5 steps to creating emails that engage customers

The numbers are impressive. According to the Email Statistics Report 2015-2019 from The Radicati Group, Inc., email users worldwide total nearly 2.6 billion. Emails sent and received each day exceed 205 billion. (Some days it may seem you alone receive half of those!) And, by all accounts from the experts who keep track of such things, the numbers will only continue to climb.

Combine that with ROI stats from the 2015 DMA National Client Email Report saying there’s an average $38 return for each $1 spent on email marketing, and there’s no arguing it’s a highly effective tool for reaching prospects.

Assuming, that is, your prospects actually open your emails.

How do you create marketing emails that avoid—or a least delay—a hit on the dreaded delete key? Here are five steps that could help yield a more successful response rate for your next email campaign.

1. Create a hard-to-ignore subject line

• Make it personal. Include the recipient’s name, if possible.
• Keep it short. Don’t give everything away; you just want them to open the email.
• Questions provoke answers. Try one in the subject line.
• Everybody likes free help. From a new idea to a specific number of tips, offer something that solves a pain point for your reader.
• There are no subject line ‘grammar police’, so use a few capital letters to get attention; they increase engagement. And don’t sweat the punctuation.

2. Write concise and actionable copy

• Yay or nay decisions are often made in the first few seconds of reading, so don’t waste words.
• Open with a compelling stat or relatable example that shows you value the reader’s time.
• Make the call to action obvious with a clickable button. Research shows button colors affects response, so select carefully.

3. Save selling for your sales team

• If your recipient sees a hard sell coming, your email will be going…in the trash.
• Craft a softer, informational message that offers a solution or insight your client or prospect will appreciate.

4. Make it responsive

• According to Global Web Index, there are 3.65 billion unique global mobile users. That means your emails must be mobile friendly, so readers can access all content and take action regardless of screen size.
• Without a responsive design, your click-through chances are greatly decreased.

5. Improve email results by testing

• On your next email campaign, perform a series of A/B tests, splitting your audience in half with different subject lines or headline copy.
• Analyze results to see what worked best and then do the process again, choosing another variable to test on your next campaign.

Even the most experienced marketing professionals continue to test, analyze and hone their email skills, recognizing it’s time well spent considering the potential payoff.

ConnectWise Campaign™ empowers you to easily create engaging emails and landing pages, automatically target the prospects you want to reach and have full visibility to the measurable results. It’s like adding a never-takes-a-break marketing genius to your team. See what ConnectWise Campaign will do for your business.