Email marketing is one of the most essential and powerful tools for reaching and communicating with people.
Those who ignore email as part of their marketing strategy are in danger of missing out on potential successful business opportunities.
You can reach out to thousands of potential customers at the click of a button, and, unlike social media, these are people who have signed up to see your content specifically.
Even with new technology becoming available, email remains a highly persuasive digital marketing channel for building awareness, boosting acquisition, and increasing conversion.
Here are a few ways to ensure that people read your emails and how you can best persuade them to respond to your calls to action:
1) Time it right
Most people will typically check their emails first thing in the morning and then last thing at night.
Although the idea is to send a non-intrusive message for someone to read when they are ready, targeting people at a particular time will give you the best opportunity to reach them.
Rather than writing content that is not time-sensitive, gear your email towards something topical.
2) Make it ‘urgent.’
The time of day is not the only factor to consider when sending your email. For example, people are more likely to respond to a call of action if it’s urgent or a close deadline.
3) Keep it concise
Writing a lengthy introduction or using irrelevant words is unlikely to grab people’s attention, so keep your sentences short, keep your paragraphs to a few lines, include subheadings, and maintain plenty of space between paragraphs.
Hook your reader from the start to keep them engaged until the end of the email.
Include what you’re looking for in the first paragraph, where you can also ask how the person is or any questions that might prompt a response.
4) Make your point clear
Writing content that doesn’t have a call to action is unlikely to help your business grow.
Think about what you want to ask people and have an end goal in mind (for example, do you want them to buy a particular product?).
If people just want to read about your business and the services you offer, they can visit your website.
Consider why you’re using email to contact them and how your product or service can benefit them in the here and now.
5) Get the subject line right
Creating a compelling subject line is crucial for any email; after all, it’s the first thing that people will see when it drops into their inbox.
Make sure to give your subject line a personal angle, as anything generic is unlikely to grab their attention.
It’s very tempting to use words that you think will lure people in, such as ‘free,’ ‘money off,’ and ‘reminder,’ but any good spam filter is likely to be looking for such phrases, so avoid using them in your subject lines.
Using capitals will also appear that you’re trying too hard to grab people’s attention, so it’s best to keep these to a minimum.
If you’re planning to try sending the same email again earlier or later on in the day as a second bite of the cherry, change the subject line (even slightly) so that it doesn’t appear too similar.
