What if They Ignore My Email?

According to ‘Wired Magazine’ the marketing data company Custora found that online retailers had quadrupled their rate of customers acquired through email and furthermore, those newly acquired customers were more than 50 percent more likely to shop and spend more. Custora also concluded that Email works 40 times better than Facebook and Twitter in the actual acquisition of new customers. A separate survey by McKinsey & Company found that email is a more effective way to gain customers than social media like Facebook and Twitter. Email as a marketing tool is a serious subject and if most of yours are being ignored than you must get a handle on how to turn that trend around.

Interestingly, businesses often forget that although we operate in this digital age, out of all the available forms of communication being used, email is still the platform of choice. It is fundamental to almost every conceivable type of public interaction and is not merely another sales gimmick. Therefore, it should be approached with almost as much gravitas as a formal letter and the people on the receiving end should be approached with the same courtesy you would expect in a business context. After all, they have trusted you with their email address. Finding the right balance is not easy but following the tips itemized below should help to make your email marketing campaign more effective.

Be specific

You had a goal in mind when you sent out your emails, something specific you wanted from those listed on your email list and you were hoping to see high open rates. The thing is, did you make that clear in the headline? Do they know you are expecting them to react? Make your intentions clear. Your subject title is where you stand or fall. If it isn’t an info mail and you would like a response of some kind don’t just catch their eye, make it clear in the subject line. 

Time is limited

Keep your communication brief.  Every day, people find themselves having to deal with an ever-increasing amount of incoming data. Keeping it business-like and getting to the point quickly and without fanfare is sure to win you points.

Don’t overwhelm

Make sure you keep to one topic. Offering a basket instead one piece of fruit at this juncture is untimely. You don’t know how receptive they are so don’t dilute your opening with a plethora of offers.

Explain

Try and summarize what you want in the subject line without overly ‘selling’ it. An interrogative format is often very successful such as “have you considered?” If your mail gets dumped at this stage, then it really wasn’t of any interest to the reader. What matters more is that your details don’t also get dumped into the spam basket.

Make it personal

Don’t send your email from a company address. Put your own address on it and don’t send it religiously on a Monday morning. Vary the time and day your emails go out.  Engaging content appeals to everyone so lighten the tone because the less corporate or impersonal it appears the more it is likely to be of interest.

Nurture your audience

Your goal is to establish a long-term engagement with the addressee. Useful explanatory information shots are a good way to establish your credentials and become of use to a potential client. Don’t be afraid to put forward new ideas or to engage in comparative discussions on a trending topic, it might just be exactly what they are looking for. Using a personal experience to highlight the usefulness of what you are offering or suggesting is also a very good way to make a connection with someone.

Engaging Content

Link your best and most engaging content to your email by making sure there are easy links to your Blog, as well as your up-to-date content. Make sure there are easy to find and easy to use CTAs. Tie in your social media campaigns and solicit their opinion on current Trends. Their opinion and their reaction are important to you, make sure you they know it!

Personalizing a generic email is not an easy thing to do. You must find the right pitch to attract new business by offering free strategy tactics with no guarantee of anything in return. However, the statistics speak for themselves: “Personalized emails deliver 6x higher transaction rates” (Experian) so you can’t afford not to engage in email campaigns. A pre-emptive approach is therefore best. Offer the best you have with no strings attached. If it isn’t working, take another look, re-work your input, your content and your tone and then try again!