3 Quick Tips To Improve Your Email Marketing Today
Newsletters and opt-ins are things that you may have been hearing a lot about on the internet lately and rightfully so. It’s the best way to connect with your audience on a deeper and more personal level. So do you send emails to subscribers? If so, this post is for you! I will be discussing three ways that you can improve your email marketing communication today.
1 | Ditch the word “Newsletter”
What a snooze fest! The word newsletter sounds so dry, boring and like something that will make me want to do one of the following-
Avoid signing up like the plague (unless you were legit giving away 1 million dollars)
If I’m already subscribed for some strange reason, unsubscribe
Either way it goes, the end result isn’t something favorable (i.e. not being on your list). Make sure your list sounds like the place that people want to be, not avoid. Get creative and think of a way to use words that represent your brand when naming your list. An example of what someone that blogs about natural hair could call their newsletter is something like “Curly Letters”. An easy way to do this? Pull out that thesaurus and search for synonyms for words that are related to your audience and email topics.
Another alternative is to omit the word altogether and instead describe what one will be gaining when signing up for your list. I use this strategy for all of my opt-in forms.
My new blog post opt-in says:
Awesomeness In Your Inbox! Sign up to receive our new posts on time hacks, creative blog + biz strategies and more. You will also receive a list of my favorite blogging tools as a special "thank ya, kindly"! (many of the tools that I use are free!)
My resource library opt-in says:
The (free) Color Hug Resource Library! Sign up. Your blog/biz will be pleased with you.
It's a challenge to decide on the right copy to use for your opt-in forms, but the challenge can be fun! Also, the beauty in it is that the more creative and unique you are with the copy, the more likely that people will subscribe!
2 | Create a consistent schedule to send emails to your subscribers.
Sending something every now and then isn’t helpful because subscribers are more likely to forget who you are and may...unsubscribe! Just keep in mind that you don’t want to appear spammy. If you sell products, provide something of value to your subscribers just enough so that when you let them know about something that is for sale it won’t annoy them. Ultimately you want to help your audience out more than anything and they will appreciate it, too. So how often should you communicate? Every situation is different, but generally speaking I would say once every week or two is ideal. This way you won’t be blowing up their inbox but you also won’t turn into a figment of their imagination. The only time that it’s acceptable to blow up an inbox is if someone subscribes to a list for a free online training. It’s important to keep in contact regarding webinar links, training details, and follow up info. This can all happen in a short time span, so more emails are expected to be sent.
One of the best ways to keep all of your email topics organized is to use an editorial/task calendar. I use Asana to schedule things out and it works WONDERS! Since your email communication won't be too frequent, you could essentially decide on all of your email topics for the next quarter in a small amount of time. For example, I send value-packed emails to my library subscribers every two weeks, so if I think of six email topics, I am good to go for the next three months. Since you can think of an email as a shorter blog post, actually typing the emails shouldn't be such a large thing to tackle. If you're short on time, use voice to text on your phone and talk your emails out. Read this post on how to create content using voice dictation.
3 | Create clickable images for opting in
Generic opt-in boxes that just say “Sign up here” are so...generic. While you should use various opt-in methods on your website, one that works extremely well is a beautiful image that is clickable. Once a reader clicks the image, a pop-up box would appear and they would enter their details without being redirected to another page to complete sign up and risk losing their place on your site. I actually use this type of opt-in form for my free resource library (speaking of which, click here to sign up for access to the Color Hug free Resource Library full of checklists, guides and cheat sheets to use for your blog/biz!).
This type of opt-in form is awesome for two reasons:
Custom trumps standard any day in my book mainly because you can design things to fit right in with your brand.
Opt-in boxes that don’t take people away from the page that they are reading convert better (like, 30% better). This is because it’s more convenient, and...you know...humans like convenience.
There are various sites that you can use to set these types of opt-ins up. I use MailMunch, and you can also use LeadPages. As far as designing your opt-in image, if you don't use Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop, you can always create a free graphic on Canva. They have plenty of customizable templates available.
If you liked these tips, there's WAAAYYYY more where that came from! #EmailParty is my 7-step E-course where I will teach you how to set up the back end of your MailChimp account and integrate it with various free programs in an easy to digest format. I will also teach you the ins and outs of creating a party in your crew’s inbox on a consistent basis that will leave them excited to receive more. Whether you already collect e-mails and only send content sporadically or if you don’t even have a MailChimp account yet, #EmailParty is for you!
So there you have it! Now get to work and implement these strategies in your email marketing. I'd love to know if any of these tips resonated with you. Leave a comment below or tweet me!