10 Laws of Email Marketing |
Posted: March 9, 2019 |
Email marketing is the easiest and one of the most effective ways to reach customers. More than a half of the world’s population uses this way of communication, so there is no shortage of audiences to market your products to. According to Constant Contact, email’s return on investment is massive and for $1 one can expect an average return of $38. Social media giants cannot even compete with email. For example, people are twice as likely to sign up for email list as they are to communicate with you on Facebook, said Brian O. from HR system. However, to be able to gather all benefits associated with email marketing, one has to follow a set of strict laws. They ensure that you’re taking a proper approach to attracting the customers. What are these laws? Is it difficult to follow them? We’ll answer these questions in this article. Law #1: Make it Easy to Sign Up Many websites overplay it a little bit by asking too much information from customers. For example, they require too many fields to be completed in the email sign up forms or demand a lot of information in exchange for an exclusive content. For example, check out this example of an overly demanding email form: Just look at all those fields, do you want to read all of that? The truth is, not many people do. First of all, this box blocks the content with the requirement of mandatory registration (don’t do that!). Second, the box wants too much information, which is considered a waste of time by visitors. Now let’s get to a better example. It comes from Hubspot and serves the same purpose as the one above: get information about the customers in exchange for exclusive content. The way these two boxes achieve their purposes, however, is rather different. The one below requires just two fields, which is much easier and quicker to fill out. Now ask yourself: which form is more user-friendly? No doubt it’s the second one, because it makes it easier to sign up (thus, it must be performing a lot better). Takeaway: make it easier for people to sign up by reducing the number of mandatory fields to a minimum and avoiding the requirement of providing unnecessary information. Law #2: Write Your Message from the Customer’s Viewpoint People receiving your message are mostly interested in their own business, their own customers, and their own careers. That’s why they are more likely to ignore a message that’s primarily focused on you and your business. On the other hand, if you pay interest to their success, you have a chance of doing some business with them. The email below was designed by a popular service CoSchedule. Its purpose is to help the viewers to improve their marketing automation effort. Check out this good example of how you should write your email from the customer’s perspective. Takeaway: avoid low open rates by focusing on the needs of your customers rather than yours. Law #3: Design a Powerful Subject Line Business2Community stated that 47 percent of people opened an email because of the subject line. That’s why you should improve it in your email messages by making them more attractive to the viewers. Sometimes, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel to come up with engaging subject lines. For example, the line of this email from a UK-based health retailer Holland & Barrett reads: “Last Day of Half Price + £10 off!”, which is a classic approach. Informing the receiver about the upcoming sale is one of the best ways to attract attention, so the corresponding subject line should do great as well. Takeaway: always produce engaging subject lines. Law #4: Always Have a Goal for Every Message You should never send an email without a clearly defined purpose. Every piece of communication with your leads should be meaningful and have a measurable goal to define its performance. The examples of measurable goals include article shares, sale of products, site visits, etc. Many businesses make a mistake by thinking that measurable goals are only those related to sales. However, by sending a lot of sales-related emails, they come off as too promotional. And we all know that no one likes a brand that does that. Below is the example of an email from Hello Fresh that has a clear purpose (persuade the viewer to return to the site to specific content), it does not sound too “salesy” and focuses on the behavior of the receiver on the site. Takeaway: make every email meaningful and have a clearly defined, measurable goal for them. Law #5: Use Various Email Sign Up Forms (Pop Ups, too) Your site should feature email forms to make it easier for the visitor to subscribe to your newsletter, download a free report, or start a free trial. Even pop ups can be useful here because they provide an additional opportunity to gather some more email from visitors. Social Triggers recommends the following high-converting places for email sign up forms:
Here are some great examples of email forms on well-known websites that you should also consider for your own as well: And now, an example of a pop up. Takeaway: make sure to include email sign up form where necessary on your website. Law #6: Send Emails at the Best Days Certain days of the week provide better results for email marketers than others, according to leading marketing platforms. For example, CoSchedule performed the most comprehensive study so far, reviewing the data from ten surveys. The results of the study suggested the following. The best days to send promotional emails and achieve the highest open rate are:
Here’s what CoSchedule had to say about these results. Takeaway: use the latest knowledge to know when to send promotional emails to achieve the best results. Law #7: Personalize Emails According to the latest data from Statista, emails with personalized messages enjoy at least 18.8 percent higher open rate. Indeed, the message that considers the behavior of the visitor on the site is much more appealing because it shows an interest in the interest of the customer. As the result, personalized emails deliver higher satisfaction rates and more sales. Here’s an example of a great personalized email that features content generated using the behavior of the receiver on the site. It was created by Sephora, a French chain of cosmetics. Takeaway: if possible, personalize the emails you’re sending to your subscribers. Law #8: Keep it Short and Simple Remember, your main purpose is to get the message across and make it memorable. Only a short message that does not contain any fluff can achieve this goal, so don’t overwhelm the reader by including a large text in the message. A perfect example to illustrate this goal is the following email created by Hubspot. It contains only relevant information, has a clear goal, and does not overwhelm. Takeaway: keep the text to a minimum when addressing the customers in promotional emails. Law #9: Be Precise Rather than Abstract Emails that contain statements like “enhances productivity” and “saves your money” sound too abstract to the viewers. “Messages are like are everywhere, so an email with them will quickly be forgotten,” says Danny David, a senior marketer. “Our latest campaign for an essay writing serviceavoided this by following the law of being precise.” It means that you should not use abstract examples but provide real ones that show the benefits for the viewer. Take a look at the following email designed by CoSchedule. This email provides helpful tips from a reliable source on how often a business should post on social media, so it is helpful for anyone who has a business social media page. Takeaway: avoid abstract statements and provide actionable tips Law #10: Include Only One Call-to-Action The higher the number of calls-to-actions in an email, the higher the chance that the viewer will not click on anything. For many people, it can be very overwhelming, so they just abandon the email and look for something else. That’s why you should provide only one call-to-action. Make that button stand out from the rest of the content so the viewer knows what to do. Here’s a beautiful example from an online shopping company Rue La La. There is only one call-to-action, the “Send me a Reminder” button, and it’s in pink color. Clearly, the use of color is correct here is to make it stand out. Takeaway: don’t overwhelm the reader with multiple calls to actions. Use just one and make it prominent. Email marketing can really work for your business if used properly. Follow these essential rules and make it drive your success.
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