Everyone has experienced the sensation of being overwhelmed by seemingly useless emails filled with coupons, special offers, information about new product launches and other messages you do not have time to read. Business users sent and received on average 121 emails a day in 2014, and this is expected to grow to 140 emails a day by 2018. While it can be annoying to receive messages from every company you ever purchased something from or expressed interest in, email is a necessary part of business and making sales in the digital age.
If you as a business owner or employee of a company are annoyed by the number of messages you receive from businesses you have interacted with in the past, you have to assume that your current or potential customers may feel the same way about emails you are sending them.
June 7-13 is National Email Week. Instead of sending the same tired sales and marketing emails you typically blast to customers, take this week and the following tips to put a new spin on your digital customer communications.
1. Be a News Source – instead of always relying on a discount offer to spur customers into the buying stage, use industry news to your advantage. Create an email campaign around a new regulation, a competitor recall, or another news topic that is trending in your industry and relevant to your customer. Alert them to what is going on and how you provide a solution.
2. Focus on the Subject Line – in a flooded inbox an intriguing subject line is much more likely to be noticed and opened than one that is too revealing and generic. Look at newspaper and online media outlet headlines for inspiration. Instead of a tired “20% off limited time offer” subject line test response rates for subject lines like” 25% of businesses fail at social media sales, how to adjust”.
3. Remember Your Audience – don’t get so caught up in what the goal of your email campaign is you forget the audience. Put the customer first in everything. Don’t just send a generic sales offer, present it in a way that makes your customer feels like you are only giving a discount to make his/her life better. For example, “We’re offering 10% from now to June 30th” makes it seem like you just want to make sales. “Summer has arrived and you should be spending more time relaxing in a hammock, spending time with family and friends, not cooped up in your office. We’re issuing you a summer break to make it happen. Take 10% off now until June 30th.” The second presentation lets the customer know you are worried about his/her well being and want to make life easier, not serve your own purposes.
This week try one of these tactics to refresh your email campaigns. Hopefully you will be pleasantly surprised with the results!