I’m sick of getting crappy email newsletters that don’t provide me with any value and waste my time…
…and I know you are too.
As more and more small businesses decide or more likely are pressured into email marketing as a necessary tool for attracting the attention of the Connected Generation and growing their business…
…our email inbox becomes inundated with ugly, confusing, tough to read “Newsletters” that immediately get deleted or sent to SPAM.
I’m being harsh because this is an epidemic. I’ve been doing a lot of research into small business email marketing for an upcoming presentation and seriously have been horrified by what I’m seeing passed throughout the Internet as email marketing.
The problem is, when our crappy emails don’t get opened or people start unsubscribing, we blame email marketing.
Here’s what I believe:
There is no better way to get a group of people to take one specific action in a given period of time online than email. | Tweet this
If email marketing isn’t working for you, it’s most likely because you’re sending terrible emails.
Let’s stop that today.
Here are 8 fixes for broken email marketing.
1) Concise message
“One Email, One Message.”
The #1 issue preventing your emails from returning a positive ROI is congestion. We try to fit our entire week or month or quarter worth of activity into one email. Say this to yourself before you hit publish every time… “One email, one message.” That’s all you get.
ACTION: Focus on one message, keep the content brief and to the point. If the topic requires more explanation direct your subscribers to an additional resource through a link.
2) Use video
“Including a video in an introductory email increased the click-through rate by 96%” ~ Implix 2010
Why are we sending emails? We want our audience to take an action. Numerous studies have proved that including video in our email marketing greatly increases engagement.
“Including video in an introductory email reduced the number of subscriber opt-outs by 75%” ~ Eloqua Email Marketing
Not only does video keep your audience engaged but it also helps mitigate your churn rate. People are more likely to stay subscribed if your email marketing contains video.
ACTION: Your iPhone takes great video and YouTube does an amazing job of hosting video. Include a screenshot from your video in your email marketing hyperlinked to your YouTube video.
3) One column
47% of all emails are now being opened via a mobile device. ~ Litmus 2013
Think about your own email consumption habits… We all check email our email on our cellphone while waiting in line at the store, sitting at a stop light or during commercials on TV.
Mobile devices don’t do the two column format very well. The second column either shrinks all the text or is sent to the bottom of the email never to be found.
ACTION: This fits with our “One email, one message” philosophy, which now should read, “One Email, One Column, One Message.” Make the reading experience as easy as possible for your audience.
4) Minimize images
Not all email services handle images the same, not all screens fit images the same. One image, maybe two if relevant. DO NOT, DO NOT fill your email marketing with loads of images. People who have an email service that doesn’t handle images are not going to be able to see them and people on a smaller screen are just going to be annoyed.
ACTION: If you have a great image that goes along with your email marketing message, include it (especially if it’s a Call-to-Action). Otherwise get rid of them.
5) Add call-to-action early
Subscribers to your newsletter know who you are and subsequently place more value on your content, ideas and products than a random website visitor does. Additionally, most people, because of the shear volume of emails they receive, scan emails big time.
This means a Call-to-Action at the end an email may never actually get viewed.
ACTION: Let people know right away why you’re emailing them and add a link or whatever CTA you need to. Then give them some content and value, then hit them with another CTA at the end.
6) Always include contact information
This one may depend on your business, but if you’re brick and mortar, then your phone number, fax number, Facebook URL and physical address should be included in every single email you send.
We want to make contacting us and finding us as easy as possible (this goes for email signatures of regular emails as well). This may seem like a no-brainer but I can’t tell you how many businesses I’ve worked with now that don’t include their phone number in their emails.
ACTION: Put your damn contact information in your emails!!!
7) Encourage social sharing
Emails that include social sharing buttons have a 158% higher click-through rate. ~ GetResponse
If your newsletter is exclusive content to subscribers then you want to handle this one a little differently than what is normally done. If you tell subscribers they’re getting exclusive content then I believe it should be… exclusive.
Sharing the newsletter on Twitter and Facebook defeats the meaning of exclusive.
ACTION: Add social sharing buttons to your email marketing, but the share should be to a landing page that will capture new subscribers. When people realize they can get your newsletter on Facebook they’re never going to subscribe via email.
8) Include subscription link
You know what people do with great emails? They forward them… You WANT this to happen. It means you’re doing a great job. If the person who receives the forwarded email enjoys your work as well, you want to capture that person on your list.
ACTION: On the bottom of every email should be a little note that reads like this, “If you enjoyed this newsletter but are not subscribed click here!” I pick up 3-5 new subscribers a month from that link.
The Rub
As you can see none of this stuff is rocket science but by implementing these 8 small fixes your email marketing will become more enjoyable to your audience and more actionable to you.
Email marketing works!
…but it only works if we’re providing our audience with a quality product.
Thank you and Good luck,
I am Ryan Hanley.
P.S. See my email marketing in action and receive exclusive, actionable content marketing guidance by subscribing to the Content Warfare Newsletter.
SPEAK YOUR MIND
What email marketing fixes would you add? What fixes above don’t work?
I ask because I want to know…