 - Personalise Appropriately
Email is a person-to-person communication, so craft messages with that in mind. Put some personality into emails, and whenever possible, put a name and contact information at the bottom. Customise emails with the names of your recipients when possible but do so appropriately. Most individuals today can tell the difference between a personalised email and a fill-in-the-blank mailer.
By following the above 4 Tips we can guarantee you will have more successful email lead generation and selling.
If you would like to have a free 30 minute consultation with Dave please email us at david.davies@sandler.com and we will be in touch.
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