Write for Conversions: How to Achieve Well Planned Email Automation
For digital marketers, it’s important to think bigger than just clicks and opens, as writing copy to drive conversions is very different from writing for entertainment. Each email send is meant to educate, inspire, and move your reader out of their inbox and onto a path to read more, sign up, or buy something. It’s imperative to select an appropriate goal and then optimize for that goal. Email newsletters came and went, and most people don’t have time to sift through links to determine what might be interesting; instead, the expectation is relevance. In other words, savvy businesses compel readers to take action by sending the right information at the right time. Designating a primary goal is the foundation of all successful emails both manual and automated. It sounds obvious, but it’s not. This article was written as a followup to my September 5, 2017 article that was published in the Reading Eagle: Before You Click Send.
Each email you send should have one of these primary purposes:
Indoctrinate:
Introduce new leads to your brand; this is the time to bond with a new subscriber when they are the most excited to hear your message.
Engage:
Talk about what is interesting to your potential customer; encourage them to buy a product by describing how it is relevant to them.
Ascend:
Welcome the new customer or client and entice them to upgrade their experience. This is where the big money is. You know what your customer did, so now you know what your customer is likely to want or need to do next. If a customer just used your app to make a donation to their favorite cause, the next step is to say “Thanks for donating, would you like to start a fundraising campaign of your own?”
Segment:
Lean what they like and dislike by measuring their behaviors so you can follow-up with anticipatory practicality about what they will want to do next.
Re-engage and Win Back:
If someone has fallen out of touch or stops opening your emails, create a way to entice them to come back or the relationship will grow cold. This is the lowest of low hanging fruit; it’s the time to reinforce your value and re-engage.
In the past, many companies sent an email newsletter every month because they assumed their clients and prospects wanted to know about everything that was going on at their company. Newsflash…that isn’t true! Think about the last time a company you did business with 2 years ago sent you an email. If you’re even still subscribed to that email list, were you interested enough to open it and read everything in there? Probably not. But what if that same company sent you an email about one specific topic that was relative to the exact product you purchased? Such as “your item was recalled, click here to see what we’re doing about it.” You would be much more likely to keep reading or click through to see what they have to say.
Did you know that segmented email campaigns have an open rate that is 14.32% higher than non-segmented campaigns? When planning and setting a goal for your email campaign, ask yourself these 6 important questions: Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How.
Who?
Consider demographics, make sure what you’re saying is relevant to those receiving the email.
What?
Clicks and Opens are not an appropriate primary goal. Marketers measure clicks and opens, but they are indicators and metrics of success, they should not be the primary goal of the email. Your primary goal should be “Register for our Webinar” or “Download our Toolkit.”
When?
We’re not talking only about the time of day or the day of the week; consider where the recipients of this email is on their journey to purchase. Some people have just started researching ideas, such as “best time of year to buy a grill” while others have already decided to buy and are researching features & benefits of a gas grill compared to features & benefits a charcoal grill. Sending the right information to the right person at the wrong time is not going to translate to conversions. Thinking through exactly what you’re selling and when your buyer needs it is critical.
Where?
Where is your audience going to read your email? At their desktop in the office, on their phone during their lunch hour, or on an ipad while watching TV at night?
Why?
Why are you sending this message? Use this as a reality check, why does this campaign benefit the recipient?
How?
How do you know if you’ve met your goals? Web traffic, twitter mentions, and a look at other channels can help you see how your campaign impacts behavior. Don’t forget to read between the lines; open and click-thru-rates may be terrible, but people may be logging into their account or calling customer service in response to your email.
Keeping customers engaged with your business is crucial if you want them to remain loyal to your brand; it is also a critical step in helping you convert those leads into fully qualified customers. Having an automation system that literally makes money while you sleep needs to be well thought out. Start by answering those 5 aforementioned questions. When you create marketing campaigns that intelligently follow up with the right people at the right time based on their actions and behaviors, it will be a true game changer for your business. Always make sure that you are providing exactly what keeps them coming back for more. While it may be tempting to write a lot of information thinking that you are providing real value, know that providing too much information will make you seem unfocused.
Providing great content is just not optional anymore; in fact, digital communications is just as important to your business as customer service. If you want to create and keep loyal customers, giving them great information and solving their problems is the key to your continued growth with email marketing automation.
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