The effectiveness of an email campaign is usually measured in open rates, click rates, and eventually, sales numbers. But there’s one factor that affects those rates more than any other. It’s not shown on any stats page and it can’t be represented in numbers. But the depth of your relationship with your subscribers has a direct influence on their willingness to read your messages, click your links and buy your products.
Here are three ways to encourage your subscribers to welcome your emails:
Social Media/Email Interaction
Social media marketing and email marketing tend to be seen as two separate sales channels. The first is for brand-building and occasional link promotions. The second gives regular bursts of sales to carefully-maintained lists of leads.
But the two are connected. The friends and followers reading your tweets and Facebook posts are also the subscribers reading your emails.
That turns social media into an opportunity to pre-sell your products before you send out your email. Get your followers excited about a product you’re about to launch and when they receive an email inviting them to buy it, they’ll be curious enough to read it, grateful for the discount and excited enough to buy it.
Personalize Your Messages
Email marketing personalization tends to stop at swapping “Dear Subscriber” for “Dear [username].” You can go further. Use the first person. Put a name instead of a company in the signature. Use colloquial language. Write like a friend talking to another friend instead of a corporation making a pitch.
If you’re releasing a new product, mention the challenges you had to overcome to put it together. If you’re pitching a joint venture, mention how you know your partner. If you’re excited about your offer, say you’re excited about it!
Apple’s marketing might reach millions of customers, but the company makes sure that its most important messages are delivered not through bullet points and feature lists but from the people responsible for the product talking to a camera in videos. It’s a personal touch that makes the buyer feel part of the event and more willing to buy.
Offer More Than Deals
Your most important emails will be those that contain links to product sales pages. Those products will sell when they deliver value. But you don’t have to wait until you have a valuable offer to make before you send an email. If you learn of a resource that can help your subscribers, even if you don’t earn from it directly, drop them a line and let them know. You’ll create the impression that your emails don’t just make sales pitches; they’re also sent to help your customers achieve their goals and improve their lives.
When they receive an email pushing a product, they’ll assume that that offer is valuable too.