What does it take to create flawless emails? You know, the kind that have a magnetic appeal in your inbox, drawing you into opening them every time? It's not easy, but as inbound marketers it's a skill we can't afford to neglect to develop. Email is a valuable tool in your Content Marketing arsenal, and the content you populate it with is as important as every other piece of content you create.
Email lends support to your other content efforts and is a great means to increase engagement, boost subscriber numbers and lead generation efforts.
So how can you improve email marketing content?
Crucial Components of an Excellent Email
1. Genuine Sender Details
Nothing shouts spam louder than an email without genuine sender details. If you're going to be sending out emails, respect your recipients intelligence and send them from a legitimate email address with your real details. Doing this establishes trust going forward, and shows you're willing to put your name and reputation on the line for whatever is it that your email is promising.
2. Compelling and Catchy Subject Lines
If your subject line is lame, your email's headed for the trash. We've all received an email before, checked the subject line and thought, "Meh, not reading that. Delete!" Your subject line is to your email as your headline is to your blog - critical! Take the time to create subject lines that catch the eye and draw the viewer into opening the email.
Key considerations when writing your subject lines should be:
- Avoiding sales talk, promotional blurbs and cliches
- Adding a personalised touch, like the recipient's first name (just be sure this adds value and doesn't come across as plain creepy)
- A new subject line for every email
- Short and sweet in length, 50 characters or less is a best practice
3. Personalisation
When you skip on including personalisation in an email, you indirectly send a message to the recipient that says, "You weren't important enough to differentiate between all my other recipients." Who wants to be on the receiving end of that message? Not me - and probably not you either. Don't treat all your recipients as mere numbers in a subscriber list. Personalise the content you send them - let them know they matter to you as individuals.
4. Cohesiveness
Your email content and your subject line need to be cohesive in nature. This means following through with personal pronoun usage, an entertaining tone and a concise body of text. Avoid waffling in your email content at all costs! Nobody wants to read a long, boring email after all. A key element to remember is to write in the second person, which focuses your content towards the reader.
5. Focus on Taking Action
When it comes to email content, action is everything. You want to encourage your readers to take action! Language like "take", "buy", "download" and "get" are all examples of wording you can use to inspire action. However, they're not the only way to do so; you can use actionable language that doesn't involve verbs simply by clarifying to the reader what they can do with the information you're providing.
6. Well-crafted Content
Writing skillfully wrought email content relies on a few best practices to ensure its success. The following tips will help you get your email content ready for success:
- Keep your writing brief and fast. This means writing succinct content packed with plenty of energy and personality, and gets the point across quickly
- Don't rely on a blueprint for your content. Personalise it whenever possible, and change it up in each email. Don't think that your readers won't notice if your emails all sound exactly the same - they will, and they'll unsubscribe pronto
- Mix up your greetings, and always use a natural tone of voice
- Use actionable and power words to drive enthusiasm and action from your readers
- Focus on the benefits of your offering, and not on its features. Nobody wants to read an email doubling as an inflated sales pitch
Your email marketing efforts are an invaluable part of a strong inbound marketing campaign and deserve your full attention and commitment to excellence. Emails aren't just another automated send-out you mail to your subscribers or leads - they're a chance to build quality engagement with your recipients and to boost your lead nurturing efforts! So take the time and make your emails amazing.
