Keeping in touch with your target audience through great email is one of the best ways to make sure you are getting your brand in front of them. There are at least 6 reasons why your business needs a mailing list.
But how do you get your people to actually open the emails that you send them? Every day each one of us is bombarded by more and more information – coming to us through social media, television, radio and digital media such as websites and ads.
Adding emails to the mix means most people who live busy lives will be filtering what they engage with, whether that means liking or commenting on your social media profiles or opening an email.
So how to do you write great emails that resonate with your target audience?
1. Know what you are trying to achieve
If the objective of your email campaign is not clear, then how will you write in a convincing, clear manner? Knowing exactly what you want each email campaign to achieve will make writing the actual content much more straightforward.
2. Start with a strong subject line
A subject line that resonates with your target audience’s pain point, that provides a hint of how they might resolve that pain point or a subject line that asks your audience for their opinion can be strong ways to get their attention.
Most email campaign tools, such as MailChimp will also give you an assessment of the subject line as you write. It’s worth taking note of their suggestions as these come from all the data they have in store – they know what works and what gets opened by the analysis of all their clients’ campaigns.
3. Back it up with great content
By providing useful, handy, informed or inspiring content to your target audience on a consistent basis, they are more likely to open your email when it arrives.
If you are constantly saying the same thing in the same way, they’ll soon stop clicking to read. Because they will know what to expect. By changing it up and keeping it interesting, people are more likely to want to take a look.
4. Be original
Don’t get caught in the trap of trying to copy your competitors or even using their content for inspiration. Bring your own values, brand and personality to each email campaign you compose. Use words and phrases that resonate with your target audience. Listen to your clients and take note of the exact words they use, the questions they have and their current problems or challenges.
5. Call the reader to action
Inviting your email audience to take action makes it easy for them to do just that. What is it that you are trying to achieve from your email campaign? Is it just an informational piece or do you want them to actually engage with your business? Is that purchasing a product from your online store, booking a call to get some advice, asking for a quote? What is the next step?
Whatever it is, make sure that it is clear and obvious what you want them to do. Remember that information that they are being bombarded with? Confusion, doubt and overwhelm is common. By making it very clear what it is you want them to do, it’s essentially one less decision they need to make (and who doesn’t want that!).
6. Keep it short and on point
Emails that go on and on and on will not only go potentially un-opened, but there is a risk that the information towards the end of the email will get completely missed – because most of us read like gold fish and are on to the next shiny thing in a matter of seconds.
Keeping emails short and to the point are respectful of others’ time.
It can be simple to keep the message simple and focused and easier for your audience to decide if they want to take the next step which you have included in your email.
Personally, I am much less likely to unsubscribe from a shorter email than an email which contains a bombardment of more information than I ever thought I needed. Shorter emails seem like less of an imposition to read, to comprehend and to deal with. So keep it short.
7. Reflect your brand and values
It is a one off task to setup a branded email template in the email management software of your choice. Branding your email will make it instantly recognizable to your target audience.
If they like your content, they will know straight away what to expect and are therefore more likely to open it and have a look.
8. Check and double-check your spelling and grammar
There are plenty of tools out there to do this for you. So, use them. Poor spelling and grammar are never a good look. Even using something as familiar as Microsoft Word will provide you with excellent guidance regarding your literacy.
As I wrote this paragraph, MS Word gave me three suggestions – I ignored one and adopted the other two.
9. Check your analytics
Most great email tools provide a suite of analytics that will tell you who opened which emails so you can assess which emails resonated with your audience best. You can experiment with different styles in your title, different times of the day to send them and promoting them through your website or social media profiles to find out how to get the best open rate.
Your analytics should also be able to tell you where people were signing up for your newsletter so that might give you a good idea of where you are hitting the mark with your target audience.
Don’t obsess over it too much – analytics are just one tool to assess the state of your communication. Remind customers to read your regular newsletters when you are talking to them, it’s easy for them to gloss over as you become more familiar, so encourage them to stay engaged with every opportunity.
Writing great emails, like any other business skill can take practice, and patience with yourself while you are learning. The more you practice, the more you will gain competence. Start, draft, review, format, send.
Why not ask your target audience how you could best provide value for them and use a regular email campaign to do just that?
You will build loyal customers, convert potential clients to sales and build a bank of expertise and knowledge that you can draw on time and time again.
Want help getting started with your first email campaign or need help understanding what all the fuss is about? Get in touch – use the big orange button below – Let’s chat!
P.S.
Found a spelling or grammatical error in this post? Then contact me as soon as possible and let me know. In return for your super proof reading, I will offer you a free 30-minute review of your digital presence and some fresh ideas you can try out for free.