Emails are not going anywhere. Regardless of how much innovation we’ve experienced in the tech world, email remains one of the most powerful and cost-effective forms of communication. However, there’s certainly a difference between a good and a bad email, and that fine line determines if it’s read or tossed into the trash without a second thought. If you want to up your small business email game, let’s explore some key pointers to guide you.
How to Make Your Small Business Email Stand Out
In his Entrepreneur article “How to Write Emails People Will Actually Open,” Chirag Kulkarni explores the art of email strategy, honing in on how to make them so enticing that you’ll get the audience you hoped for.
First and foremost, why is email so important? According to this author, he states that successful email campaigns can reach up to 4,300 percent ROI. On the flipside, if an email flops there is nothing to show for it. In aiming for the best-case scenario, your email needs to be good. Really good. Here are some article tips to fine-tune your email artistry, summarized below.
Forget about the masses: Bigger is not always better, especially when it comes to messaging. More often than not, “mass-produced emails” are recognizable in a split second and are immediately sent to the trash bin. Simply, people don’t feel as if it’s important to them and don’t take the time to read it. Instead, make it personal. In fact, this article states that tailored emails “account for up to 58 percent of total revenue for some businesses.”
In perfecting your personalized pitch, think about your audience. What are they concerned about? What are they looking for? How can you communicate that your brand is the solution they need? When you transform these unique insights into personalized messages and incentives, your business will run ahead of the pack.
Find the fresh, fun, and functional: Once you have your audience on the hook, it’s time to reel them in. People today are inundated with hundreds of daily emails, and while being read is a huge accomplishment, there is another big hurdle to jump over. Why does your email matter? What are you giving them? Take this amazing opportunity of a captive audience to deliver content that is fresh, useful, and FUN. Make them feel excited to claim an offer, redeem a free eBook, or sign up for a newsletter. In fact, Salesforce says that after newsletter-sign up “over 95 percent of them actually enjoy receiving the emails because they find them useful.” If people feel like you are providing an experience (entertainment counts), that’s a huge win that will keep them coming back.
Keep talking: Don’t stop the emails after one success! If you have gotten this far with an invested audience (i.e. newsletter subscribers that chose you to grace their inbox), you need to deliver value all the time. Coupons and promotions go the distance when you reward people that invited you into the inner circle. Your business should also think outside the box beyond promo codes and encourage people to join a webinar or participate in a user-generated social media campaign. You can also link right to your website checkout portal for new product launches, too. Just remember that you have an engaged audience and it’s your job to leverage every possibility out there with this golden opportunity!
Stay current: Personalized emails are great when they get to the right people. However, having inaccurate emails can cause headaches with fruitless exercises to communicate. Not only will invalid emails throw off your future campaigns, strategies, and analytics, it’s a giant time waster for your best-laid plans. To maximize your campaign impact, verify your email list, and remove any outdated or error-ridden addresses on a regular basis.
Got Any Small Business Email Tips to Share?
What other email strategies do you think are must-know tips for creating effective campaigns? Please share them here!
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Reference: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/309520