Newsletters serve dozens of purposes for dozens of different business models. Some are strictly informational, designed to keep subscribers in the loop about organization or publication news. Some are focused on generating sales by keeping readers informed about new products. And many fall somewhere in between, offering a mix of updates and purchase prompts.
But regardless of your model or goals, encouraging your audience and customers to engage is always wise. The more they interact with you, the more invested they’ll feel, and that can only benefit you in the long run. Sales-related prompts are useful, and in many cases your newsletter readers will expect them. But mixing in a few non-purchasing calls to action is a great way to connect with audience members who aren’t in a position to shell out just now.
Email Engagement Tip 1: Ask for feedback and input
Know what people love? Being asked for their opinions. It makes them feel important and valued and listened-to, all of which build brand trust and loyalty. So if there’s an aspect of your organization that could benefit from supporter ideas, or an area of your business that’s lagging and could use some customer feedback, just ask. Offer an email address for contact, or point readers to your Facebook page where longer conversational threads can live. Doing so provides a fantastic way to engage your fans that doesn’t cost them (or you) a dime.
Email Engagement Tip 2: Send short surveys
If the prospect of an open-ended call for input makes you break out in hives, consider creating a short survey instead. Please note use of the word “short”: Since we are living in an increasingly impatient age, you don’t want to tax people’s patience with anything lengthy or overly detailed. Think three quick questions with three to four possible answers apiece. This is a marvelous way to collect data from your most invested customers or audience members, and Mad Mimi makes it a snap with a simple SurveyMonkey Addon.
Email Engagement Tip 3: Ask for social media follows
You’re already prompting your newsletter subscribers to follow you on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and any other social media you’ve got going, right? And you’re doing it every single time, ideally in both your header and footer, and using each medium’s specific logo, aren’t you? Of course you are. But in case you’re not, consider this your reminder: Someone who is reading your newsletter is already sitting at a computer AND thinking about you. This is the perfect time to nudge them to click over for a quick like or follow. Fast, free, and virtually painless engagement.
You may want your audience to buy something, you may not. But encouraging them to stay engaged by keeping in touch or offering their input allows you to build long-term trust. And trust is just plain priceless.
Sally McGraw is the author of the popular daily style and body image blog Already Pretty. She is a style columnist with the Minneapolis Star Tribune, a weekly co-host on Fox 9 Twin Cities, a Huffington Post contributor, and the author of Already Pretty: Learning to Love Your Body by Learning to Dress it Well. She offers style consults and personal shopping both in person and online. She firmly believes that style is a tool for self-love that should be accessible to everyone. Including you.
“The secret to using free content as a business driver is to be the host of the conversation your audience cares about, not the subject of it.” — Shane Snow, Founder of Contently
Show don’t tell. That should be your mantra when using email to communicate your company’s culture. Telling customers how cool, innovative, or helpful your company is won’t help you win their trust. In fact, making yourself the subject of the conversation just makes you look self-absorbed. Instead, use emails to communicate your company’s culture by showing that you’re customer-focused.
So, how do you do it?
1. Take the customer-focused email test.
Every time you create an email, ask yourself this key question: will this information help my customers succeed? This is the best test. Take it again and again. And never fail it. When you hold all of your company’s emails to this standard, you ensure that you’ll always stay true to creating customer-focused content. Remember, the most effective marketing offers no-strings-attached resources to earn an audience’s trust and eventually turn them into paying customers.
2. Establish your company’s voice before sending emails.
How you communicate is just as important as what you communicate. That’s where voice comes into play. Whether you have an internal team creating content for your company or you tap into an agency to create content, you should establish clear guidelines for your company’s “voice.” While your emails should be professional, they also shouldn’t be cold and boring. After all, your goal is to earn attention and keep readers coming back for more. In a sea of information, the only emails that get noticed are customer-focused messages that reveal your company’s authentic personality.
3. Inspire readers to click and take action!
It’s not enough to craft customer-focused emails that have a clear and unique voice. You also have to inspire readers to take action on the emails you send. In order to get real results (click throughs and conversions), you’ve got to offer readers something extra! That’s the best way to earn trust and prove to readers that your company is customer-focused.
In every email you send, be sure to include a clear “Call to Action” (CTA) that inspires readers to take the next step. For example, you might offer an in-depth whitepaper that gives readers more information about the topic of your email. Or you could consider creating a Pinterest page full of visual inspiration for your customers. The most important thing is to offer readers something that demonstrates immediate value.
