Over 144 billion emails are sent on a daily basis. Of these 144 billion emails, the average consumer will receive over 100 emails on a single work day. The challenge for email marketing is to cut through all of the noise in an effort to deliver vital business messages and offerings that will be read, processed, and acted-upon.
Finding The Stand-out Message
Discovering the stand-out message that will separate your email marketing efforts from your competitors is a key component to grabbing the attention of your audience. The following three email strategies have not only stood the test of time, but they can help you to achieve your marketing goals.
Strategy #1. Personalize Your Messages — A personalized email is not simply saying “Dear <Recipient’s Full Name>.” It is taking the time to understand your new potential customer, based on the clues that they have given you thus far. Start by analyzing how the potential customer first interacted with your company. Using this information, determine where the potential new customer falls in your sales funnel. Remember that personalization can begin before you even send the preliminary email. It can begin with your website’s contact form and generating a reply-to email address rather than a “donotreply@yourwebsite.com.”
The next step in email marketing personalization is to recognize that more than 35 percent of all product sales are the result of recommendations from either email or on-screen prompts. In addition, a recent study found that personalized emails garnered six times the transaction rate of generic emails. This statistic is particularly shocking when you compare it to the fact that approximately 70 percent of brands don’t take the time to personalize their emails to new potential customers. Armed with this knowledge, you can create a more valuable customer experience from the initial email to the final sale.
Strategy #2. Send Mobile Friendly Emails — This might seem like a bit of a “no brainer,” but you would be surprised at the number of emails that show up in your inbox on a daily basis without the proper mobile formatting. From 2012 – 2016 the number of marketing emails that were opened on a mobile device doubled to approximately 54 percent. Unless you want to immediately distance your potential customers or business relationships, take the time needed to properly format your emails for all mobile solutions by using the following tips:
- Create a responsive email design that optimizes the user experience based on the screen size of the device that they are using.
- Use a short subject line that can be viewed in its entirety (without having to flip the mobile device to it’s side).
- Put the CTA at the beginning of the email and make it obvious and easy to click.
- Summarize the point of the email in the first line (so that it is viewable as preview text on any mobile device).
Strategy #3. Automate When Possible — An automated, or trigger-based email, is a great way to instantaneously respond to your users’ behaviors. “Transactional,” “thank you for your purchase,” or “welcome” emails are the most common types of trigger emails. These emails are a great way to establish a user’s specific email preferences, open habits, and click rates. By using the initial trigger email as a beta test, you can gather valuable data that will help you to perfect your future email marketing efforts. Additionally, your business can benefit from the 95 percent higher open rates that trigger emails often receive over traditional emails. In fact, a recent Forrester research report showed that trigger email marketing campaigns can generate up to four times the amount of revenue than a traditional campaign.
The following trigger emails can be used to help you solidify relationships with new customers, improve B2B relationships, and generate a higher ROI on email marketing efforts.
- Activation Email — A new user creates an account with your business. Unfortunately, the user doesn’t use their account within the first seven days. Create an activation email that automatically re-sends their login information, a video demonstration, or a simple reminder to try out their account.
- Win-Back Email — This type of trigger email is perfect for reminding subscribers that their valued subscription is about to come to an end. As the name implies, it is also a great way to “win back” existing customers by highlighting new product features, services, or highlighting the top benefits that they receive through their subscription with your company.
- Customer Loyalty Email — A surprise customer loyalty trigger email is a great way to reward your loyal customers. Whether it is a gift card, free service, or exclusive trial of a new product, customers love to know that their loyalty is not only appreciated, but that it is also rewarded. This type of email can also enhance open ratings, by subtly reminding customers that “good things happen” when they open your company’s emails.
The Bottom Line: Email Marketing Is Here To Stay, Make It Work For You
The above three strategies stand the test of time because they put the customer first, they humanize the business interaction, and they take into account the communication preferences of each customer. In order to break through the noise of the other emails that bombard your customers, you need to keep the latter three factors in mind, regardless of what type of email you send out. Finally, you need to remember that while giving out an email might seem like second nature to most individuals, it is still a piece of personal information that should be treated with respect. Just as you probably wouldn’t give out your phone number to a complete stranger, neither will a customer give out their email without first thinking the action through. If you treat each email communication with the respect that it deserves, bearing in mind that you are communicating on a personal basis, then you will be able to more easily tailor your messages to connect with individuals, encourage them to proceed through the sales funnel, and most importantly create a valuable relationship.
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