Now that you’ve (hopefully) started an email marketing program, let’s look more closely at the marketing emails you receive from other businesses. Evaluate the email subjects and think about why you do or don’t open an email, also look at the time of the day and whether that affects your opening rate. There are many reasons for subscribers opening or not opening your email, and it’s a good idea to be aware of them so that you can maximise your email marketing efforts. To help you get started, here are some tips for your email newsletter content:
Use an engaging subject title
The best email subject lines are short, descriptive and provide the reader with a reason to explore your message further. Trying to stand out in the inbox, by using splashy or cheesy phrases, will most likely result in your email being ignored. While it is important to establish continuity and branding of the newsletter, ideally each new campaign should provide an indication in the subject line of what’s inside this newsletter. Repeating the exact same subject line for each newsletter ensures a drop in open rates. The general rule of thumb in email marketing is to keep your subject line to 50 characters or less.
Use images and banners
For retailers and small businesses, email campaigns full of inspiring images and clean product shots seem to get the best results. Banners with images and/or text with offers and information make it easy for people to scan. Most of us tend to scan, rather than read.
Use limited text
If you do include text in your email, use a clear heading, short paragraphs, subheadings, bullet lists and white space to make it easier to scan. Use a ‘read more…’ link to direct your readers to your website where they can access more information. This also ads the benefit if increasing your web statistics and google search ranking results.
Repurpose content
If you’re blogging, using Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest, consider re-using your content from these sources in your email campaign. Make sure you use your own original content, or if you are using content/image that you didn’t create, seek approval from the person who did and always credit the source.
Does it work on mobile?
Most of us own mobile devices and it’s highly likely that your readers will read their email on the way to work or during lunch, just like I do. I read most of my newsletters on the train in the morning. Make sure your email marketing platform provides you with so called ‘responsive email templates that resize to the screen it’s being read on.
Always check your statistics
Your email marketing platforms will provide you with insights about how many people opened your emails, when they opened it and what they clicked on. Over time you’ll be able to see what time and day is best to send your emails to maximise your open rates.
