Email Marketing – 3 Tips For Better Response
Achieving higher returns from your email marketing is doable by non-marketing experts. While being an expert is preferred – when you are not one it’s good to know you can still achieve superb results from your email marketing. How? By following the experts – ‘do as they do’ as seen in the example below.
Aristotle said “you get out what you put in” and I want to make a point here to suggest writing this quote down and refer to it every time you consider an email marketing campaign.
Often email marketing is an afterthought to other marketing initiatives – however I will show you via my own recent personal experience why it’s worthwhile putting more thought and effort into email marketing and setting it up as a core strategy to securing business.
Sunday 1 May 2011
I receive a professionally presented email with an amazing deal of 25 percent off from Air New Zealand. Here is the subject heading…
Amazing international airfare discounts now on
This subject heading of the Air New Zealand email immediately grabbed my attention – so I opened the email message and here is tip 1…
Tip 1. Email Marketing Success Starts With The Subject Heading
The power of the subject heading…..I suggest I am like a lot of busy people where receiving upwards of 300 plus emails each day is not unusual and due to the high volume, many messages I receive are never opened. Why? If the sender is not personally known to me, the subject heading has to be exceptionally good otherwise the message is deleted unread. Does this sound familiar to you?
If so I recommend spending more time on the subject heading – it is the first interaction you have with your recipients and if they like your message subject you have gotten over the first hurdle and if they don’t like it your message remains unopened.
Please now view the image above it is the email message I received for Air New Zealand. Notice how it is presented with a background colour synonymous with Air New Zealand colours, and a header banner that informs – “25% off our lowest airfares”. Under the banner is the personalized salutation i.e. the message is addressed to me “Hello Donna”. Following is the introduction content with a text hyperlink. The header banner is also hyperlinked.
This image shows what is visible on my monitor above-the-fold (before scrolling) and it is a perfect example of a highly functional email message therefore we have tip 2…
Tip 2. Personalise Your Messages, Hyperlink Banner & Message Above-The-Fold
With your message now open, it now needs to articulate your offer and show it is intended for your recipient (personalized). It also needs to suggest an action to take i.e. in our example message the action suggested is ‘get booking’.
In this example of a highly functional email marketing message – below the fold (scrolling to read more of the message) also attracts more action with a reminder that the message is intended for your eyes with more personalization e.g. air points number.
Further on the message continues to perform illustrating how you can save $$ by travelling to particular destinations to whet your appetite and a ‘call to action’ ‘Book Now’ button next to each destination. So what did I do?
I took action and made a booking as a result of that email campaign by Air New Zealand. But the email campaign did not stop there… I got a further message 5 days later…..
Thursday 5th May 2011
A follow up email message from Air New Zealand that was even more highly personalized showing me it was intended for my eyes only and it all started with the subject heading…..
Booking Ref. XX497ZX, useful information for your trip to LA
I opened the message and it was definitely a marketing message seeking up-sell. However that didn’t put me off reading more due to the message being highly personalized with information only relevant to me so I suggest there is a lesson for us in this second message.
The subtlety in its approach is a real winner. The message provided relevant useful information for free wrapping it around ‘call to action’ deals – e.g. get a hotel and get a hire car see image below, so what is Tip 3?
Tip 3. Follow Up With A Highly Personalised Auto Message
From the outset (i.e. the subject heading) personalise to get the message opened.
In the message present more personal data so the recipient understands it is for them and continues to read. Now it’s time to give relevant information away for free and wrap it around other deals that you know are of interest to the recipient as seen in the email I got from Air New Zealand.
You Get Out What You Put In
Follow these three tips and you’ll be on your way to achieving higher returns from your email marketing – just like the experts.
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