How to create killer subject lines to increase engagement!

How to create killer subject lines to increase engagement!

Writing great subject lines can be really quite difficult but makes all the difference to your open rates for your email newsletters. Newspapers and Bloggers ask themselves this question on a daily basis. However, you should be asking yourself this as well, when it comes to your email newsletters.

Subject lines are, to email newsletters, what headlines are to newspapers. Following are some great tips that you can use in order to create great subject lines. Better subject lines are more likely to get possible clients to open your email newsletters. And more opened emails can mean more sales.

Personalise it

One of the most effective ways to get people to open up email marketing messages is with personalisation. Personalisation within the subject line is simple to add with email marketing software. Consider adding first names in the subject line. This is probably the most effective way to personalise a subject line. Or you could include a location to get their attention. When using either of these tactics you should also write your headlines or subject lines as sentences. Just capitalise at the start with the first letter and drop any punctuation.

Use numbers

Numbers can do a lot for getting potential customers to open your email newsletters too. Studies show that by adding a natural seeming number to headlines can increase how many people open your messages exponentially. Try to use numbers that are not well rounded such as a 7 or 8 rather than a 5 or 10. Even adding in the decimal point can be a good tactic. You can also think about arranging your email as a list itself. Headlines for this sort of email newsletter may read, “8 Biggest Mistakes for Email Marketing.”  Including statistics or percentages can be a great lead in as well ie: 20% of industry are ….. or How to increase your open rates by 20%.

Express the shock!

Who does not love a bit of shock marketing or controversial headlines? When it comes to creating eye catching email newsletter headlines, think about putting something shocking, or controversial in your subject line. Call out your customer with something like, “Ways You Are Killing Your Email Newsletter open rates,” or “5 ways you are killing your business.” Comment on something happening in the news or headlines at the moment. Doing these things will make those on your email newsletter list much more likely to open up your email.

Ask a question!

By asking a question and then answering this in your content can increase open rates.

Still stuck?

Why not use an online headline creator. Here a few that we like that you might find useful.

http://tweakyourbiz.com/tools/title-generator
http://www.internetmarketingcourse.com/freeheadlinegenerator/
http://www.title-generator.com/
https://sumome.com/kickass-headline-generator/
http://www.onlinesales.co.uk/tools/tools/topical-brainstorm.php

Now this one is really cool, it will actually analyse your subject line – http://coschedule.com/headline-analyzer

Have you used another headline generator, share your favourites below.

Now that you have your readers attention, the next step is to provide your audience with interesting and useful content that will engage and keep your readers interested in your email newsletters.

I have an old email list, can I send them an email campaign?

I have an old email list, can I send them an email campaign?

One of the most common questions that I receive is about old email lists.

Can I use the list?

Can I send a targeted email to the old email list?

How can I revive the list?

If you have an old email list you can revive these subscribers to ensure that they want to be part of your list and that they are interested in receiving communications from you. This will then recover your old email list to become a quality improved list with engaged subscribers. If you have purchased the list, these subscribers have NOT subscribed and this is then NOT a quality list. A list is only as good as the engagement received plus you don’t want to be wasting your time emailing subscribers that are NOT interested in your niche. The best way to maximise ROI (return on investment) is to work with and communicate to those highly-targeted subscribers on a current email list.

While it’s good to have a long list, it’s only really going to be useful if the subscribers on that list are genuinely interested in your niche and likely to be interested in your future products or services. If your subscribers haven’t heard from you in a while they probably can’t remember why or how they ended up subscribing to your email list. If you send an email campaign to this list once in a blue moon, this could lead to the subscriber marking your email as spam which will then have a detrimental impact on your overall list or could shut down your account.

Have you considered the following to see if the list is really worth reviving?

  • Have they changed their email address? Over the course of a year or two, many people change jobs, move email providers, retire and ultimately their email addresses change.  This means that many of the email addresses on that old email list may not be valid anymore. It is important to consider that a large amount of the email addresses on that old email list may not be contactable anymore and therefore your bounce rate could be quite large. A large bounce rate can also cause difficulties and have a major impact on your marketing.
  • Have the list permissions expired? Permissions do have an expiry date, and many of the addresses on that old list may be past their expiration dates. Sending unsolicited messages to those old addresses could cause real problems for your business.
  • Do the subscribers on your list remember who you are? You yourself probably receive quite a few emails each day from companies sending bulk emails.  Do you remember where or when you subscribed to the email list?  Your contact list is the same, they are being bombarded with material and may not remember who you are.  We like to think that we stand out from the rest and there are ways that you can do this but there is a lot of traffic in the email marketing world.

