In the world of email marketing, sending content to email lists is vital but it requires careful planning and execution. Anyone working in the corporate world is often inundated with loads of emails. While some emails may be interesting and relevant, many lack the quality to make a true impact on engagement.

Some may use confusing terminology, many are too short, too long, or don’t have the appropriate tone for the targeted audience. Not creating quality email content can waste time and budget without impacting a brand’s effectiveness.

Considering how email marketing is shaping the business world, you need to improve your professional email writing skills. We look at a few simple steps you can take today plus many powerful examples on optimising your email communication.

Email Marketing Tips For Business

If you consider that the average office worker receives around 121 emails every day, it’s no surprise that businesses continue to invest in email marketing. With the right implementation, email marketing offers exceptional flexibility where brands can tailor their strategy to reach specific segments of their target audience. Getting people to open an email requires more than just a quality list as the key ingredient to email success is good content.

Create Interesting And Relevant Email Marketing Content

Creating the right content forms part of knowing who your audience is and this is where buyer personas come in. Knowing what content to produce relates to answering specific questions and when you collect data, remember to keep the customer in mind at all times.

Providing email content that drives intent increases the likelihood that subscribers will take action. Sharing rich content will help establish credibility resulting in the audience regarding you as an expert in your field.

Providing a clear message is essential for email marketing success which is why catchy subject lines, titles and easy formatting play such an important role. Use headings, paragraphs and bulleted lists to make it easier to read. Don’t forget to include ALT tags for images as some email clients don’t show images by default.

Make An Impression With Your Subject Lines

First impressions last and that extends to business emails as well. Recipients first see the subject line and a pre-header which means it needs to stand out and make a lasting impression. After all, you only have a few seconds to encourage them to open and read the email.

Subject lines should be strong, clear, concise and reflect the content of the email. Don’t use a marketing or sales pitch about a discount offer when the content focuses on something else entirely. This can also be referred to as ‘Clickbait’, a form of false advertising. Always communicate the purpose of the email as clearly as possible in the subject line and content. We’ve included a few email subject line examples below you may find useful.

Email Marketing Subject Line Examples

If your email is an event reminder, use a subject line like “[Event Reminder] Marketing Expo 25 October 2019 @ 10h00”. Adding the time, date and location will add further value to recipients and help with engagement.

To communicate the objective of your email, consider the following:

• If the email requires action from the recipient to provide information, add a prefix “Action Required”
• Action required emails can also include a 611 prefix
• For information emails, use the prefix 411 for FYI content (For Your Information)
• A 911 prefix can also be used to indicate an “Urgent” email

While these are just a few examples, there are many more and in terms of the prefixes, it will only be successful if the entire team is on board.

Highlight Important Information

In terms of the email content itself, any specific requests, action items or next steps should be clearly indicated. If you’re asking the audience to do something, bold, underline or highlight the text in a bright but readable colour. You should also try and mention important information in the opening sentence of your email. Another way to encourage engagement is by providing and highlighting a deadline.

Include Strong Calls-To-Action (CTA)

Along with quality content, the difference between good and great emails is clear and strong calls-to-action. While one CTA is enough in some instance, it does depend on the content and the message you want to spread. When promoting something like a free webinar, e-book or conference, put all the focus on the offer without distracting readers with too much other information.

A CTA should be as close to the beginning of the email as possible and then repeated toward the end. Make sure the message is clear and that your readers know what you want them to do. If you don’t, they will most likely not click on anything and you will have lost the potential business. Good email CTAs should be short and sweet but still pack a punch. You want your readers to see the email and make them feel as if they can’t help but click the link.

Perform Email AB Testing

AB testing is the best way to find the right balance between the number of emails you send, when you send them and how often. While you will find hundreds of opinions and research studies online, it may not always apply to you. Don’t take anyone’s word as gospel and do your own AB testing to find out what works for your brand.

Never copy your competitors’ tactics but you can certainly learn from them. See how often they send emails and set up your email marketing strategy accordingly. The most important aspect here is that every email you send should have a purpose. Remember, this relates directly to user engagement and conversion rates.

For a detailed breakdown of how exactly email AB testing works, read this article from Neil Patel. ‘A Beginner’s Guide To A/B Testing’

Choose Your Recipients Wisely

This particular section refers to email list segmentation and buyer personas. We mentioned earlier that people receive an average of 121 emails every day which means they may be overloaded. In many cases, they will simply ignore your email especially if it doesn’t grab their attention or if it’s not relevant to them.

Market segmentation refers to ‘the process of dividing a broad consumer or business market into sub-groups of consumers or segments’. Segmentation is based on a shared characteristic of existing and potential customers whether its geography, likes or dislikes etc.

By properly segmenting your audience, you can send the most relevant emails to the appropriate recipients. This way they are more likely to engage and possibly take action. We recommend that you always follow SMART goals to provide the necessary clarity, focus and motivation to achieve your goals.

Email Marketing Conclusion

The main concern is that people get numerous emails every day so why should they open and read yours? Many people only focus on the email subject line and don’t always read your messages. This brings us back to the importance of good subject lines, content, calls-to-action and recipient lists.

Whatever you do, NEVER use purchased email lists! In most cases, even if they promise that every email address has been verified, there are no guarantees. The risks associated with purchased lists are enormous and brands need to tread lightly, especially with GDRP and CAN-SPAM. Check out this article for more ‘Email Mistakes And How To Avoid Them’.

If you need expert digital marketing advice and services, get in touch with WSI eMarketing. We specialise in web development, SEO, social media marketing and marketing automation among others.