We’ve all been there – you hit send on an email, instantly notice a mistake and frantically try to recall your message. It is times like this you wish you’d had another pair of eyes to check your email content, or at least a handy checklist to run through before pressing send.
Well, this might just be the blog post for you.
Email marketing is a skill that once mastered can lead to great results – so before you hit send on that next email campaign, check out this top 10 list of things to double check to avoid the cringe…
#1 – Your audience
You could create the most wonderful email in the world, but if you don’t send it to the correct people, you’ve wasted a whole lot of effort. Make sure your contact list is up to date and correctly loaded into your email platform. Check the spelling of names, make sure email addresses are correct with @ symbols in the correct places, and that you’re speaking to the right group of people.
#2 – Subject line
The email subject is the gateway to your audience – a poorly written subject line can be the difference between your email being opened and read, or trashed. Think about wording that would pique your interest, draft a few different versions and use persuasive language in your subject line to entice your recipient to take a look.
Depending on your audience, using emojis can also make your subject line more interesting and increase open rates.
#3 – Personalisation
Using elements called Merge Tags in email marketing systems helps to personalise your message and makes your email feel more human and individual. These work by using data from your contact list, such as first names, and pulling them into your email. To use merge tags, make sure your contact data is accurate (see step 1!) and that you have uploaded all the details into your email marketing platform.
#4 – Sender details
Emails from human beings tend to have a much higher open rate than those from companies. Try using a name, probably your own, in the ‘from’ field so that recipients can see that it’s from a human!
#5 – Send at the best time of day
Think about your audience and when they are most likely to read their emails. Are they checking before bedtime, browsing at lunchtime, or looking for a distraction at 4pm? Send or schedule your email to be received at the best time for your readers.
#6 – Make sure your emails SUC – straightforward, useful & convincing
Keep your language clear and as simple as possible – focusing the reader on the most important messages. Make sure the information you provide is useful and include persuasive, convincing language to encourage them to take action.
#7 – Call to Action
Make sure you use ‘call to action’ text to encourage your readers to make the next step – using persuasive, simple language helps your audience easily understand what you want them to you. Keep it simple – don’t ask too much from your audience – and make use of text links and buttons to bring graphic elements to your email design.
#8 – Grammar & Spelling check
Spellcheck is your friend! Read through your text ad check for spelling and grammar errors, read it again and once more for luck. You could even copy and paste it into a document and complete a spell check there or use free tools such as Grammarly which will pick up on spelling and grammar mistakes. If you can, write your email, wait 24 hours and re-read it with fresh eyes – or better still, send a test to a friend and ask them to check it for you too!
#9 – Unsubscribe option
Reduce the likelihood of your mail going straight into Spam and include an unsubscribe link. Nobody likes the idea of losing subscribers, so this may seem less than ideal, but new GDPR laws mean that you actually have to make it as easy to opt out of receiving communications as it is to sign up in the first place.
And it might actually prove useful. If readers are not interested in your service or products, you probably don’t really want to be marketing to them anyway, so this is a good chance to distil your contact list to genuine, interested contacts. Many email marketing platforms charge based on the number of contacts, so this might save you some money too.
#10 – Device visibility
Most email campaign platforms will give you the ability to preview your email to see how it looks on mobile, desktop or tablet devices. Preview your email to check how recipients will see it on their device and make changes to the format so that it looks as good as possible.
Conclusion
Writing an email marketing campaign can be time consuming but it can give you so many rewards, so it really is worth the time to check all aspects before you hit send. Making sure your contacts have the best customer experience will make them more likely to engage with your emails and open more of them in future too. So, next time you’re preparing an email, be sure to use this 10 step checklist and get the very best from your marketing campaign!
If you have any questions about email marketing or would like help setting up email marketing campaigns, drop us a message or call 01793 200227
Comentarios