Tag Archive for: email marketing

Why Email Marketing Should Be Your #1 Priority (especially right now!) – Webinar Replay!

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In normal times, including email marketing in your marketing arsenal is pretty important. But during a crisis, where your marketing budget might be tighter, your other marketing efforts are underperforming, and your customers are wary of being “marketed” to during unsure times, email marketing should be your #1 marketing priority.

Why?

Email marketing has the highest ROI of any marketing tactic or channel.

FOR EVERY $1 YOU SPEND ON EMAIL MARKETING, YOU CAN EXPECT AN AVERAGE RETURN OF $42.

(DMA 2019)

For comparison you can expect a $2 ROI for every $1 you spend in Google Ads.

Do you need more reasons? Email marketing is:

  1. Cheap
  2. Effective
  3. Customers want to hear from you
  4. Builds credibility
  5. Deepens relationships
  6. Boosts sales
  7. Helps nurture relationships
  8. You own it
  9. Your list is already engaged

So how do you build an email list? What should you say in your emails?

I answer all these questions (and so much more!) in a webinar I presented recently.

Just CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW!

Do you need help with your email marketing strategy?

Do you need help with your email content?

Or maybe you just need some extra eyes on your emails to make sure they’re not ‘tone deaf’ to the current crisis?

CONTACT US NOW – WE’RE HERE TO HELP!

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Insider Secret: The Best Day and Time To Send Your Emails

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Understanding the best day and time to send emails to your subscribers is key to getting high open rates and click through rates on your emails (which in turn can yield you higher revenue through sales of your products or services!)

Now you have a great subject line, what is the best day and time to send your emails?

Now that you have a great email subject line for your email campaigns (using the tips I shared in “The Trick to Getting People to Open Your Emails“) knowing WHEN to send your emails is an important next step.

There has been a ton of research done by all the email providers to understand the best day of the week and time of the day to send emails.

Let’s think about this for a minute…

Imagine you’re sitting down at your desk first thing in the morning on a Monday.

You had an awesome weekend, and kind of have the Monday Morning Blues with an already overflowing email inbox facing you as you log in to your computer.

How inclined are you to open all the emails? 

If you’re anything like me, you’re probably going to delete as many of those emails as possible. Who wants to have to go through them all on a Monday morning. We’ve got better things to do on the first day of the week!

Delete. Delete. Delete. 

Well, this isn’t good news for you, if you’re sending your weekly emails on a Monday.

How about the weekend? 

I’m a skimmer on a weekend. If it isn’t super important, I don’t read emails. The weekend is my downtime. Don’t try to get me to read your email on a weekend!

I think most people are in a similar mindset – they’re more focused on hitting the beach, or catching up on chores. They’re really not going to read your email.

BUT there is a caveat to this – if your emails are to do with leisure, travel or home-related activities, then your emails may have a much higher chance of being read on a weekend when people are in a mindset related to these topics!

Something else to note – this isn’t going to be true for everyone on your list. But you need to cater to the majority of people on your list.

So when SHOULD you send your emails?

Best Day of the Week is…

Drum roll please…

TUESDAY! Tuesday is the #1 best day of the week to send emails, hands down!

Followed by Thursday and then Wednesday. (Weekends are also high!)

So if you send two emails a week, choose Thursday as your second day.

Some studies showed high open and click rates on the weekends. Those are also the days when the fewest emails are sent. So open rates may be higher, but the actual number of emails opened is way lower.

Best Time of the Day is…

Late morning! 10 am – 11 am to be more precise! 

Why? Maybe because people have had time to get through the early morning rush of taking kids to school, getting to work, catching up on calls and reading through ’emergency’ emails. And now they’re ready to cruise through the rest of their mailbox.

Another hot time is: (and this is a weird one) from 8 pm to midnight. 

This is likely due to people checking their email before going to bed.

2 pm is another peak time. People might be needing a distraction from their work at this point in the day.

6 am is the other peak time. According to this post, 50% of you begin your day by emailing in bed… (I admit it, I do this – along with checking Facebook. Sigh. )

A quick note on time zones

A good question at this point would be – “Do I send emails on Tuesdays at 10 am in MY time zone?”

The answer is – yes or no. It really depends on where the majority of your list resides. If you don’t know, then send it in Eastern Time zone.

Now ignore all of this…

What?? Yes, I just went through all of this awesome cool data for you, and now I’m telling you to ignore it.

Ok, not all of you.

Ignore this advise IF you know how to read Google Analytics and your own website and email provider data. If you can read and analyze your data, then you should be able to determine the best days and times YOUR audience is most engaged.

Test it out by sending emails on different days and different times (use the same email subject line/content so you have a clean test). You will soon learn which days are best for you!

Now you know the best day and time to send your emails

You just learned a ton of info that will help you be on your way to more successful email campaigns. Here’s a quick recap:

  1. Send your emails on Tuesdays.
  2. Send them at 10 a.m.
  3. Test the best days and times to find out when your audience is most active
  4. And test again 🙂 

Do you have a specific day/time that works better for you? Share in the comments below! I’d love to hear from you!

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The Trick to Getting People To Open Your Emails!

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How important are email subject lines?

Are you hearing crickets when you send out emails?

We’ve all been there – slaved away over an email that you thought was awesome, but no one opened it!

You spent hours and hours pouring out your heart and soul, but  – crickets!

You were worried that the email system might be broken because there is no way that awesome email wouldn’t have been opened. Right?

Wrong!

Your email subject lines are the problem! 