In today’s media-saturated environment, emails can often get lost in the shuffle. (How many times have you hastily deleted an email that didn’t convey an immediate benefit?) That’s why it’s imperative that smart marketers use email to communicate company culture. By making your customers the main focus of your emails — through content and CTAs — you can create emails that keep your readers engaged and coming back for more.
Rachel LaCour Niesen is a storyteller at heart. As a marketing strategist, she helps clients build blogs, create editorial calendars, design infographics and write whitepapers. She enjoys every opportunity to collaborate with small businesses to create valuable content that resonates with their audiences — and makes everyone’s lives a little more fun in the process! You can connect with her or tweet your questions to her here @rachellacour
You’ve got your website and your email list started, and now all of these marketing people are telling you that you need to offer something so your potential fans will give you their email addresses.
This is one of the only times those marketing people are right. Email marketing has a high return on investment, and 59% of B2B marketers say email is the most effective channel for generating revenue (Hubspot).
It’s old news that email marketing is effective, but unlike most internet marketing tactics, email has had an impressive staying power. The best part about that? With Mad Mimi, it’s easy to do!
So how can you increase your list size? Create an opt-in offer people can’t refuse.
We’re going to go over the why, what, and how of creating an offer your audience will love saying “yes” to.
Why does offering something compel someone to hand over their personal information?
Reciprocity.
Robert Cialdini’s book Influence is a classic on marketing and psychology that introduced us to the six psychological principles of persuasion. Janet Choi at Customer.io gives an excellent primer on all six principles here.
Reciprocity is straightforward. I give you something, and you instinctively want to give something back. It’s in our nature.
With a well-crafted opt-in offer, people are happy to give you their email in exchange for what you’re offering — something they actually want.
Now, I know you’ve probably been around the block a few times and seen some offers that are a total joke. Let’s talk about how to avoid creating an offer no one wants.
What makes an opt-in offer great?
My friend Justin has this great saying: “Be like bacon.”
Why bacon? Well, you don’t want to be oatmeal, right? It’s ubiquitous and boring. Now bacon is different. Bacon has a (somewhat ridiculous) cult following. Bacon is interesting. Oatmeal is not.
You want your opt-in offer to be bacon. To make your offer interesting, it needs to have three traits.
1. It solves a problem.
If you’re not solving your customer’s problem, you don’t deserve to be in business. That said, the problem you help them solve may not be as obvious as a freemium version of your product. Be genuinely helpful, and you’ll find your right people.
If you’re not sure where to start solving your user’s problem, look at Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and start at the bottom. Start by helping them meet a basic need, and go deeper later.
2. Brevity.
When describing your offer, don’t bombard your newest fan with too much information, or they’ll get distracted from solving their problem.
There’s a big difference between being helpful and causing decision fatigue (which is something you should never do).
3. Great copy.
Your landing page should build instant rapport. And your thank-you page? It better seal the deal.
And that’s a big ask when you’ve never met. You have to anticipate and predict people’s needs before they ever see your site. How can you possibly be expected to do that?
It’s easier than you think.
How do you come up with the perfect opt-in offer?
1. Create buyer personas.
Do you know who your ideal customer is? I’m not talking about some vague description of someone who maybe could want what you’ve got. I want you to think of an actual living human being who would benefit from buying your product.
Hubspot’s breakdown of how to create buyer personas is (go figure) worth giving your email away for. Go through the process of creating a persona and you’ll quickly discover how much easier crafting that opt-in offer is.
2. Keep the offer in line with the ask.
It’s one thing to ask for an email address. It’s another to ask for loads of personal information. When you ask someone for their information, whether it’s a phone number or an email address, you have to make sure your offer is in line with that ask.
Depending on your market, you might need to ask for additional information to provide your service, but it’s better to get their email first so they are used to and feel comfortable giving you that information.
3. Keep it short and sweet.
The best opt-in offers are easily consumed. It’s quick, satisfies the need your customer came with, and leaves them content with their fix. It’s the Snickers effect.
Make it easy for your audience to take immediate action. This is crucial. It’s the difference between the ebook that gets forgotten on a hard drive and one that gets perpetually referenced.
How to Harness the Power of Email Marketing with Landing Pages
You’ve come up with a great opt-in offer. Now you’re ready to start collecting emails. The single best way to do this is by creating targeted landing pages focused on each of your buyer personas.
Instapage makes this fast and easy to do with a Template Importer that can turn the design you already have into an on-brand landing page template that fits right into your website. Cool, right?
Keep your landing page focused on the person who most wants what you’ve got, and you’ll have an email list jumping for what you’re offering.
