5 Easy-To-Implement Tips to Boost Email Marketing Engagement
You Can tremendously increase email opens and click-through rates by implementing a few of these simple strategies:
Send the same email to your subscribers a few different times using different subject lines.
Offer something of value that is specific to the needs of your subscribers
Use simple, easy-to-understand language in your emails
Every small business owner / Entrepreneur struggles to keep up with the marketing resources of their larger, more established competitors. Although you have limited resources, there is a great marketing strategy that you may not be fully maximizing. Yes, you got it. Email marketing!
I know what you are asking, “why is email marketing important for my small business?”
In 2017, global email users amounted to 3.7 billion users (Statista, 2018). This figure is set to grow to 4.3 billion users in 2022. Whoa! That’s half of the world’s population. This statistic clearly shows that email marketing is a golden opportunity that you should take advantage of. Simply put, with email marketing, your small business has the potential to reach billions of customers and prospects directly.
Here are 5 email marketing tips for your small businesses that will help you increase your email engagement:
Create catchy subject lines
According to Convince and Convert, 33% of email recipients open email based on subject lines alone. First, ask yourself what makes you open one email and not the other in your inbox. Is there a charm? What’s the catch?
The secret is out. Ask a question, create a sense of urgency, keep the subject line short and sweet, and use lower case alphabets. In addition, personalize the subject line as much as possible by using the recipient's first name, dates of significance, etc. Finally, test the subject line using A/B testing. This is a method of analyzing the performance of email X against email Y. Pick the one with a higher open rate.
Include social sharing icons
According to Marketing Charts, emails that include social sharing icons have a 158% higher click-through rate. The icons enable the recipient to forward the email to a friend or colleague who may be interested in your offer. This step should be easy for the readers to like and follow you on the major social network platforms.
Personalize
Do you like boring generic emails that hit your inbox every day? You most probably mark them as spam or unsubscribe from the sender.
Personalization allows for true engagement with your readers who are your potential or existing clients. They feel that you are speaking directly to them. According to ActiveTrail, the open rate for e-mails with a personalized message was 18.8% as compared to 13.1% without any personalization.
Here are a few pointers to increase your email engagement through personalization:
Start the email using the recipient’s first name. This is a great way to grab their attention in a natural manner.
Use a conversational, friendly, and relatable voice in your email. This enables the recipients to picture the person writing to them.
Sign your emails using your name or even better, a headshot of yourself.
Send a customized welcome email to new subscribers with what to expect from you. Proceed to give them a copy of the freebie that they signed up for without filling up another form.
Write a "thank you" email
Welcome new subscribers using a thank you email. This could be in form of a gratitude email or a freebie. This shows that you appreciate their time and therefore helps to build long-term relationships. According to a research done by Hubspot, a look at 21 of their thank you emails showed that they generated 42% open rate and 14% Clickthrough rate. Make the thank you email simple, friendly and personalized. In addition, make them easy to share using the major social media platforms.
Add a compelling Call to Action
The main goal of email marketing is for people to click through your links. The best way to enable your recipients to follow through with your emails is to add a compelling Call to Action (CTA). The main purpose is to get the recipients to take a specific action. According to WordStream, emails with a single Call to Action increased clicks 371% and sales by 1617%.
Ensure that your CTA stands out from all other links and use a catchy phrase to draw people to click. In addition, tell the people where the link goes to and what they should expect.
So what are you waiting for? Use these 5 ways, and you are sure to increase email engagement in your small business.