(aka How to NOT suck at Email Marketing)

Do you feel like your email marketing strategy is getting stale?

 

Are you seeing lower open rates and click-through rates than you used to? 

It might be time to invest some time in improving your Email Marketing Strategy!

And don't worry, the time spent on your email strategy won’t go to waste - because email marketing isn't dead. In fact, it never was!

 

It's still a powerful way to reach your audience and add value to your community, but there are a few things you can do to make sure your strategy is as effective as possible.

In this blog post, we'll share 5 tips for improving your email marketing strategy. So read on to learn more!

1. Send email communications at a regular cadence

Don’t write emails sporadically! (aka Whenever you want to). 

Hot Tip For You… 

You can't just show up for your audience out of nowhere and expect engagement, or even worse, a purchase. 

Instead, it’s important to be consistent and to show up with value even when you’re not selling something. That can be done by emailing your list at the same cadence (which can be weekly, monthly, or other!)

When you email your subscribers on a regular basis, you will more easily gain their trust so that when it is time to sell, they feel like they already know you, like you and trust you.

In your own unique way, show up on a regular basis with stories and tools and newsletters that remind them why your service will solve their problem by giving free advice and resources. 

So, now it’s time to decide how regularly your audience can expect communication! 

Will it be daily, weekly or monthly emails? Just remember that whichever frequency of contact you use, you have to stay accountable to that schedule.

Decide on a frequency that you can reasonably commit to.

2. It’s okay to experiment with your Email Marketing Techniques: in fact, it’s essential!

When it comes to your Email Marketing Strategy, I want you to adopt an Experimental Mindset!

"Doing things the way they've always been done" might be a common trap for entrepreneurs, but it's important to experiment with your Email Marketing Strategy as time goes on and keep evolving your content delivery in order to stay relevant.

As you begin to experiment, pay attention to whether your community prefers:

• Visual OR Text Heavy Emails

• Newsletter Style OR Story-Telling Emails

• Life Updates OR Business Updates

• Short Emails OR Long Emails

In your experimentation, expect that some of the emails that you send will knock it out of the park, and others not so much. And that’s OK!

Part of experimentation means that there is a risk for failure…

Once you narrow down the style of email marketing you will be implementing then you can narrow down the proper software to use, such as Flodesk (which is a more visual experience) or Active Campaign (which is more geared towards text heavy content and lists that are 1,000 subscribers +). 

Always make sure that you determine the intent of the email, before writing! 

Ask:

• What was the goal of writing this email? 

• What did you want to convey to your audience? 

• What is the value my audience is receiving from this information? 

If you can’t clearly determine what the purpose of the email is, don’t send the email and go back to the writing board.

3. Ask for a Response or a Reply when you Email your list - engagement is important!

Emails are not shouting matches to say “I have the best product in the world and you need to pay attention to me!”

In fact, It should be quite the opposite.

It’s important that you engage with your reader and that you make them feel as if you are having a 2 way dialogue or conversation.

They should feel seen and heard when they read your email, and you can even ask them to respond or reply back to you when appropriate.

Most emails should end with some type of CALL TO ACTION at the bottom, which can include things like…

• Are we friends on Instagram? Follow me over there!

• Never miss an episode of the podcast by subscribing here >>

• Are you ready to become your HEALTHIEST self in the New Year? Apply for a Personal Trainer here >>

You can’t expect that your Email Readers know what to do next, and instead you should tell them or guide them to where they should go or what the next step is.

For example, if you are hosting a giveaway, you can tell them to reply “I’m in” if they want to participate. 

Find ways to build trust and a relationship with readers, so that it’s a 2-way conversation instead of a 1-way.

4. Write drool-worthy subject lines & meta descriptions

People judge emails by their subject lines - similar to how people judge books by their covers! 

The subject line of your Emails are one of the most important parts in any email marketing campaign. 

They have the ability to captivate your reader before they even open the email, so it’s crucial that the subject lines stand out from all others with something unique or valuable!

The other day I came across a great explanation of a subject lines on Hubspot’s blog : 

“Subject lines are similar to calls-to-action, in that you want the language to inspire people to click. 

Subject lines that begin with action verbs tend to be a lot more enticing, and your emails could be drastically more clickable by adding a vibrant verb at the beginning.

 

Actionable subject lines will inspire people to click on your email by instilling urgency and excitement. For example, in an email inviting people to a hockey legend dinner, the email subject line might read, “Dine with Bruins legend Bobby Orr,” rather than a more generic (and less actionable) “Local Boston Sports Legend Meal." The former email uses “Dine” to help the reader envision themselves at a dinner table. sometimes it just needs to be funny, witty or entertaining” 

I don’t want you to panic if you don’t know how to write attention grabbing subject lines, I have the perfect tool for you and it’s called Jarvis. 

Jarvis is an artificial intelligence software which will help you create unique grabbing subject lines for your emails.

My last suggestion on Improving Email Subject Lines is to start saving emails which have caught your eye and have led you to open them. Always be a student of your OWN inbox!

5. Keep sending emails (don’t quit!) and you'll get better with time, I promise you!

You may not become an Email Expert at first, but with a bit of practice and patience you can bet you’ll improve quickly!

The most important thing is to just get started!

If you're looking for ways to improve your email marketing strategy, these 5 tips are a great place to start.

They focus on making sure that your emails are being read by the people who want them and they offer suggestions of how to make them more engaging so customers will open up their inboxes in anticipation of what's inside each time. 

If you want to learn more about Marketing, Online Business and Email Growth, be sure to check out our signature coaching program called The Visionary Method!