How to get better email open rates and get them clicking like crazy. Email marketing is a science that needs to be done the right way
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Table of contents
Does emailing still work
All the top companies are still emailing, so I believe they know the answer. In fact, I find more and more companies resorting to emails as a great way to market.
There are some real benefits to this and they include;
- The cost is minimal
- They are personal
- Reaction time is generally swift
- You can move readers to another page
- Automation is available for time-saving
What makes a difference with email open rates
The first premise of marketing is the rule of Know, Like, and Trust, which applies to email marketing.
- If you are unknown your chances are very small unless you start out with an introduction. No sales effort, no pushy promises simply a brief resume of you and what you represent.
- Having a recipient's name brings emails to life and increases open rates by a huge percentage. This small act shows that you know each other and that you are not just another spammy mailer.
We all understand that you can't send unsolicited emails however we often get close to a borderline on this. Nothing illegal is suggested but the introduction phase will often cover the outright rejection.
3) The next thing is to introduce our product in very general terms so that you weed out all those that are simply not interested. These people aren't customers so never get offended by the decline and just delete them from the list.
Be consistent and persistent with your mail
4) The best time to send an email is today and every day until they tell you to go away.
Another marketing rule is that of touch. People only buy after seeing you and your product at least seven times.
Therefore you generally won't get sales success until you have beaten them down by assuring them that you are the true god of supply.
A good heading is important in fact essential
We all receive a bundle of mail every day. The first job on opening the computer is to select those that we keep and the rest receive a hit with the delete button. Gone forever.
Therefore you really need to grab their attention with a few simple words that will grab their attention.
Yikes! free traffic 24/7
Get immediate results
Indiana Jones and the temple of traffic
I pulled these from my mail today as examples of what can work. They vary from a promise to a bit of theatre but all work to pull those eyeballs particularly when they are from someone you trust.
Planning is a key to success
In a recent email by Constant Contact, they highlighted three essential ingredients that will make a difference.
| To succeed at email marketing, you need to have a plan. Planning helps you stay focused, motivated, and accountable. Use these 3 simple steps to plan your email marketing for the year. |
| 1 Start with the important dates. Take a few minutes to write down important dates for your business or nonprofit. 2 Fill in the gaps with holidays. Have months without much going on? Use holidays to give you ideas for open months. 3 Plot your emails on a calendar. Decide when to do time-based promotions or a non-promotional email based on your calendar for the year. |
Delivering on a promise
If you make a bold statement and fail to back it up you will lose your reader forevermore.
Therefore delivery remains a vital component of your mail.
Furthermore, you can link to new material so that you pull out the more interested parties
and can follow them up with other marketing ways, even a phone call.
| Planning makes it all come together | In writing |
| Use their Christian name | Or surname if available |
| Be consistent | Every day is not too much |
| Insert a great Headline | Grab those eyes |
| Use great content | Write for the reader |
| Adding links | Gather intelligence |
| Review the results | Make changes where necessary |
When one Email is not enough
None of us like the pushy salesperson and email is the same. It is great to drip-feed information provided you tell the reader what is to come. This really increases the open rates and delivers superior results.
The Autoresponder follows this principle as it builds excitement taking the reader on a journey to a sale. Your email series can do the same thing.
Conclusion
Where else can you get better value than with free email? Any return is a score so why are you not using it?
The pros are still very productive so get with it and get marketing.
Use Email as one of your seven touches to sales success.
How to Get Better Email Open Rates by Peter Hanley