Just like a blog post, or a book, or a news article, your email subject line needs to be enticing so people will open your email. Let’s face it – we all get overwhelmed in our inbox, so your email needs to stand out from the crowd!

Why emails matter

Before we dive in to subject lines, let’s remind ourselves WHY emails matter!

  1. 40% more likely to get noticed!

Compared to Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest or Twitter, your emails are 40% more likely to get noticed!

The readers of your emails have raised their hands to be on your list and to hear you news. So make sure your headline is relatable to them!

2. Conversion rates are 6 x higher (compared to other marketing tactics)

Your email list are hand raisers! They’ve opted in to receive your emails – and they want to read them. So they’re way more likely to open your emails than to read your Facebook page, or Twitter post.

3.  Your return on investment (ROI) is $44 for every $1 spent 

For the cost of your time and an Email Service Provider (ESP) like MailChimp, ConvertKit, Active Campaign or Emma (etc.) you can market as often as you like to your Email list.

How to create an enticing email subject line

Now to the juicy details. How do you create a subject line that will actually entice a reader to open it?

Step 1: Don’t write like a robot. Too many subject lines are autogenerated (and you can tell!) So make sure it sounds conversational, like you’re chatting with a friend. Forget the formality!

Step 2: Match your subject line to the content inside your email. The tone and topic should give the reader a sense of what’s inside.

Step 3: Create scannable, easy to digest subject lines. The right amount of words—and characters—can make all the difference in your open rates!

7 is the ideal WORD count. The ideal number of CHARACTERS = 65

Step 4: Use one of these headline starters:

  • Use numbers! (They’re the #1 converting subject line for emails AND blog headlines!)
    • # Things to do before _________
    • # Quick steps to ___________
    • # Ways to __________
    • # Top tips for __________
  • How to’s:
    • How to be the greatest ________
    • How to grow a ____________
    • How to build a___________
  • Informational: 
    • Best places to visit in_______
    • Advice on parenting
    • Ways to save money on________

A couple of other styles that work: 

  • The ______ you MUST check out______
  • The secret to ______ you need to know
  • Want to _______ online?

Kick it up a notch

Once you have a decent subject line, add in an enticing descriptive word to take it to the next level. Words that will create a little mystery so the reader opens the email because they can’t help it! They’re intrigued!

  • top secret
  • surprising
  • mystery revealed
  • lightning fast
  • can’t miss
  • smarter
  • creative

Test it out

CoSchedule has created a cool tool so you can see if your email subject line will work. Copy in the subject line, and hit ‘submit’ and they’ve give you a score!

Check it out here:  https://coschedule.com/email-subject-line-tester 

Test it again

Now you have a new subject line, try it out on a small subset of your list. Are the open rates higher than your prior average? If so, send it to the rest of your list.

So there you have it! Up your subject line game and getter better email open rates!

What questions do YOU have about email marketing? What is your open rate like, and what are you doing to improve it? 

Leave your questions and comments below! I love to hear from you!

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The One Skill All Business Owners Need to Master!

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Shhhhhh… can you hear that? Are you listening?

There is a whole lot of noise and distraction around us these days – now more than ever before. How do we make sure our business is heard amongst all the noise?

The one skill all business owners need to master – listening!

When it comes to marketing your business, listening is the #1 tool we all need to be great at.

Why?

Bad advertising comes from poor listening.

Marketing is all about influencing people’s behavior and perceptions. If your ads and messaging are fake, or inauthentic then you will shut out your audience and disengage them. Your marketing efforts will fail. 

 

If you aren’t listening to your customers, you’re creating something based on what you think they want. Which is often something far removed from what they actually want.

 

Once you’ve built your product or service, you need to listen again to make sure you’re crafting messaging that people will connect with.

 

Interpreting what you’re hearing is also a skill needed in understanding the wants/needs/desires of your customers.

 

Go in with an open mind when you listen to your customers – so you can hear everything, even if it isn’t something you don’t want to hear. Don’t try to misinterpret what they’re saying.

 

The goal is to create images and messaging that will people will see/hear amongst all the noise, like, and remember with when they’re making a purchasing decision. It needs to resonate with their hopes, desires, and fears.

6 ways to become a better listener

1. Schedule the time. Let’s face it, we’re all busy building our businesses, so there is little time to waste. But this is one thing you HAVE to schedule time for – find the time to listen to your customers before you create a new product or service, and listen again to create your messaging.

2. Listen to them, not you. It is so easy to listen to your own voice or the voices of those around you (your colleagues, coaches, friends, and family). But stop. Instead, talk with ideal customers. Find out what their pain points are. In their own words.

3. Hear the jargon. Listen to theirs, not yours! Don’t insert your own jargon into messaging, unless your ideal customer will understand it. What words are your customers using when talking about their needs and your product or service? Use those words in your messaging!

4. Dig deep with your questions. To get beyond the simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ responses, ask more probing questions of your ideal customers. Ask open-ended questions so people will use their own words. What are the motivations that drive the behavior of your customers?

5. Listen for the descriptors. How do your ideal customers feel about the service or product, and about their needs and desires? What are the exact words they are using to express themselves? Listen for the emotions

6. Don’t judge. When you’re listening to queues and for the descriptors from your ideal clients, ignore your own bias. Remove yourself from the dialogue. This is all about your ideal customer. Not you.

 

Take a tone of notes and then you’ll be armed with all the words your ideal customers use when it comes to your product or service, and their wants, needs, and desires.

 

The next step is to create great copy on your website, on your posts on social media and anywhere that you are trying to attract customers containing these phrases and words that your ideal customer uses.

Listen. It could make or break your business!

 

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