Best steps to revive an old email list

If you do still think that your old email list has legs and your subscribers do want to engage with you, here are some of the best practise steps in reviving your old email list and yes it is time consuming too.

  1. Sort your old email list:  You can sort your old email list by segmenting the list. You can begin by sorting via the date and whether the subscriber is over 12 months old, by name, location or other aspect that you want to target with your new campaign. Take out the email addresses over 12 months old and any risky or uncertain looking email addresses on your list. Removing the most uncertain email addresses will reduce bounce rates and spam complaints. The remaining contacts can then be targeted with the following steps.
  2. Create another email address but keep it similar to your current email address. You can use a free account such as gmail or outlook.  If you are currently sending emails using ie: peter@supertraining.com, perhaps create an account that is similar such as supertraining@gmail.com.  Keeping it similar to your current email address will keep it in line with your branding and recognition. Although you have sorted your list, you may still get quite a few bounce backs or spam complaints and by creating a separate account, this will protect your current email address from being blacklisted.
  3. Send re-verification or confirmation email to your old email list. Add value in this email, mention that you haven’t been in touch in a while and remind them of why you are contacting them and how you know them. Send them an incentive to resubscribe to your email list with a call to action ie click link to get their freebie.  Also have an easy opt-out as well.
  4. Contact the old email list by phone or letter.  This can be quite time consuming but it is always good customer service to touch base personally with your contacts especially for any emails that have bounced back. If you have obtained the contacts in the past by quality measures, you should have a contact phone number.  As online marketers we quite often forget to pick up the phone and call our contacts. When you contact your list, use the same process by reminding them of the relationship, offer them a freebie and ask for their new or current email address to send some information.

We hope that these tips give you some best practise ideas on how to revive your old email list and to engage with your old contacts.  Tell us about your success with your old email list below.  We look forward to hearing from you.

25 things that you can give away to build your Email Marketing List

25 things that you can give away to build your Email Marketing List

If there’s one thing that makes it easier for you to grow your list quickly, then that is to give away something valuable in return for the opt-in. If you’re not sure what to give away, here are 25 ideas to get you started in building your email marketing list.  These simple ideas will help to build your email marketing list and create a loyal following. These ideas can also be incorporated into your newsletters so that you can keep your email marketing list subscribers engaged.

  1. A free PDF or report. Give them a report on something or a brief guide on something.
  2. An audio content or video download. A lot of people prefer to listen to audio in their cars or on their lunch break, instead of read.  Both videos and audio have a higher perceived value!
  3. Access to a forum or discussion area. People will sign up just to get access to the advice and conversations in the private area.
  4. Tips. Give away a giant list of tips. For example, “101 Tips for a Better ………………”
  5. Tools. For example, if you run a graphic design site, give away Photoshop brushes for the opt-in.
  6. A guide or toolkit, this could be educational, to buy something or a full detailed informational guide. For example, write a buyer’s guide for choosing the best ………….. to purchase.
  7. A checklist. For instance, give people a checklist on what to look for when ………?.
  8. A free preview. For example, give people the first chapter of your book for free.
  9. Construct a course. For example, a 7-step course to …………… Deliver it in one email a day.
  10. Do a screencast. Record your video screen and give away the video. Use it to teach something on your screen.
  11. Do a Prezi or PowerPoint presentation. Prezi creates graphically stunning presentations that catch and keep attention.
  12. Give away reference material. For example, for a copywriting course, give away 10 examples of the best copy ads in history.
  13. Talk about mistakes to avoid. For example, “7 Mistakes Car Buyers Make When Shopping for a Car.”
  14. Interview someone in your industry. If it’s a recognisable name, you’ll get a ton of opt-ins.
  15. Access to a live webinar. They have to sign up now to get the time and phone number.
  16. A recorded webinar. You can make it seem like a time-limited webinar.
  17. A printable workbook. People fill as they learn. Writing down lessons helps boost retention.
  18. A free iPhone or Android app. This is especially appealing if the app is paid by default, but they can get it free by signing up.
  19. Give away a game. Make it educational so people learn as they play.
  20. Access to a contest. People have to join your email list to participate in the contest.
  21. Members-only events. If people want to come to the event, they have to sign up.
  22. Give away something completely off the cuff, but something that people would want. It doesn’t always have to be in your industry to be interesting. This tends to work in “over gifted” industries like internet marketing or weight loss.
  23. Give them something they’ll use every day. For example, a list of foods to eat and not to eat.
  24. Your old content. Lock your old content so people have to sign up to get access to it.
  25. Statistics. Who doesn’t love statistics!  Give away a detailed report about little known statistics in your industry.

