Email marketing is huge and you can double or even triple your growth with a solid follow-up campaign. Over the years, I have learned every top blogger encourages other bloggers to have a solid opt-in sequence that will increase user engagement. However, I’m surprised at the number of people who still don’t choose to implement email marketing on their blog. I think everyone should have a solid email marketing plan, especially because they are very cheap and easy to set up. For example, I’ve been using Aweber.com and had them set up on my blog within a few minutes. They offer free templates, a drag & drop interface, and autoresponders that can be sent out within minutes. With so much to be done easily, it’s important you start looking at how you can benefit with email marketing on your blog. After,
It’s time to test and tweak your email campaigns because it is truly about generating opens that convert into profit. They say each subscriber is worth $150-$200 to your company, but only if you are able to get them to open your messages. This is where things get tough, but you are NOT alone in this battle because case studies are around to help guide your open rate. For example, when I first got started, I located awesome case studies that helped generate an awesome open rate. Today, I’d like to discuss some of them so you can get started with creating a solid follow-up sequence.
Let’s jump right in and look writing emails people want to open and read.
Enticing Subject Line
This is the first thing your readers will see so it’s important you have a subject line that stands out compared to all other messages within their inbox. It’s no secret people get bombarded with emails, but with the right subject lines, you can definitely stand out compared to the rest. Here are a few ways to get converting:
Build Curiosity –
Whenever people have to question what’s inside the email, then you have a better chance of them opening. It’s like a box wrapped in beautiful paper because this can be very tempting…right? To build curiosity, use things like:
- This worked so well
- How we generated $354.00 in one day
- Why this won’t work in your business.
All of these questions or statements will build a heightened level of curiosity that will help increase open rates.
Use Numbers –
There is a simple reason numbers work so well and that’s because they tend to stand out from basic text script. As humans, we tend to scan things quickly because we are short for time, and numbers help catch the eye quickly.
Short and Right to the Point –
As mentioned above, people are skimming through their inbox because they get bombarded with emails. In this case, it’s important to always keep things short and to the point. It’ll help get the message across, increasing the likelihood of them clicking on your message. Remember, it’s NOT just about keeping it short because you’ll learn next that it’s about testing until you find a high CTR.
Always Test Your Subscribers –
It’s important to keep testing until you find something that works. This is the only way you’ll find out what resonates with your readers. Keep the subject line short as mentioned above, but try a combination of subject lines and track results. Email marketing is so easy that you can test with the click of a button, so implement the strategies above while tracking the results.
Always Provide Value
Just like writing content that provides value, it’s important to do the same when sending email messages, too. This is especially important when subscribers will open an email at least once, and if they don’t find value, might unsubscribe going forward. This is why I’m a true believer in NOT sending out too many follow-ups until you have something of value that you know your subscribers will love to read. If my subscribers open a message and are redirected to valuable content, then I’ve increased the chances of them doing the same again going forward. What is value?
First, understand why they joined your newsletter in the first place which MOST likely is they found value on your blog. Next, understand exactly where most of them opted because this will help guide your writing in the future. For example, you can create the same type of content going forward, and then send them a follow-up message with the link embedded within. Third, keep the message short, which you’ll learn later on as you continue to read this content.
Here are some quick content value tips:
- Answer a common problem
- Make it in-depth
- Make sure it’s structured correctly
- Include an introduction
- Include sub-headings that will help structure content correctly
- Include conclusion
- Always answer question and add value
- Skim through competitors and include elements they are missing like images, videos, infographics, etc.
Keeping It Personal
There’s a reason people spend time on your blog, and a major reason is because you have established your own voice. This means going forward, it’s important you continue to write content that builds your identity. Even though you will probably follow this philosophy as it applies to content writing, it’s important you do the same when sending out newsletters to your subscribers. They will want to feel the same passion in your follow-up messages that they did when reading your content.
The best way to personalize your voice is to keep it real from the beginning. The cool thing about blogging is you’re representing yourself, which can be very strong when done the right way. Start with writing content, and keep that personal tone going throughout your messages. You’ll see that people will resonate much better with your messages, knowing you’ve kept it real from the very start.
Keep an Eye on Length
I had mentioned previously how I’d explore this a bit more going forward. As mentioned, people are bombarded with emails daily, and they quickly skim through them. They will organize them and quickly SPAM the ones that seem to be poor quality. However, sometimes, the subscriber isn’t sure about an email, and will open to skim through, which is why you have very little time to get your point across. In short,
It’s very important to make sure your email follow-ups are concise and right to the point. However, don’t forget the fundamentals that I have discussed above, like:
- Subject lines
- Personal voice
- Using numbers
- Adding value
You need to ensure you catch the subscriber’s attention quickly, and in very little time. You have to know what they expect to read and give it to them in a way where they can engage right away.
Build Your Reputation
I have many blogging colleagues who have built a huge email following and are doing very well growing their blogs. However, there are some who have gone stagnant over the years, which tempted me to ask them what happen over the years. One of the main complaints they said was their inability to keep a solid follow-up sequence going, which caused many subscribers to forget they opted in to receive newsletters. Before continuing, let me summarize my main point…
If you want to keep subscribers engaged, it’s important you build your reputation through a solid follow-up sequence. What does this all mean?
First, it’s important you send messages consistently so you stay relevant when they check emails. I know many times, I’ve unsubscribed from email messages even though I actively subscribed month back. The reason was very simple, it’s because over time, I had forget about the blog because of slow correspondence over time.
Secondly, it’s even more important during the consistent follow-ups you continue to provide value, which I’ve already discussed above. Third, always test when sending email messages because you’ll notice throughout the day that certain time slots work better than others. However, you should also pay close attention to the days you message because open rates will fluctuate throughout the week. Here’s what I’ve learned over time about email timing and inbox:
- Monday is very slow because people start the work week and are quick to skim through. They only pay attention to very important email messages like work-related.
- Tuesday-Thursday tend to be the highest open rates because people have settled into the work week. They also have an organized email folder so they pay closer attention to other recreational messages.
- Friday begins to slow down because people are leaving office and want to avoid email messages. They decrease looking at their inbox because they don’t want to catch work-related messages.
- Weekends are great for shopping messages because people are off and searching for deals.
It’s also very important you pay close attention to timing when you send messages. You want to catch the subscriber at the right time, which will help increase open rates. Here’s what I learned about timing:
- 8AM – 4PM are the best times to send the first round of emails during the days mentioned above. People arrive at work and start by checking emails.
- Same weekdays but evenings around 6PM – 9PM is when you see another increase in open rates simply because people are at home, and having their downtime.
- Weekends are flexible simply because people skim through messages, depending on their objective. However, ultimately, open rates are MUCH slower on weekends for obvious reasons.
Final Thoughts
In the end, writing emails can definitely help increase engagement on your website, but it’s very important that you apply different strategies along the way. It’s is a complete waste of subscribers and efforts if you can’t re-engage your visitors after they have subscribed to your newsletter. Once they have, it’s time to really build that lasting loyalty, which can transform your business 10 fold. Going forward, it’s important you start implementing the strategies that have been discussed above to get a better understanding of how email marketing works. After you have utilized the strategies discussed above, you’ll begin to see improvements in your engagement. Once this happens, it will transform your entire blog, increasing traffic, loyalty, and engagement.
There are many examples I can give you on how people have managed to use email marketing to increase overall growth. For example, Neil Patel from QuickSprout.com has stated numerous times that it’s very difficult to get 100,000 visitors a month without having a huge list of subscribers. However, he has also mentioned that having the list is NOT the only thing that matters because you have to know how to get them to open emails and click on the engagement links.
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