Have you ever received emails from a company over and over again, even after you hit “unsubscribe?” It’s frustrating and definitely does not fall into the email marketing best practices category.
Here’s the deal: email marketing is important. Even in the age of social media and YouTube, email continues to provide a better ROI than many other forms of online marketing. You don’t want to stop using it. But you do want to use it responsibly so that you’re continuing to nurture leads, without alienating them. You don’t want to be on the other end of an angry unsubscribe click, right?
Let’s take a look at some easy ways to keep your email marketing strategies on the up-and-up.
Email Marketing Best Practices: Get Permission
This should be obvious. But in case you’ve considered renting or buying email lists, or adding people that you didn’t technically ask, we’d like to reiterate the importance of getting permission.
Consent is imperative when building your email lists, especially since the implementation of GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), which aimed to provide more protection to people’s personal data and privacy.
How do you get permission? Here are a few easy ways to integrate that all-important ask into your digital strategy:
Use Opt-In Offers
Opt-in offers are a great way to not only build your email subscriber list, but to show the value of your products and services, and nurture your clients and customers.
They can be a checklist, a guide, or a video, packaged for folks who “opt-in” to receive their free download in exchange for an email address. It’s a clear way to let them know they’re giving an email address, while you’re giving them something that can help them. And the more content development you do, the more opportunities you’ll have to develop quality opt-in offers.
Sign-Up on Website
While this method may be more direct than an opt-in offer, there are people who love what you offer SO much, that they’re eager to hit that “Subscribe” button. But just putting a random button on your website probably won’t drive much traffic.
So, get strategic with your email marketing best practices. Enhance your calls-to-action (CTAs) with more direct, inspiring language that tells readers what to do. Place buttons higher on the page. Place CTAs for your newsletter in places that make sense, not just a random button in the middle of a page. Like, how we’re going to casually insert a link to our email newsletter signup, because it totally makes sense, and we think our emails are super fun and informative!
Social Media
Email marketing best practices aren’t just limited to email. Using social media as a part of your email list building strategy is totally OK. But like asking for subscribers on your website, just plastering a big “SUBSCRIBE” caption or link in your profile, isn’t likely to bring in throngs of people.
Social media does present an interesting opportunity to get a little more creative with content and provide value to what your business does. It’s a great way to give a little taste of your vibe to entice readers to ask for more—like an email newsletter.
Email Marketing Best Practices: Give it Some Flair
Do you remember the movie Office Space, where Jennifer Anniston has to wear 15 pieces of “flair” while serving at a local restaurant? That’s a classic movie, and while you may not need that much flair in your emails, you do want to add interest to your emails. Here’s a few ways to do that.
Make them Valuable
Your emails aren’t just a copy of your website. You need to give them a deeper look into what you do as a business or an industry. And it doesn’t have to be stuffy.
Email marketing best practices can still be fun, interesting, visual, or even audible. Think clever video or funny photo. There are endless ways to customize emails these days so you don’t feel like a bunch of text that likely won’t get read.
Keep it Short and Sweet
How do you provide value AND keep it succinct? It can be tricky business, but remember, you ultimately want to point email readers to what you do, and its value. Tell a short story, add a teaser of a blog post, and highlight a case study—but don’t give them the WHOLE thing. Remember, short and sweet. Just a taste can be enough to encourage a click through to more of your amazing content.
Don’t forget, readers’ attention spans are limited, and while there are some studies that show they’ve slightly increased, the reality is that you’ll have a few seconds to grab their attention before they go elsewhere.
Spice Up the Subject Line
Writing email subject lines is a delicate line to walk: get readers’ attention without pushing them away, and in just a few words. No easy task. But when it comes to email marketing best practices, understanding which audience your targeting, what they need, and who they are, will help you craft better subject lines that are sure to result in more “open” clicks.
One key thing to ask is, “What would make me open an email?” Most likely, it’s something interesting, not pushy, and less than five words. Maybe we need a little Wayward Kind subject line challenge to get our juices flowing!
So, there it is. The basics for to make your email marketing awesome AND compliant. We’re not going to lie—it takes time to write emails and strategize. That’s where Wayward Kind comes in. Contact us today and we’ll help you take your email marketing from drab to fab!
