Tag Archives: Email Marketing Tips

July 8, 2016 · 3:45 pm

Make Your Email Marketing a Summer Success

letters-1132703_1280

Here’s a phenomenon you may have noticed: During the grueling hot months of summer, you’re much more likely to get out-of-office auto-responders from the people you try to reach by e-mail. It’s not that everyone’s avoiding you. It’s just that everyone’s on vacation—or so it seems, sometimes. Certainly, the summer season is touch-and-go when it comes to emails, which may tempt you to pack in your email marketing campaign for the summer, perhaps revisiting the ol’ email list when September rolls around.

That’s not an illegitimate temptation, nor is it necessarily a wrong one: Certainly, there is an argument to be made for scaling back on your marketing emails during the summer months, if not disbanding them completely.

No matter how many marketing emails you send over the next couple of months, though—just one or a baker’s dozen—we encourage you to implement some simple tweaks to your strategy, which can make those emails much more enticing to your recipients—and thus, likely to get opened and acted upon.

Get Your Marketing Emails Ready for Summer

Keep those subject lines succinct. A lot of your readers may be getting those emails while they’re waiting in line for movie tickets, a plane ride, or a trip down a roller coaster. They don’t have time for epic-length headings. Shoot for subject lines between 30 and 50 characters—never any more.

Cozy up to emojis! Summer time is fun time, right? There’s no better season to adorn your subject lines and your email messages with a few tasteful smiley faces or other festive icons. Don’t go overboard, and don’t sacrifice actual words for emojis, but do feel free to use them as they fit.

Resist the temptation toward click bait. Drop two swimsuit sizes in a week’s time may seem like a tempting promise, and if your product can actually deliver it, then good for you! Don’t fall into the trap of making cheap promises that you know you can’t keep, though, nor of writing subject headings that aren’t actually relevant to your content. You may get click-throughs, but you’ll also get a lot of annoyed customers.

Don’t let your emails fall into the junk pile. Nobody has a lot of time to sort through their junk folder, so avoid letting your emails end up there. Cut down on spam triggers, as we talked about in this previous post.

Need some further assistance getting your marketing emails summer-ready? We can help you strategize, write, format, and send. Reach out to Grammar Chic today at 803-831-7444 or www.grammarchic.net.

2 Comments

Filed under Business Writing, Email Writing, Writing

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , ,

January 13, 2016 · 12:53 pm

This is How to Write a Compelling Email Subject Line—and Boost Your Open Rates

email-marketing

Report after report and study after study suggests that email is the most effective digital marketing tool.

So if you’re not seeing much of a benefit from your email marketing program, you’ve gotta wonder why.

Maybe the reason people aren’t responding to your emails is because they aren’t even opening them in the first place. Obviously, that’s a problem. A low open rate means your email marketing strategy is dead in the water.

Your open rate is even more significant than your total subscriber number. Think about it this way: Having 1,000 subscribers who all open your emails means much more exposure for your brand than having 6,000 subscribers but only a 2 percent open rate.

No question: You’ve got to get your emails opened. And the best way to do that is to tweak your subject lines—but how?

Tip #1: Make your subject lines longer.

Both the conventional wisdom and the natural instinct is to make your subject lines short and snappy. We’ve offered that very advice in the past. But one new study suggests that maybe longer—like, 60-70 characters, if not more—is the way to go.

Perhaps the rationale is simply this: When you’re working with just a couple of words, it’s hard to offer more than salesy platitudes and generalities. But if you give yourself more space, you can actually convey value and specificity to your readers.

So maybe it’s worth trying long subject lines for a while, just to see how they work.

Tip #2: Write in all lower case letters.

All caps screams of desperation, and can be pretty annoying. Mixing upper and lower case—you know, like you would in normal, everyday writing—is fine. But consider: a lot of the emails you get from your friends and family members probably come with all lower case subject lines.

Writing an all lower case subject line can convey intimacy and familiarity, then—and that’s not such a bad thing for your brand!

Tip #3: Provide value—but don’t give everything away.

As for the actual content of your subject lines, something we recommend is focusing on the value you offer—the benefits your email will provide—without getting into the specifics.

Show your readers what’s in it for them to open your email, but not necessarily how they’ll get it.

Example: Try a subject line that promises something like this: “Drive traffic to your website… and turn it into paying customers!”

You’re showing your readers exactly what they stand to gain from reading the email—but to learn how they’re going to gain it… through SEO, email marketing, or whatever else… they’ve got to open the email and read it.

Try some of these tips in your own email marketing—and see how your open rates improve. Talk with us about it by calling 803-831-7444, or visiting www.grammarchic.net.

Leave a comment

Filed under Email Writing, Writing

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,

December 14, 2015 · 11:16 am

4 Things That Will Guarantee your Emails Don’t Get Opened

newsletterBUTTON

Email marketing can pay off big time—but only if you do it right. And obviously, if you’re spending a lot of money on emails but not getting any of them opened by your target audience—if those emails go directly from inboxes to trashcans, contents unseen—then you’re doing little more than wasting money.

So what can you do to ensure that those emails get read? We’ve shared some email marketing best practices before. Today, what we’ll offer is a set of don’ts—some common email marketing elements that are sure to get your messages promptly deleted.

In other words, these are rookie errors—boneheaded mistakes—that will basically squander whatever effort you put into your email marketing campaign. Naturally, we recommend avoiding them at all costs!

