Your customer’s inbox is a competitive place. Your emails are likely to be competing directly with the big guys so your first order of business is to stand out so your messaging doesn’t land in the trash folder.
While measuring your open rate is easy, measuring engagement is more of a challenge. But it’s engagement you need if you want to leave a lasting impression — and get more sales!
Below are seven tips to engage clients with email.
1. IDENTIFY YOURSELF
If you’ve invested millions in your brand’s identity, then that is the face you should likely lead with.
Brand recognition is a big deal, especially if your company is huge with changing ownership and a board of directors. If you’re smaller in size and reaching out to customers in a relatively small geographical location, readers will want to know whom they are talking to.
Use your face and your name. People like it when they know that a reliable person is behind a brand they’re interested in.
Ways to do this:
- Include a personal note from you in every email, maybe a short introduction to the content
- Make sure the email is from you (ie. From your name/your business name)
2. KEEP IT SHORT AND TO THE POINT
Long-winded, descriptive prose isn’t likely to engage anyone (unless that is the keystone of your brand).
It’s more likely to turn off most of your audience and leave them thinking “this is too hard” and deleting your email, and unsubscribing.
As a general rule, plain simple positive language allows more readers to understand your message easily.
3. CREATE DYNAMIC & STORYTELLING CONTENT
In today’s market where there is endless media coverage, social media saturation and non-stop entertainment streaming, you need to set yourself apart. Don’t be afraid to tell your story. It’s likely different from any other. It’s basic human nature to like a person more if you know them and their story.
Tell the stories of your clients and how you helped them with your products or services. Include great images to prove your points and make your helpful tips come to life.
4. DEVELOP TRUSTWORTHINESS
How do you say you’re trustworthy without actually saying you’re trustworthy?
The last person you want to trust is someone you don’t know very well who says, “trust me”! So, where does that leave us? Back at the adage, “show don’t tell”.
Thankfully, there are few ways to do this.
- Be consistent – send emails every week, or every other week on the same day at the same time of day.
- Be knowledgeable – include content that helps the reader (helpful tips, how-tos). Show you are loved by others. There is safety in numbers and if other people think you’re awesome and good at what you do, you will seem trustworthy. Include testimonials and reviews with faces and names of the reviewers.
5. USE POWERFUL SUBJECT LINES
It’s true: a great subject line can make or break your email open rate.
What makes a great subject line? It must appeal to one or more of your audience’s primary motivations.
There are some basic human characteristics you can appeal to when writing a subject line.
Some examples of this include curiosity, vanity, fear of missing out, greed, wanting to reduce pain points and the desire to make work easier.
How do we use these basic human needs to create a subject line? Offering a discount with a subject line such as, “25% off your favorites” will hit your reader’s greed button!
Or a subject line such as, “Products the Celebs are Wearing” will appeal to your reader’s vanity.
6. CREATE VISUAL APPEAL
You’ve seen websites and emails that make you cringe. You know, the ones that are unprofessional and outdated.
Brand your email so that it looks like it’s coming from your company. Stay consistent with your logo and colour themes. This is done easily with a well-designed email template.
Using the same template every single week will reinforce consistency but may seem dull after a while so have a variety of branded email templates to keep things visually appealing.
For example, if you send out a how-to email once per month, have a special template just for that. Your readers will come to recognize and expect your emails while appreciating the variation in design.
7. PROVIDE A CLEAR CALL TO ACTION
While engaging your clients is your top priority with an email, you also must provide a clear call to action.
This means that you must have links in your email to book an appointment or email you as well as a phone number where they can call you. Be specific with your call to action.
For example:
“To book an appointment, call xxx-xxx-xxxx”
or
“To get a copy of my book, click here.”
When you are specific, your reader knows exactly what to do if they want to book an appointment or buy your book.
Follow these engagement techniques to invite your clients to get to know you better and be inspired to work with you.
Making the most of your email list can be a big job. If you’d rather spend your time working on other parts of your business, contact Elowyn Press and ask about our Engagement Email packages. We make it easy and affordable to engage your clients and generate more sales for your business.
