Do you know why 82% of businesses use email marketing as one of their prime strategies? The answer is simple – because it works.
A well-designed email marketing strategy is one of the most powerful selling tools that you can get. However, many marketers and business owners believe that this process is simple as that – acquire email addresses and send offers.
In reality – yes, this is what the end result should look like. But reaching that epic percentage of 3800% ROI won’t be achieved through a bunch of email accounts that you bought online from some shady character. Spammers don’t get customers, spammers get lawsuits. Eventually. In the meantime, they just get cursed at a lot.
So although those conversion rates that email marketing offers is everything that your small business could ever wish for (allegedly, some marketers have seen conversion rates as high as 50%), getting those customers won’t be that simple. Not if you are planning on leading a legitimate business it won’t.
On the other hand, there are some email marketing hacks that you can employ today and increase your open rate, your click-through rate, and finally your conversion rate. With the following few examples, I will do my best to help you to enhance your efforts and increase your rates, without spamming hundreds of inboxes with your vaguely designed copies and A/B tests that have no strategy behind them.
But first, let’s get back to the very beginning and question how you can optimize your open rate! Let’s dissect your subject line and find the breaking point.
Hack #1: Your Killer Subject Line
When you are selling a product or offering a service, always think about the end user first. There are far too many unopened emails in my spam folder that start with a subject line which is promoting a certain company or a place or business.
The reality is – if I don’t know you, I don’t want you to send me any messages in my inbox. Even if I did subscribe to your company’s blog, I am not interested in finding out who you are, and I don’t need you to wish me a good day or anything. And guess what? I am not alone.
The reality is – even if you are optimizing your emails, the best possible open rate that you can get is approximately 23%. And you can hope for a 2 to 3% click-through rate to your landing page after that! Not to mention that at least 2% of the people who do open your email, will open it only to click that unsubscribe button.
The thing that I definitely want to know more about is – me, myself and I. So when you reach my inbox, tell me what awaits ME in your email, and how can I benefit from reading that message. Don’t tell me who YOU are or what you can do. Remember that I wasn’t reaching out at that very moment, so if you want me to open your email – let me know what good will come from it.
While personalization can skyrocket your open rate (and we will address this element in our Hack #3), there are also a few proven tactics that will deliver a significant increase in your open rate. Here are the very basic elements that you need to implement in order to have a fruitful subject line.
- Keep them short;
- Keep them ridiculously long;
- Localize when you can;
- Count on mobile;
- Use emoji icons.
If you have a magnificent offer – get straight to the point. Quit dilly-dallying and promote your product or service by telling me why it is that good in just one short sentence.
If that doesn’t work and your split tests show no improvement, try implementing a ridiculously long but intriguing subject line that will draw your prospect to click on it to find out what is it that you are offering (although this method proved to be effective for some, it can also affect your click-through rate in a negative way, so be careful).
Localization means identification or a variation of personalization. When people read their hometown name in the subject line, they automatically get more interested in what you have to say, naturally.
Since 50% of us use our mobile devices to read emails, you should count on that fact as well. If your subject line isn’t comprehensive at the very first glance, people will definitely get confused.
The very last thing is a smiley face. Every salesman needs to have a smile on his face, and if you manage to put one in your subject line as well – go ahead and do it. You will be surprised how this little hack will influence your open rate.
Hack #2: The Basics of Business Communication
If you believe that you simply ran out of options and that you cannot get more inventive with your email copies – think again. There is no such thing as the perfect conversion rate. So before you take a step back and have a look at your current copy, ask yourself one simple question:
Would you buy your own product?
If the answer is yes (and you are being objective), that is all that you need to sell it. The problem is – marketing has developed to such an extent, that people believe that they can sell almost anything with a clever strategy. While this may be the case, we are forgetting one crucial element that should define our strategy from the very beginning. And that is the actual need on the market for this particular product.
When you are targeting keywords in order to get more traffic to your website (via Google AdWords platform for example), you are able to gain an insight into how many people are looking for your particular product or service, and/or how many of them are looking to purchase that product or service.
So if there is an evident need, why are you investing that much time in presenting your product, in designing emails, in writing endless copies that no one will ever read? If you need more than 100 words to present your product and your offer to your subscribers – than you just don’t know your product that well. It is as simple as that.
In B2B communication, people (usually decision makers) prefer to get informed about your business through a series of relevant content. They don’t want a short novel in their inbox, and they certainly don’t have the time to read it.
Make your email copies as short as they possibly could be, but still show interest in your prospects. What you need to emphasize and concentrate on are the following elements:
- What makes your offer unique;
- How your prospects can benefit from your offer;
- A call to action.
This is everything that a body of your email needs. A simple and a comprehensive offer that will explain in a very few short sentences why your product or service is beneficial for your subscribers. Everything beyond that is simply too much info.
If I want your product or service, I will reach out to you. Just make yourself present and that is enough. Try and split test a longer, and a short copy of your email. I bet you that that the short one will show a much better click-through rate.
Hack #3: Making it Personal
If you ask anyone about what makes a business successful, you can hear a lot of theories how continuous innovation, thorough records, professional communication and all of that combined inevitably leads to success. This is all a straight fact. On the other hand, a common misconception in the business world, and something that you will hear often as possible, is that you shouldn’t take it personally. This is utterly wrong.
Business is a personal matter. Even if it is a B2B communication, people need their ego fed and they don’t discuss any business if they can’t see any personal benefit from the whole deal. So make your email as personal as possible.
A good way to personalize your email is to offer your credentials and your contact number and social media profile in the footer section. People trust people. When they see you smiling confidently on that profile photo, they will feel more comfortable about doing business with you.
And now for the very last part – learn about geo-fencing, and try to come up with a way to use this nifty option to your advantage. The ability to address a certain group based on their location is still an untested field, but the advantages of the possibilities are undisputable. If you can send an automatic response to anyone who passes your place of work, or to anyone who enters the place of work of your competition – you will definitely get the attention of your prospects. But be careful, since this is something that people are not that familiar with, and using this method to your benefit might come along with a few questions as well. For more direct approach you can send push notifications via geo-fencing through an app. But you will have to hire a developer to make you an app or use some of the many mobile app builders online for a simpler solution.
Oh, and don’t forget to set up an autoresponder. Believe it or not, this is yet another hack that you can employ and collect the benefit from it with a minimum amount of work. On the other hand, having an automated response will not just get you closer to your subscribers, it will also give out the impression that they are dealing with a professional.
So when it comes to email marketing – keep your business personal. And if you are offering multiple products and/or services – please don’t offer them via email. If I have too many options available, all chances are that I won’t click on any of them. This something that is called a paradox of choice, and it is a real thing FYI.
Keep your prospects updated, keep your communications short until they don’t respond back, and when they do remember to provide the best possible customer service. And get personal. Honestly, it helps.
Nate Vickery
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