Tips to Optimise Your Email Campaigns
Remember that movie, You've Got Mail? The one with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, and they fall in love with each other over email exchanges? That movie may be a couple of decades old now, but it is still a great example of why email marketing is such an important communication tool - especially for small business owners!
You may not be looking for love online, but as a business owner, you are looking for ways to connect and build relationships with leads and customers. And email marketing is one of the best ways to do this! So if you aren't yet - you're missing out on a powerful opportunity and we recommend you get right on that!
If you are using email in your marketing mix - good on ya! But did you know that there are things that you can do to improve email upon email, get better engagement out of your subscribers and send your email results soaring?
There are so many ways you can optimise your emails, elements that you can test, and things you can tweak to achieve this, but to get you started, we have looked at the top six elements you can look at to optimise your email marketing campaigns.
#1. Look at Your Subject Line
Your email subject line is the number one thing that prompts someone to open your email over and above the hundred other emails sitting in their inbox at any one time. So, here are a few tips to ensure your subject line is working for you:
Make it relevant to the audience - ensure it addresses a concern, that it is personalised to them, and that it reflects what is in the body of the email
Use actionable language - words like "join us", "download", or "get your free..."
Be clear about what your offer is - strive for clarity over persuasion and keep it brief
Front-load the important words so that the reader knows immediately that your email is worth their time
We mentioned this already but it’s worth a point of its own - get personal! Use their name, use pronouns like "you" and "your" - it adds a personal touch and tells the reader that you know them!
Use rhymes, alliteration, and puns - they make your email sound more interesting and stand out
Remember those first impressions last, and your subject line is that first handshake with your reader - and there is nothing worse than a limp, weak handshake!
#2. Test Your Sender Name
The sender name is the name the email is from and is the second thing readers consider when deciding whether or not to open your email. You should use this name consistently in order to create recognition and build trust, but first, try to test what name works best with your audience.
You can try your business name, or be more personal, and using your actual name - seeing an email from an actual person generally helps with the trust factor.
#3. Let’s Get Personal
These days it is so easy to personalise your communications with your customers that it's not really an option! So, make your emails personal and relevant - use first names, business titles, geographic or demographic information, or even data on pages viewed/products bought before. Get creative and show your customers that you know them!
#4. Your Body Copy
This is obviously the main communication within your email, so you want to make sure it is on point! Our top tips include:
Use clear, compelling, and brief language
Tell a story with words, images, and stats
Don't be afraid to use strong, actionable language
Use short paragraphs and bullet points
Keep it light
Most of all, you want to make sure it clearly conveys what your offer or message is, and make sure the reader 100% knows why it is valuable to them!
#5. Talk in Pictures
Images can make your email visually compelling - they attract attention and convey information about the offer. So, make them relevant, eye-catching, and appealing to look at. But play around with what kinds of images resonate best with your subscribers to find the right balance!
#6. Take Action
Well, convince your readers to take action with strong call-to-action buttons and links!
Ultimately you want your email to make people click through and convert, so make sure each email campaign has a primary, focused call to action (CTA). A few guidelines include:
Make this button or link prominent and visually distinctive so that it is the clear focus of the email
Keep it above the fold
Use words that are clear and action-oriented (download, register), urgent (now, today), and friendly (join us, get your)
And include multiple links and buttons throughout your email that direct the reader to the same place - it's just more opportunities for them to click and convert
With all of these elements, we cannot stress TESTING enough! Doing it the same way over and over again isn't going to help you find that magic formula that drives amazing results. And even when you do, you'll probably have to start testing all over again because people get bored quickly and what worked before may stop working.
But there are a few things to keep in mind when you're testing elements of your email campaign:
Only test ONE element at a time. I'll say it again - JUST ONE! If you test your subject line, your sender name, and your images, and suddenly get amazing (or worse, poor) results from your email - how will you know which element caused that result? You won't! So, be patient, just test one thing at a time okay!?
Choose your sample sizes wisely - if you're AB testing an element, you need a decent sample size for each version so that you get results with any significance. So, sending each version to 10 people probably isn't going to cut it
Listen to the test results. They may be surprising, they may not be what you thought. But guess what, you aren't your subscriber or your target audience, so listen to what the people say!
And there you have it, six quick and easy elements that you can tweak, test, and optimise to get your email campaigns working hard for you!
And as always, if you're stuck with your email marketing, or don't even know where to begin, we're here to help! We can set up email templates for you and you can run with them, or we can do it all for you! Just get in touch today and we can see how we can best help you reach your customers and build relationships with them!
