You have an email list through which you periodically send newsletters and special offers. Hopefully you have learned not to abuse that list with too many communications and hopefully you have strengthened the interest of your email group (and therefore the robust strength of its power) by sending out minimal, high quality content that is useful to them in the form of education, entertainment or cash value (savings). If that is the case, you are already sitting pretty for a successful e-mail campaign. However, there are a few necessary actions you must perform to ensure that success.
Start with a Strong List
You have to have a list of people who are truly interested in what your emails might have to say or what’s the point? Opening the email is key to a successful campaign. How can you tell if your list is full of qualified, potential clients? There are a few good measurements, but the best one is probably your “open rate”. How many people on your list are actually opening your emails? The average open rate is 20 percent. If your open rate is significantly less than 20 percent, you are either way off the standard average for your industry (unlikely), or your list is weak.
Use a Fresh Approach
What would you open? This is a good question. You are a busy consumer too and you aren’t going to waste your valuable time and attention on something boring that’s wrapped in virtual brown paper and string, You aren’t going to give a second thought or glance to anything ad-like or “traditional”. Be creative, be outrageous, be the opposite of what you usually are when you create the subject line of your email. Curiosity will get your potential client to open it.
Use Images
Use real images of you or your staff. Use humor and intelligence. Keep it light and fun. Don’t weigh your message down with too many pictures or complicated graphics.
Keep it Simple and Easy to Share
Again, remember the potential client is actually….a human! Humans like fun. They like simple communication and a clear “call to action” not a convoluted mess of jargon and business-speak. They appreciate your using as little of their time and attention as possible while making them smile while you are doing it. AND if you make your message simple for them to share on twitter or facebook, you could increase your exposure significantly.