Marketing is not only about reaching a customer’s inbox but also driving engagement – Image from Pixabay
In the last article, we saw that marketing is not only about reaching a customer’s inbox, but also about driving engagement.
Read on for more tips to help your email campaigns stand out.
1) Make Your Email Copy Skimmable
Admit it, up to this point you have skim-read the headlines in this article. Since it caught your attention, you are now skim-reading this intro.
Why does skimmable content work? Your readership has short attention spans. Along with competing content, fewer people take time to read emails sent to them.
Most of your customers will likely scan through any content you send them. A Nielsen research showed that only 19% of email recipients fully read a newsletter. The majority of these readers only spent 51 seconds on an email.
Sure, long-form content and listicles rule the blogging space. But scannable content is a proven way to capture your fickle readers’ attention. For branded emails and content, they also crave instant gratification.
Strive to provide value upfront and ensure key takeaways are quickly skimmable. Grab their attention and convey important points before they bounce.
To make your emails skimmable, do the following:
- Ensure your titles are short but catchy and attention-grabbing – Such titles bait the impatient reader and egg them to read on.
- Highlight key phrases – You can use bold text to highlight key takeaways. They provide value upfront and convey your key points.
- Write shorter paragraphs – Shorter paragraphs are easier to read and digest and increase white space in your content. Strive to use fewer but punchy words to convey your message.
- Use images and infographics – The human brain processes images faster than text. Using images is valuable as you can convey more information with less. Like bold and colored text, images in content stand out and are highly skimmable.
- Break content rules by starting some sentences with “but” “and” “then” – Good grammar is key to SEO. However, using these articles in strategic sentences provide hook points in your content.
2) Send Your Emails At The Best Times
Your marketing team has spent hours crafting the most optimized customer faced email. After sending the emails, you get disappointing click-through rates and opens.
Why is this so?
It is hard getting your subscribers to notice, open and read your emails. Sometimes, though, it all comes down to when you send the emails.
If your email reaches your subscribers when they are rushing to work, it may get lost along with other unopened ones.
Sending emails at the right time increases click-through rates and traffic to your website. These loyal subscribers who land on your website may also share your content, raising the conversion threshold.
There is no definite answer on the best time to send emails. However, research shows that some periods perform better than others. Keep in mind, though, that your subscribers’ opening times may differ from the time they take action.
Appropriate days or times to send emails vary. Understanding your audience is also helpful. However, the consensus on the best times to send emails is as follows:
- The best days are Tuesday, Thursday, and Wednesday – Experienced marketers love these days as they try to avoid Monday blues and the anticipation for the weekend on Fridays. They also generally avoid weekends.
- The best times are 6 AM – when most people begin their day, 10 AM – a late morning when most people are having their tea break, 2 PM – when people are anticipating the end of the workday, switching out of work mode, and seeking distractions, and 8 PM – about the time when people check their emails before retiring for the day.
3) Include Social Proof in Your Campaigns
You have taken the time to develop your product or service and believe in it. However, you still face stiff competition among your peers.
One way to prevail over your competition is by using social proof in your marketing emails.
People tend to believe that the actions of others validate a behavior. When people make decisions, their brains seek cues to help them decide faster. That is how social proof works.
Social proof gives your audience the confidence to purchase your product. Potential customers assume that a product will appeal to them as it did to others. They trust stranger reviews far more than your marketing!
Over 60% of consumers in one survey reported that they were more likely to buy from a site if it had customer reviews and product ratings. Providing customer feedback on your product page can increase conversion rates by 207%. Five reviews on a product are all it takes for most users to trust and buy an item.
So how can you incorporate social proof in your campaigns?
- Using customer testimonials from purchased products
- Include usage numbers for your product or service – People hate to be left out or feel like they are missing out on something. By including these numbers, you tap into that emotion.
- Showcase awards your company or products received – People like to be associated with winning brands. By including these awards in your email, you tap into a phenomenon known as the Halo Effect.
- Include mentions in popular publications or media – This further enhances trust for your brand and increases conversions.
Take action now.
It can be hard to stand out in this modern age of fast information flow. Your potential clients are constantly barraged by content competing for attention. To sell and trump your competition, you have to up your email marketing game. The five tips presented here are just a few ways to prevail over your competitors.
It can be hard to streamline your email delivery and ensure it is optimized, personalized, and customer-facing. But it does not have to be. Act now and tap into Drop Zero Digital’s industry-leading email marketing solution.
