- Amanda C. Hill, M.A.
Smart Email Marketing Tactics for Online Business
Savvy entrepreneurs know they need to be mindful when launching an email marketing campaign. Get it wrong, and they could lose customers or send emails that get deleted unread. If you're questioning how best to go about promoting your business via emails, the following tips are a prerequisite.
Frequency
How often should you send potential and former clients business emails? Once a week? A few times a month? There are several ways to answer your question. The first is to think about how often you enjoy receiving emails from companies. No doubt, every day is way too much, but twice a month is fine. However, the solution isn't quite so simple.
CEO and co-founder of Smart Insights Dave Chaffey suggests changing the frequency for various segments. He astutely says "one frequency size is never going to fit all. So if you find that open or click response is lower for certain segments, then decrease the frequency when they are inactive."
Other proposals include sending emails less often to customers who rarely respond, and asking clients how often they want to receive emails.
Subject Lines
You might know what you want to place in the body of an email, but what should you write as a subject line? Your decision is vital since studies show thirty-three percent of people are only likely to read their emails if they find the subject enticing.
Are there any particular words you should or shouldn't use? Apparently, "breaking," "free," and "alert" work, but subject lines with "quick" in them don't perform well. Additionally, people like to see their names. Click-rate increases by fourteen percent when emails are personalized.
Research reveals it's best to keep information short and snappy too. Anything over three words could prevent up to sixty percent of recipients from opening their email. Also, did you know the majority of people do so on mobile devices?
As you can only squeeze in four to seven words on an average screen, making subject lines any longer is imprudent. Ideally, you'll use an email template optimized for mobile and desktops, so it's attractive no matter which devices your customers use.
When to send emails
Once you've decided how many emails to drive through per month, the next dilemma is when to send them. According to Experian recipients are most likely to open emails on Tuesdays. As for the time, around 8 am or early afternoon is best.
Email marketing can be highly effective when carried out in ways that catch the eye of recipients. Bear the considerations mentioned in mind, and your campaign will be set for success.
Reference: Blog.hubspot.com for statistics, Campaignmonitor.com, and quote from Smartinsights.com.