engaging
How to create
marketing emails
CARLY BRANTZ - SEND GRID
You've been around the email block and know the basics, but is your program starting to feel a little stale? Consider this your opportunity to metaphorically splash some water on your face, and see your email program with fresh eyes. Carly will share data you haven't seen before from SendGrid's Global Email Benchmark Report, testing techniques that will help you increase those crucial engagement metrics, and tips from her 15 years of experience in the email industry.
INBOUND18 SESSION
ELEMENTS
Let’s start with the first category, Element. From Address, subject line, pre header, header, copy, images, CTA (call to action), footer, social widgets and unsubscribe. The three main email elements to connect with a subscriber are as follows: subject line, copy and images.
Subject line: Your subject line is your first and only shot to gain an open. You can entice customers by using an emotional or intellectual line. Try using suspense, questions or discounts. How long should my subject line be?
7 WORDS - Most Popular
4 WORDS - Most Engagement
Stay concise and to the point. About 55% of consumers are on their mobile devices, leaving less room for your subject line. Don't get cut off!
To emoji or not to emoji, that is the question? 🤔 Using emojis in your subject line can be a powerful technique, but you should be thoughtful in how you do so. Don’t use them in every email you send, but do use them if you have one that makes sense to the subject.
Personalization doesn't necessarily improve engagement in a subject line. Customers aren't excited by their name being included on the email anymore. When you look at your inbox, your name is all over each email. Including a name doesn't feel special, they know it’s automated. Customers want more out of personalization, focusing more on customer preferences than generic automation gets more engagement. Use the subject space wisely.
Copy & images: Create a tone, and stick to it. Be thoughtful in the image you use, copy and image should work in harmony. Visuals to grab, story telling to keep. Keep good image to text ratio. We recommend two lines of text for every image. Often this means only having one or two images per email.
More is not more! Make what you have count, Links and call to action are important. Don’t overcrowd and confuse the customer.
strategy
Send Time, Personalization, Segmentation, Testing, Order of messages, Social Collaboration. The two main email strategies to gain the most engagement from a recipient are: Personalization & Segmentation.
1. Look at demographic, location, age group, gender, what do we know about them?
2. Segmenting lists creatively helps you zone in on sending the perfect message to the right person.
3. Behavior trends such as previous clicks, purchase history, navigation on website.
4. Customer preferences are a no brainer! What kind of email does your customer want to receive? Segment type of emails you send to customers by putting your customer in the driver seat, Let them select the type of information they are interested in. ie Discounts, informational, products, events.
5. Personalization as said before doesn’t have to mean an auto fill of the recipients name. Add personalization to your implemented segmentation i.e We know you are interested in X so here some hand picked products we think you might like or We heard it’s your birthday here's. . .
QUICK TIPS
Give before you take, Give something of value before asking for something of value.
Don't be click baity - Don't promise something in the subject line or email and not
follow through on the other side.
Create Urgency - Countdown to when a product special ends or event starts
TESTING
Time of day, length of subject line, use of emojis, image forward or copy forward, scroll, design and tone.
We tested our headline and image header by combining the headline with the image on one email and separating them on the other. Results showed that when the headline was included in the email we had a 7.2% CTR compared to a 2.3% CTR when the headline was in the copy. Simple changes can make a big difference.
Test and test some more.
ReLATIONS
How will you make a connection? Are you paying attention to their engagement? Are you pulling back when they aren't as involved? Are you offering discounts that are personalized to them?
Custom recap email at the end of the year to show what activity the customer has had. Yearly or quarterly recap emails that is not about you and all about them, shows them you are paying attention to what they have been doing.
PRO
Don’t email customers promotions who give you their email address as a way of personal contact. Only customers who subscribe to your mail list should be sent promotions plus an unsubscribe ability at all times.
CON
Send something special, Happy birthday messages or discounts to a customer with no call to action required. Just a special message that lets your customer know your paying attention and you care for them beyond a purchase,