Emails are a great way to provide value to your customers, but how do you get people to open them, much less click through? There is a science to email marketing, and our Boca Raton marketing agency has cracked the code on how to set your email apart from the crowd.

LOOK AT THE STATS

Companies put a heavy emphasis on their digital marketing tactics — yet often neglect email advertising. With over 3.8 billion people recorded using email in 2018, its time to face the facts and look at the value of adding this type of marketing to your strategy. eConsultancy's 2018 email marketing census concluded that this form of communication continues to be the most effective marketing channel over all other online platforms, considering its average ROI is $44 for every $1 spent. Looking at the data, it seems that electronic mail should be an obvious choice for companies' digital campaigns, yet many aren't taking advantage of the untapped returns. Let's examine how to make sure your message doesn't fall on deaf ears.

GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR EMAILS

Six seconds is the average reader's attention span. Keeping that in mind, marketers need to be very selective with their content; in particular, making sure value is provided. After you have decided on your content, target specific audiences and customize messages that cater to a particular reader's interests and needs. Ask yourself these questions before you create any marketing content to be derived via email:

1. Why would the intended recipient care?
2. Is it educational?
3. Will it stand out?
4. Does it have a strong call to action?

With hundreds of soliciting emails received weekly, readers are accustomed to deleting impersonal ones or those that try to sell them something. So make sure yours doesn’t fall in any of those categories! After making sure you have kept these questions in mind, segment your contacts based on their interests and address them directly.

TIPS & TRICKS TO GET YOUR EMAIL OPENED

Subject Line:

Creating a captivating subject line is the most important determining factor in getting your message read. In fact, almost 70% of emails get reported as spam based on the subject line. Since it is the first thing your reader will see, it gives you the perfect opportunity to make a great first impression. Here are some tried and true recommendations that will help you craft an effective email subject line:

-Keep it short and sweet, and cut out any extra wording or descriptive adjectives. According to Art Division Digital Marketing & Design, 28 to 39 characters have the highest click rate, and 3 to 4 words receive the most responses.

-Creating a sense of urgency encourages the reader to click, and using the word "alert" increases that chance by 61.8%. If you pressure readers to “act fast” or “hurry” constantly, the content you are sending might be written off as phony.

-Stay away from negative words such as"problems" or "difficult" as it can decrease open rates by 4.8%.

-Finally, personalized subject lines that use the reader's first name are 16% more likely to get opened and will get higher open and clickthrough rates.

‍

Call to Action:

A strong call to action is the best way of converting readers to clients. Words like "sign up", "click here", or "call us" are typical call to action words. However, they have become a standard formula in every marketing email, so make sure you aren't part of the norm! Start by encouraging your readers to take action after reading your email.

Next comes planning the copy. Here is where your content writer needs to get creative, but make sure the CTA tone is in line with your brand.  This is another great place to offer value to your readers, which will ultimately get them to click on your links, as long as you make it worth their while.

‍

Timeliness:

There are different opinions regarding the best time of day and week to send an email. After years of email marketing practice, our Boca Raton marketing agency has come up with the top three best times to hit the send button.

1. Tuesdays between 9:00 am and 10:00 am

2. Thursdays between 9:00 am and 10:00 am or between 3:00 pm and 6:00 pm

3. Wednesdays between 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Granted, it also depends on your target audience. For instance, real estate agents are always near their phone, especially during the evening hours, so that would be the best time to engage with them. Make sure you consider who you are trying to reach, and make a decision about which day and time of the week would work best for you and your marketing strategy.

If you are interested in learning more about email marketing and how you can implement it into your digital strategy, give us a call today!

‍