Email Elements it Pays to Avoid

  1. Spelling and grammar errors. Yes, it sounds like common sense—but you’d be amazed at the number of business owners who take time to proof their messages but not their subject lines. If somebody receives an email from you and it’s got a glaring error in its subject heading, that immediately undercuts your authority—and all but guarantees your email gets rejected.
  2. Impersonal greetings. Here’s something else that can wreck your subject line—and thus, your entire email: A greeting that’s obviously impersonal and unspecific. Any message that comes with a title like Dear Sir or Madam will look like spam, and likely be treated as such.
  3. Spammy words. Along the same lines, spammy buzzwords located in your subject line will get your emails buried and your servers blacklisted. Avoid saying click here, % off, order now, sale ends at midnight—anything that clearly marks your marketing email as cheap or salesy.
  4. Bombast. Finally: Remember that a subject line is meant to be short and snappy. If your subject line lacks brevity, it may turn off busy readers who’d rather you get straight to the point.

There is plenty you can do to make email marketing a more effective tool for your business—but also plenty you shouldn’t do. Keep these tips in mind as you strive to achieve email marketing success.

For help crafting an effective email marketing campaign, contact the Grammar Chic team at 803-831-7444, or www.grammarchic.net.

2 Comments

Filed under Email Writing, Writing

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,

June 12, 2015 · 3:54 pm

When E-mail Marketing Goes Awry

email-marketing

What’s the most valuable marketing asset you have at your small business? Your e-mail marketing list is, at the very least, high on the list. With your e-mail marketing list you have a database of captured leads—which is not quite the same as having a captive audience. You’ve still got to work and be strategic to get those marketing e-mails opened, read, and acted upon—a tough job, but highly advantageous if you can pull it off.

Sadly, we see a lot of small business owners who don’t pull it off, despite significant investments in e-mail marketing. They approach e-mail marketing with enthusiasm, but not necessarily with proven strategies—and this can lead to some fatal errors.

Don’t Believe the Hype

For instance: Most small business owners know that the headline is all-important. If you want your marketing e-mails to have any effect, you need them to get read, which means including an attention-grabbing headline.

But there is such a thing as overhyping it. Ridiculous, Buzzfeed-style headlines are too readily associated with spammy marketing techniques; when you include a headline that promises earth-shattering results, that calls the integrity of the product into question.

Good headlines are short, snappy, and focused on value, but they’re also honest and not overblown.

Make it Personal

Another common problem: Small business owners get so carried away in e-mail automation that they forget to include a personal touch.

For example: Do your marketing e-mails arrive from “admin” or “noreply”—or do you have an actual name in the Sender field?

And do they conclude with a personal signoff from your owner, marketing director, or CEO?

Remember that people like to interact with other people; an e-mail from “noreply” is hardly an invitation for further engagement.

Give Something Away

Another sign of e-mail marketing overzealousness: Marketing e-mails that announce company news or promote products but don’t actually offer something of value. Remember to ask yourself this about any e-mail you send: What’s in it for your customers?

We had a client recently who wanted to send an e-mail announcing his company’s new website. If your only hook is hey, we have a new website, don’t be surprised if nobody particularly cares. But if you can position that website as an invaluable resource for your customers—now you’ve got something.

The bottom line: E-mail marketing isn’t just a matter of passion. It’s a matter of careful thought. Grammar Chic, Inc. has plenty of experience building winsome e-mail marketing campaigns. To learn more, contact us today at www.grammarchic.net or 803-831-7444.

Leave a comment

Filed under Email Writing

Tagged as , , , , , , , , ,

November 12, 2014 · 10:08 am

Ramp Up Your E-mail Marketing for the Holiday Season

1353365935836.cached

Business owners, have you ever found yourself thinking: I should really send out a marketing e-mail to all the people on my e-mail list—but is now the best time?

When it comes to e-mail marketing, timing is certainly an important concern—but we’re here to tell you: The time to get busy with e-mail marketing is now.

The holiday season is fast approaching. People are shopping. They’re working to meet their year-end goals. They’re spending money. Their inboxes are becoming full with special offers, promotions, and ads—and you definitely want to have your brand right there in the mix.

How can small businesses make the most of their e-mail marketing efforts over the holiday season? Read on for some tips from the Grammar Chic, Inc. team.

  • Grab your readers with a compelling headline! And keep experimenting with different subject lines right up until the end of the season. Divide your e-mail list into two or three groups, and send each group an e-mail with a different subject line. If one works resoundingly well, it’s worth reusing with the other groups; you might also keep it in mind as a template for future e-mails.
  • Remember, though, not to use spammy words in your subject lines! Our thoughts on typical spam words can be found in this post. Note that holiday marketing clichés—Cyber Monday or Black Friday sales, for instance—will also get your messages tossed in with the spam. Avoid using those terms in your subject line.
  • Make your e-mails top-heavy. Busy shoppers, receiving your e-mail on their iPhone or Blackberry, aren’t going to have the time or the patience to read 500 words of copy. Include the most significant information right there in the subject line and in the first two or three lines of text. The less scrolling people have to do to get to the point of your e-mail, the better.
  • As ever, content is king. The best e-mails will have some eye-catching imagery—perhaps holiday-themed—paired with some brief but value-adding content. Make note of holiday promos and sales, and perhaps link to just a couple of your company blogs, as well.
  • Don’t forget your call to action! It’s always essential, and at the holidays more than ever.

E-mail marketing should really be a year-round pursuit, of course, but there’s no time like the present to jump in or to redouble your efforts. To learn more, contact our team today at www.grammarchic.net or 803-831-7444.

2 Comments

Filed under Email Writing

Tagged as , , , , , , ,