Clean up your act: Email strategies for engagement
Crafting engaging emails for customers can often feel like a wonderland of unknowable data. When is the right time to send? How long should it be? Does anyone actually read the messages you create? Knowing the answers to those questions can help you avoid common mistakes in corporate America.
Some of the biggest mistakes? Writing excessively long emails. Pushing the hard sale. Inundating people’s inboxes with too many monthly messages.
On a personal note, cultivating the right email message reminds me of the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Just as the adventurous Goldilocks spent her time searching for the right temperature of porridge, the right chair to sit in, and ultimately the right comfy bed to lay her head, the same can be true when searching for the right formula for an engaging email. Emails have a sweet spot as well. While it may be impossible to engage everyone on your list in the same way (especially if your distribution falls in the hundreds and thousands!) there are a few key ideas to keep in mind.
Not too hot. Not too cold.
The overall message of your email needs to include some emotion. Messages that are too salesy, too neutral or too vague don’t often illicit a response. Add a personal touch, even if you have an extensive distribution list. Adding something personal can make it feel more genuine.
Before you send, don’t forget to do a little digging to find the right email to send at the right time. Daily emails have a notoriously high unsubscribe rate. Why? Because they come too often! People don’t have time to spend with your brand every day. A daily touch point will almost certainly lead to a negative customer experience. Weekly emails are acceptable in some industries where live updates or news feeds are expected by subscribers. But we’d recommend a monthly rhythm for the vast majority of small businesses. Monthly emails provide enough attention to keep readers engaged over time.
Lastly, pay attention to the substance of your message, which plays a significant role in retaining and engaging readers. Sales-driven and call-to-action emails are popular in the business world, but make sure to combine those messages with content that is approachable and useful. If your email message asks the reader to do something month after month, they will feel one-sided. Instead, offer thoughts, ideas and stories that could be useful and engaging. Is there a holiday coming up? Try crafting a creative message that intermingles sales, action calls or other requests of the reader. Throw a little fun into that business sometimes!
Not too hard. Not too soft.
So what kind of email marketing strategy should you use? We’ve talked about avoiding the hard sale. Although sales-driven messages are acceptable in some instances, use them sparingly. But also avoid emails that are too soft and full of fluff. We’ve all received rambling emails that seem to stretch to infinity and beyond. When it comes to email length, less is more. Keep it short. Keep it concise. Keep it friendly.
When it comes to email length, remember that mobile devices now count for a large part of the email-reading constituency. The longer it takes for people to load and view your email, the less likely they will open it and read it. Think concrete, specific detail. Maybe even try to keep it under 150 words. One strategy for crafting a less-is-more email marketing message is to begin with a template. Write out everything you ever wanted to say in the email. Then begin cutting it down to the bare bones. What is really important in the message? What do you want the reader to take away and/or do? Don’t hide those two elements in big fancy words. Chances are, the reader won’t make it there anyways.
Just right!
Finally, don’t forget the subject line. Here’s where moderation and a little intrigue can go a long way. Don’t give away the entire message in the subject. But don’t be too vague either. Get the reader’s interest by giving away enough information to entice them into the larger message. Once again, less is more. Fewer words and fewer exclamation points! Emails should feel genuine. They shouldn’t feel like cookie-cutter templates that start and sound the same every time. With a little effort, you can cultivate an engaging readership.
