Pack your emails with a punch

• By Constant Contact
• 12 Jun 2014

Emails do a multitude of jobs – they can be a source of information, a voice for your business, a friendly guide, a helping hand and sometimes even the provider of competitions and special offers. Everyone loves a freebie!

Most importantly, though, they’re a request – you’re asking your customers to spend their valuable time reading what you have to say. So it’s vital to use design, words and images carefully to make every email count – which is why we’ve asked our friends at Constant Contact for some tips on creating really wonderful – and effective – email campaigns.

Content with your content?

Coming up with content ideas is one of the biggest challenges businesses face. But great content for your email newsletter is really all about understanding what your readers need to hear you say – and what benefit it brings to them.

So, ask yourself this - what would you say to them if they were visiting your store or calling to ask a question? Focusing on answering your readers’ most important questions is a great way to work out what kind of content you should be delivering.

One template doesn’t fit all

The email inbox has changed a lot in recent years. As a result, many of the templates that you used two or three years ago may not be the best choices in today’s increasingly mobile world.

But what kind of email template will best suit your needs? The ultimate goal is to get people to click through to where you want them to go. So, have a look at some great examples to start getting an idea of what might work for your business.

Are they on the list?

Attracting new readers to sign up is no mean feat. So you’ll need to get creative with incentives, calls to action and outside-the-box ideas, like an in-store raffle, or deliberately intriguing social media teasers.

Hit your targets

Big lists of potential customers are a great thing to have. But these days, the ‘one size fits all’ approach might be doing you more harm than good. By narrowing your focus, and experimenting with targeted groups within your big list, you’ll soon find out if you get more click throughs, and higher open rates, with relevant information going to the right people.

Care about your image

Using images in your email marketing is by no means a new idea, but in order to get noticed, businesses need to take it to the next level.

These days, it’s not just about making things visually appealing – each image also needs to support and bring to life the words it goes alongside. So, even though it’s tempting, any old brightly coloured image won’t do – you need to really think about what your visual adds to the content.

Keep it short and sweet

Every device you use to receive emails is different. And so is the experience of reading it on a computer, tablet, mobile device or even in print.

One of the best ways to create content that works well across all these different platforms is to keep it clear, concise, and to-the-point - no waffling!

Send and track professional-looking emails with Constant Contact.

Written on:

12 Jun 2014

Categories:

Marketing Tips