There is a long list of things to consider when it comes to effectively creating an email campaign that elicits the response you want. An effective email campaign should grab the attention of customers right away, inspire them to take action, and retain their interest throughout the duration of the campaign.
In this two-part series of articles, we will go over a few key strategies that will help ensure you have the most effective campaign and the highest conversion rate possible. Below, we’ll begin with the email content and subject line.
The Subject Line & Pre-Header
Crafting the Subject
One very important thing you will want to focus on is the subject line and the pre-header. The subject line is used by every email provider, so you will want to make sure that you find an effective way to condense the essence of your email into just a few words. Generally, people will decide if they want to open the email or not based on the subject line. So the goal is to catch their attention and keep it without seeming spammy or unprofessional (i.e., avoid using all caps, punctuation, and other over-the-top tactics).
Tracking the Subject
You should also be keeping a list of all your email subject lines used so you can track which ones have the largest impact and what times are most effective to send them out. Many experts find the early morning to be the most effective, because that will allow your message to be the first thing your customers read in the morning when they get to work and check their email.
Considering the Pre-Header
Another item related to the subject line is the pre-header. Many email providers such as Gmail place this element next to the subject line to provide customers with more information (this is the little grey text next to the subject). The pre-header can be especially effective on mobile devices, where notification bars can also provide a little more information on the content through the pre-header. It should let readers know exactly what to expect.
The Content
Creating Customer Engagement
The content of the email itself should also be tracked, as it is one of the most important components for anyone that has clicked into the email and is deciding what their next step will be. Create content that you would want to read yourself, and consider the specific interests and sensibilities of your customer base. You will want to make sure that you decide exactly what your content will be ahead of time, whether it’s a deal of some sort, a special availability, an event that is ongoing, or a new product or service.
Retaining Customer Engagement
If you can regularly create quality content, email services like Gmail will push your emails to the top of your customers’ inboxes. Your customers will make it a habit to click the email blasts you send if they know that they can always expect something unique. If you can provide a way to track the effectiveness of this content, even better.
The Template
You will also want to use a consistent template for your email campaigns that includes links to your social media accounts. This will provide further connectivity and increase the overall effectiveness of your email campaigns. This template should provide contact info as well as a call to action for your customers to take advantage of whatever you are using your email campaign to promote. This will ensure that you don’t waste any conversion opportunities.
Templates are also an excellent way to create consistent branding in your email campaigns. We will be taking a closer look into this in our next article, which will cover brand consistency, email tracking and calls to action.
