As a business owner, you don your superhero costume every
day in the hope that you will be able to attract loyal customers and watch your
business grow in leaps and bounds. If a solid business plan is your base (the
spandex jumpsuit, if you will), a well thought-out email marketing campaign is your
cape – enabling your Super Business to get off the ground and soar.
Nearly all superheroes, however, have a weakness; Superman
had his Kryptonite, Daredevil his background noise, Green Lantern the color
yellow, Batman his mortality. They were rendered powerless when these
weaknesses were exposed, transforming them from extraordinary to ordinary
faster than a speeding bullet.
So, what is the Kryptonite to your email marketing campaign?
It’s that thing that can make any over-worked, ultra-busy, time-deprived person
feel so overwhelmed they want to curl up on the couch with a decorative pillow
over their face: clutter. More
specifically, inbox clutter. With literally hundreds of emails hitting the
inboxes of your clientele every single day, it’s hard to know how to make your
emails leap tall buildings in a single bound to stand above the rest. Here are a few totally made up and
cheesy superheroes to the rescue:
Demographics Girl
What are your customers interested in?
What are their needs?
What is a challenge facing them, and how can you help?
Knowing the answers to these questions can make the
difference in your email being trashed or clicked through.
For example, “7 Time-Saving Tips for Scrapbookers” hits on
two important points. First, it’s
obviously targeting a specific demographic, making it less likely to be deleted
than a more generic subject line.
Second, it addresses a challenge area – saving time.
The Personalizer
Everybody wants to feel wanted. It’s human nature!
Make your contacts feel as though you are speaking directly to them for
best click-through results.
Email Contact gives you the power to personalize your
subject line in a variety of ways.
By adding one of three variables, you can make the email as personal as
you wish:
%fullname%
%firstname%
%lastname%
For example:
Hi %firstname%, this is Heather from Email Contact.
Using
the variable above will fill in the name of the person related to the email
address. If the person's name is not available, it will fill in a default name
of your choice (i.e. Friend, Customer). Just add the default name in the
settings of your Email Contact account.
Perhaps
your style (or the style of your demographic) is a little less formal. Using the pronoun “you” in the subject
line will also get great results:
“Our
sale starts in just a few hours. Will we be seeing you?”
Or how
about “What can YOU do with Email Contact?”
Captain Obvious
Be
clear and concise in your subject line.
Make sure the intent of the email is obvious, and try not to embellish
or stretch the truth. Earning the
trust of your customers is imperative.
If there’s an offer or contest or invitation in the body of the message,
be sure to state it in the subject.
The Count
Use
numbers to draw attention and make your email stand out. The goal is to shake up the text a
little bit so that when your customer is doing an initial scan of their inbox,
their eyes pause on yours.
“48
Hour Sale”
“10
Ways to Increase Your ‘Likes’”
Urgency
It’s an
old marketing trick, but it works.
Create a sense of urgency to get that email clicked through!
“Last
day to save big!”
“Scrapbooking
Class TONIGHT”
Make
the reader feel as if they will be missing out if they don’t open the email
right away.
Up, Up, and AWAY!
Start
using these tips in your next email blast. You might need to experiment with a combination of Super
Subjects to see what works for your customers. Check your click-through rates often and see if you discover
a pattern. Suit up,
Superfriend! You’re on your way!