Targetted Email Marketing: Making it Personal
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Steps to ensure that your email copy hits the mark every time
There’s nothing quite like good conversation. In fact, it’s a rare luxury. How often have you endured laborious, draining dinner conversation? Or, are you the guilty party? It’s an awful experience that can cause a momentary brain freeze! Avoiding a bland conversationalist boils down to one unquestionable fact; you just don’t relate. Perhaps, this is exactly the reason why blogging is so popular; people who relate are drawn to one another.
1. But, what do your conversational skills have to do with email marketing?
Captivate your customers with ‘good conversation’, make an emotional connection and, you’ll ensure that your email marketing campaign becomes a lucrative success. As a result you’ll leave you client wanting more, which is inevitably what a successful campaign requires. Keith Sawyer, author of the book ‘Creating Conversations’ did a study on how closely creativity and conversation are related. Sawyer states that every conversation is creative because conversations aren’t scripted or rehearsed.
However, when it comes to email copy, you’re at liberty to script and rehearse your ‘conversation’ (email copy) before hand. So, take advantage of this opportunity and make it as fetching and effective as you possibly can…
Ask yourself the following prevalent questions before creating your email campaign. Remember, your objective is to motivate your prospective clients on your list to click and buy.
- What are clients needs and wants?
- Who offers a similar service or product?
- What can you offer your customers that your competition cannot?
- Why should your clients believe in you?
2. Determine your target market
The first step to email marketing success is to establish your audience. However, you'll want to use a different approach to sell the same product to men than women for example. Men and women have distinct differences. You can do this by breaking down your list into different groups based on demographics, buying behavior or lifestyles, targeting your promotions and offers based on specific customers' needs and desires.
3. A great subject is your object
Before an email can generate results, recipients need to open it. The question is; what can you do to spark their interest? What will give them reason to continue reading your pitch?
4. The secret lies in your Subject Line
There are four tried and tested types of email formulas to keep in mind when crafting email copy. Each has a different psychological appeal.
- State a powerful benefit
- Pique curiosity
- Write your subject line with a news angle
- Offer Immediate Gratification
5. What’s in it for them?
Mention your products features and benefits; Features describe the product; benefits describe the results of using the product. Features prompt emotion and drives sales. Give reasons why your service or product will make life easier for them. Let them know how much better they will feel and how their peers will respect them more.
Give your prospective clients reason to believe in your product or service.
6. Guarantee
Email marketing copy without some sort of guarantee is a losing proposition. The more convincing your guarantee, the better your response will be. The longer the time period, the fewer returns you`ll have.
7. Ask, Ask, Ask!
It’s a common occurrence; someone makes a fantastic sales presentation, but forgets to close the deal because he/she didn`t clearly ask for the order or made the process complicated. Statistics show that you need to ask for the order at least three times to close substantial sales. Consumers love choice, so try to offer several ways to order. However, if you only offer one way to order, be crystal clear. Describe it in detail and ask for the order. Then promptly ask again.
8. Structure your copy
Large blocks of copy can be off-putting. Break up paragraphs into two to four sentences. Use several subheadings throughout the email letter. And, use asterisks, dashes, ellipses, and especially bullet points.
9. An eye for design
Using the data accumulated from eye-tracking studies allows you to see how people read your emails and to identify visual 'hotspots' where customers look on the page. You can change your layout and design to improve performance. It's important to remember that most people view email in a preview pane, so make sure your offers are prominently placed near the top of the page. Don't place it in the header image as the majority of people make use of their email program's image blocking function and studies show that browsers 'rarely' or 'never' download images.
10. Test run
One of the advantages of email marketing is that it's easy to test and track the results. It’s possible to monitor and make adjustments based on customer responses, or their lack of responses. The latest tracking and analytics software will help you find what works and what doesn't. And, show you which links get clicked on most and which produce the most conversions.
There’s a fine line between good email copy and effective copy. Your email copy can make or break your email marketing campaign. The better you connect with your market, the stronger your email copy will be. Find out what makes your prospective clients tick, and latch on to it. It’s human nature to connect with those who seem to understand you and are concerned about your needs. Put in the extra effort. Brush up on your conversational skills and adapt it to your email copy. Make that emotional connection and reap the rewards.
