Frustrated by your low email open and click-through rates? The good news is that you are not the only one, and there are a number of things you can do to improve. More and more people are trying to tune out the marketing noise that they don’t deem valuable, so you have to make yourself stand out amongst all of that noise.
When you see your email metrics remaining low month over month, you may be wondering if you should leave it behind and focus on other communication methods instead. However, there is no need to be hasty because there are several effective elements that you might be overlooking when creating your email campaigns.
Email marketing is a relevant and powerful tool for any marketing strategy because emails are more personal and targeted than almost any other medium. Plus, they are easily accessible and relatively inexpensive for most businesses.
5 Elements of Effective Email Campaigns
Before you write-off email campaigns due to low open and click-through rates, consider including these five effective elements and see how your metrics improve.
#1 Catchy Subject Line
Think about your own inbox. How many rows of emails are currently cluttering it? Your email’s subject line is the recipient’s first impression, so it should be catchy and open worthy.
Try to sum up the content of your email in a few compelling words, telling recipients why they should open it and what they will find inside. Briefly tell them how they will benefit from what is waiting for them inside–a discount, a tip sheet, an industry update, helpful tools they can utilize, etc.
#2 Compelling Preview Text
If your subject line is Batman, then your preview text is Robin. An email’s preview text supports the subject line in about 35-140 characters. While it is a little less flashy than the subject line, it is none the less compelling and imperative to your open rates. Think of action-oriented and time sensitive verbiage when creating your email’s preview text. We highly recommend utilizing this valuable element rather than overlooking it and leaving it blank.
#3 Personalized and Enjoyable
The tone of your email campaigns should match your brand, message, and audience. Formal salutations may work for some businesses, but nowadays, they are not the norm. Try adding personalization tokens such as “Hi John” rather than “Dear Sir.”
We are visual creatures, so gifs, videos and images can also be used to quickly convey your message and can also make it a more enjoyable and positive experience to help increase repeat opens in the future.
#4 Reward Recipients for Opening Your Email
Of all the emails in their inbox, your recipients chose to open yours and spend time interacting with your brand and digesting your content. So, it only makes sense to reward them.
This doesn’t have to be anything crazy like an all-inclusive resort get away. Give them something they can use in return for opening your email, maybe it is an opt-in for special offers, an “exclusive” membership, or it could even be as simple as a thank you gift or free content offer for subscribing to your blog.
#5 Give Them A Next Step
Don’t leave them with a cliff hanger–always provide a logical next step for your recipients. The industry term for this is a call-to-action (CTA). Equally important as your subject line, CTAs are a way to seal the deal, so to speak.
Every email should have a purpose and goal, and your call-to-action simply asks your recipients to take action, which could be subscribing to your blog, downloading a guide, contacting you for more info, or redeeming a coupon. The goal is that they have a clear path to interact with your brand the way you want them to.
Creating Effective Email Campaigns
Email marketing is a cost-efficient, personable way to regularly connect with customers and prospects to ensure you say top-of-mind. There are several comprehensive tools, such as Mailchimp, Active Campaign, or Constant Contact, to help you create, optimize, and personalize your email campaigns.
We know that the right email marketing plan can help take your business to the next level. Contact us today, and let us take care of all your email marketing efforts so you can focus on what is most important to your business, selling. After all, the ultimate goal of establishing an exceptional email marketing plan is to help you find, get, and keep customers!
