According to the Email Stat Center, marketers make $44.25 for every one dollar spent on email marketing. That is a pretty impressive ROI. Still, many marketers fail to see anywhere near this level of returns on their investment. Let’s look at what successful marketers do to get this level of profits.
1. Short Emails:
Less is more when it comes to the copy in your emails. Your readers are very busy. When you say less in your email, people are more likely to read what you have to say instead of hitting delete. Try to keep the body copy to 5 sentences. After all, your goal is for them to click for more information.
2. Subject Lines:
You may be getting tired of hearing about the importance of subject lines. No other component of your email campaign has the power to change profitability than a powerful, pithy subject line.
3. Segmented Lists:
Relevance is central to getting a response. The old blast email to “anyone” is destined to fail. A well targeted email to a narrow niche is appreciated, opened and gets response. A study showed segmenting yields up to 24% more sales leads and revenue.
4. Focused Topics:
Distractions such as multiple offers dilute the opportunity to get a click through to your content. Always question what you want the reader to do in response to this email. When you have the answer, focus only on the one topic. Examples might be: download an eBook, sign-up for a newsletter, become a member, share in social media, or any number of things.
5. Call-to-Action:
Unsuccessful email marketers will assume the reader knows the next step after reading the email. Big mistake. Make it extremely clear what you want the reader to do and tell them how to do it…right now.
6. Use the P.S.:
People who scan will often read the P.S. first. The eye is drawn to the visual added ingredient and creates urgency. The standard email copy includes two paragraphs, a couple of hyperlinks and a P.S. to reinforce the message or offer a bonus.
7. Responsive Design:
Emails opened on a mobile device grew 180% in three years – from 15% in Q1 2011 to 42% Q1 2014. Some claim mobile email opens have reached up to 70% of total email opens. These numbers are staggering. If your email is not optimized for multiple devices, you are at a huge disadvantage.
8. Social Sharing:
People like to share what they find valuable with their social network. Click-through rates increased 30-55% when social sharing options were included. Give them the opportunity to share with easy social sharing buttons.
Email marketing is a proven way to bring more ROI to your effort to reach new customers. Just like in any industry, it is not just the tool – it is the way the tool is used that will separate the average user from the real pros.