Email marketing is fast, simple, and a relatively inexpensive way to reach your customers. However, if you don’t take the right approach to email marketing, you can just as easily lose subscribers. What can you do to make the most of email marketing? Here are six tips.
1. Make subscribing a snap. Put your email subscription form in a prominent location on your website, and also on your Facebook page and your blog, if you have one. Make the form short and sweet – Your customers shouldn’t have to think twice about giving you their email addresses, so you may want to avoid creating a long form.
2. Maintain a Consistent Appearance. Consider using a template and including your company’s logo and color scheme in your emails. Not only is using a template simple, but incorporating these elements in your newsletter will help reinforce your branding.
3. Keep it concise. How many emails do you delete or archive without reading? Busy shoppers don’t have the time or inclination to wade through long paragraphs or flowery language. Be straightforward in your subject line, and consider structuring it along the lines of your content (e.g., “XYZ Shop Announces Spring Sale, New Products, and a Fun Giveaway!”). Finally, your content is more easily absorbed if you break it into short chunks or bullets, and include bolded subheads so it’s easy for readers to scan.
4. Always Edit! Because you’re creating an image for yourself via email, having an editor or proofreader can save you embarrassment down the road due to typos or poor grammar. You can always ask a trusted friend or colleague to review your work before you hit “send.” Even better, a second perspective will let you know if you need to cut down content or highlight important facts.
5. Share and share alike. These days, sharing is all about the link button. With one click to a public link on the web version of your email, you’re inviting your readers to Like, Share, and Pin your news, which can have big returns once their friends begin clicking, subscribing and sharing.
6. Be nice! Email newsletters are your chance to infuse your online image with a dash of personality. Remember, email is person-to-person communication, so a casual voice is both appropriate and expected. You may want to collect first names via your subscription form so you can refer to your readers by their first names – a personal touch that readers remember.
Use these tips to make your email marketing on-topic, on-target, and un-trashable. And, of course, be selective about what you send and space emails out, so your subscribers view them with anticipation instead of annoyance.
