Email marketing isn’t dead. Be wary of any person telling your brand or business otherwise. But because we live in a world in which consumers expect a high degree of customization, you might find yourself spending hours tailoring content to dozens of segmented audiences. So how can your business continue to grow and engage its email subscribers without creating hundreds of specialized emails? Here are five quick tips.
1) Make it as easy as possible for people to sign up
To include a name field or not to include a name field – that’s the million-dollar question. On one hand, requiring someone’s first name to sign up for emails can help with personalization down the road. On the other hand, the fewer required fields on an opt-in form, the more likely someone is to subscribe.
Consider your priorities: is your brand trying to grow its list as quickly as possible? Or are you more concerned with building an engaged following? Bottom line – the fewer steps between piquing the consumer’s interest and them subscribing, the better.
2) Offer a variety of ways to subscribe
One of the biggest mistakes your company can make is burying an opt-in form on an obscure page of your website. Or worse, not having an opt-in form on your website at all. By making it difficult for interested parties to sign up, you’re missing on out juicy, low-hanging fruit. So, include a pop-up form on your website’s home page. Install a plug-in on your Facebook page. Add an opt-in link to the end of blog posts. You get the picture – don’t be the sort of business to make consumers hunt for information.
3) Understand how users navigate your website
Use Google Analytics or your content management system’s built-in analytics to generate a traffic report. This will help you understand traffic sources and popular content, allowing you to optimize frequently visited pages with lead-capture forms and calls to action. You might even use a heatmap on your website to figure out where visitors are clicking and place opt-in links in those specific spots. Don’t make consumers come to you – meet them where they already are!
4) Make sure your emoji game is on point
Truth: 56% of brands using an emoji in their email subject lines had a higher open rate than those that did not. And with everyone from your grandmother to political figures using emojis to communicate, your company might as well capitalize on this fact. Add an emoji into email subject lines to help messages stand out in crowded inboxes. Plus, emojis can help shorten subject lines and are great for mobile – 55% of emails are opened on mobile devices.
5) Host on offline, on-brand event
Be a brand of the people – meet with your audiences in person and learn what makes them tick. Host a seminar, meet-up, educational panel or conference and treat it as a networking event. Be sure to bring a sign-in form requiring attendees to submit their email addresses! If someone took the time to actually attend your event, then they’re pretty likely to become engaged email subscribers.
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Emily Russell
Emily’s background is rooted in journalism and advertising copywriting, though she creates content for a variety of clients and platforms. She has extensive experience writing for traditional media like television and radio and is skilled at crafting engaging news releases to grab readers’ attention.
