- Use automated campaigns: We’ll start with one of the clearest ways to make your email marketing more effective. Set up an autoresponder email service that runs automatically. Using ReachMail or a similar platform, you can make sure that your company never fails to acknowledge an email from a potential customer by having it send a predetermined response whenever you receive a message. NGO charity: water exercised this strategy to great effect in a campaign that automatically sent each donor an update on the project and showed them the people it was helping.
- Pay attention to your copy: a lot of companies understand that it’s important to send emails, but many of them don’t pay enough attention to their content. You might be surprised to learn how many companies are run by people who can’t or don’t take the time to write well—but customers notice. That’s why successful email marketers like the ones at Buzzfeed make a point of jazzing up their copy with jokes, catchy phrases, and references that their target markets will enjoy. Join their mailing list, and you’re sure to see good examples whenever you open a message from them. Pro tip – use an A/B testing tool to see which version works best.
- Offer incentives: marketing shouldn’t be a con, it should be an offer to exchange value. You’re not trying to trick people into giving you their time, attention or money—you’re providing them with something that they need, and they’re compensating you for it. Ramit Sethi offers some good advice on how to create meaningful incentives for your potential customers: make your free content better than your competitors paid content. Focus on giving your target market something they can use is an excellent way to boost your conversion rates and see them opt into your mailing list or subscribe to a paid service.
- Reward your subscribers for referring others: incentives aren’t just necessary for acquiring new subscribers. You’ll also want to make sure that you’re growing your mailing list—and the best way to do that is through word of mouth. You can turn a customer into a recruiting asset by offering them further benefits for bringing in their families and friends. Since potential clients that have been referred are over 30% more likely to convert than those who haven’t, this is an area you can’t overlook.
- Grab ‘em with your subject lines: ever open an email from an unfamiliar company with a subject line that includes phrases like “special offer” or “best product ever”? Yeah, me neither. If you want your emails to stand out from the deluge of spam that your customers receive every day, you have to be creative. It’s even better to be funny—check out this list of clever email marketing subject lines for some excellent ideas.
Email remains one of the most practical tools for you to grow your business—you just have to think outside the box a little. You can test these strategies for free with ReachMail, and watch as your emails net you increasingly more customers.