Our 28 Best Tips for Engaging Readers with Email Campaigns

January 12, 2019 By

For both new and experienced marketers know the struggle of engaging with consumers through email. The task of getting people to first open the email, then read it, and maybe click the CTAs may seem nearly impossible at times. Realistically, it should not be this difficult – right?

MAKE YOUR EMAILS MORE ANTICIPATED

Many people make the mistake of picturing their audience as a list rather than a group of individuals. If you treat your audience like a list of data points, they will be able to tell and immediately disengage.

  1. Write your email to one person. At least, you should write it as if you are emailing one person. Also pay attention to your tone. You should be friendly and kind. This immediately makes all your emails friendlier and more personal.
  2. Be efficient and useful. Don’t email just for the sake of emailing. Try to restrict your emails to times when you have something valuable or helpful to say. Empathize with your readers and ask how you can solve their problem.
  3. Use your actual name. Whichever ‘from’ address you are using should have a name. Use your name so readers can attach a name to the company. This will also help readers feel like they are receiving an email from an actual person.
  4. Be trustworthy. One of the most successful aspects of inbound marketing is the volunteer part of it. Your consumers can confirm that they signed up to be marketed to. This is also important in email marketing; you should make it clear what they signed up for.
  5. Be human. Personalizing is a great way to enhance your emails but don’t repeat names excessively or it will make the email look too robotic and a bit creepy.
  6. Reward them for reading. Whether it be a useful tip or a nice quote to brighten their day, conclude your email with a little something that makes them feel nice.

GRAB THEIR ATTENTION

There is little chance that readers will choose your email to open first out of all the unread emails in their inbox. There are algorithms that may reorganize your email into side tabs instead of the main inbox. Your best bet is to use your subject lines to stand out.

  1. Promise something. Just like the reward at the end of the email, this is like a reward for opening the email. Give a little spoiler of what they can learn by reading the email.
  2. Use powerful or bizarre wording. Wording that is sensory or emotional will attract attention. Wording that is strange will also pique curiosity.
  3. Use numbers. Digits often grab peoples attention.
  4. Be simple. If you try too hard to be clever you will find that people will not know what the email is about. Be straightforward and specific.
  5. Experiment. The great thing about email campaigns is the ability to A/B test. See what works and what doesn’t with this method.
  6. Subscribe to other email lists. Put yourself in the position of your readers and see what works on you.
  7. Don’t rely on outside stats. Other list statistics will be different than yours. At the end of the day, if readers like your content they will open your email upon seeing your name regardless of the subject line.

WRITE ENGAGING CONTENT

Once people have been inspired enough to open your email the next step is to captivate them.

  1. Write quickly to match your enthusiasm. Short and strong sentences are far more engaging than long cumbersome text.
  2. Get to the point. Nobody wants to scroll and scroll through an email without a point. Your goal should be to cut out 50% of the original amount of text.
  3. Play with the formula. You don’t have to stick to any specific formula. Play around with formatting or the type of content in the email.
  4. Ask questions to get readers to think and engage with your content. This also goes with our tip about being personal.
  5. Mix up your greetings by avoiding robotic phrasing and be a little silly. Use words and expressions humans use.
  6. Say you. As one of the most persuasive words in English, you can inspire your readers to engage with those CTAs.
  7. Act natural. Your tone should be like your speaking tone rather than your marketing tone. 
  8. Don’t be selfish. Show your readers you care about them.

MAKE THE SALE

The purpose of your emails is to convince readers to engage with your company. Now it’s time to deliver on that.

  1. Warm up a bit. Before shoving your product or service in the reader’s face, warm up a little and establish your credibility as a trusted source.
  2. Work toward the pitch. After you establish yourself you should work your way to the product by telling a story or another personal method to get there.
  3. Point out the benefits. Rather than featuring the product itself, focus on the benefits the product can provide. Remember, you should tell your readers that there is a problem you can solve.
  4. Point out the drawbacks. People like to avoid inconvenience and complications. Rather than a problem you can solve, maybe your product is better at avoiding certain problems instead.
  5. Establish a deadline like a sale the readers should catch or a short-term deal. This keeps them from procrastinating.
  6. CTAs! Place enough call-to-actions throughout your email that readers notice and are likely to click but not too many as to be obnoxious.
  7. Repeat. Emphasize your message of the benefits of the product or the losses they will experience if they don’t buy.

HERE’S THE THING

Peoples’ inboxes are constantly overflowing. The reality is your email will get lost in some inboxes. The upside is all these inboxes opted to be on your email list and should be looking for your email. Don’t take these readers for granted – prove yourself worthy of their read and you will have loyal customers for life!

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