Work on one idea and then move onto new ones. The more valuable offers you have, the more new targeted subscribers you can bring into your email marketing list.

Tell us what your favourite tool is to build your email marketing list?

9 Classic Email Marketing Tricks

9 Classic Email Marketing Tricks

Marketing is always a big part of business.  An easy way to market your business is to implement some simple email marketing tricks into your everyday emails, campaigns or blasts. By adding these email marketing tricks into your everyday procedures, you will find that marketing will be simplified and your audience will be more engaged!

In each email, build a relationship. – It is important to always build a strong relationship with your subscribers and customers on each email. This will engage your audience to open every single email you send them.

Put an ‘Opt-in’ form on your blog. – It could be on your sidebar, as a pop up, as a pop up when visitors exit your page, but it should be easy to find. REMEMBER: Your focus is to build your list as soon as possible so that you have a great audience that wants to read content from you.

Train your audience to buy from you with bonuses. – It is all about creating an irresistible offer. Instead of just telling your audience to buy, offer them bonuses or an irresistible incentive to buy.  A bonus could be an ebook, video course, webinar.

Use Q&A emails to sell your products – When you sell higher priced items, it is important that you use a question and answer style as a way to answer all of your customers questions, remove their doubts, as well as the objections. This allows you to motivate your audience to purchase the products.

Use ‘reason why’ on every email you broadcast. – Benefits really do sell so instead of telling your audience to buy, buy, and buy, for every email you send out, you need to tell your audience the reason why they need to get it. Make it irresistible so that they can’t live without it.

Brand your name – Customers want to hear from a person, not just a business.  It is important to brand your name such as: John Doe. This allows you to build your reputation as a public figure and create yourself as an expert where you will attract loyal followers for your business. This is also the key element to become the authority figure or expert in your niche.

Always use images that focus on the result – Images are more powerful than words and with the majority of people being visual, it is really important to use images in your communication. Use them to show your audience what they can get if they use your products and services. Show them what the end result will be!

Schedule your campaign ahead of time. – Most email marketing programs have a scheduler available so that you can prepare the campaign ahead of time and send at the most optimal time of opens for your subscribers. This allows you to work less, make more, and enjoy your life. The most popular time to send an email campaign is between a Tuesday and Thursday in between the hours of 11am and 2pm.

Offer something tangible. – Customers only buy from businesses they trust. In order for your audience to know you, tell them who you are in a free ebook you have written personally. This allows your audience to get to know you. NOTE: Having a quality ebook helps you to build your list as well as build a great relationship with your potential clients effortlessly.

These are just a few of the best email marketing tricks that can be used to qualify your leads and keep your audience engaged.

5 Common Email Marketing Mistakes

5 Common Email Marketing Mistakes

Email marketing is far from easy, and if you are new to sending email marketing newsletters there are many potential problems that you should learn to avoid. Some of them could completely ruin your list, forcing you to start over again from scratch.

Here are some of the most common email marketing mistakes that we see often:

Not sending out emails regularly

As business owners and now internet marketers, we’re busy people. We’re usually juggling a bunch of different projects at any given time, and sometimes a few get put on the backburner and sometimes certain tasks get neglected completely. However, you should make sure you never neglect your marketing and part of that marketing should incorporate staying in touch you’re your email lists on a regular basis. At a minimum this should be monthly so don’t let several weeks or more go by without you sending out anything. It’s a common mistake, but one that can quickly cause your list to decay.

The key to good results from email marketing is sending out emails at regular intervals, never letting too much time pass in-between. If you do, chances are your subscribers don’t even remember you once you finally send something new out to them and they will unsubscribe! This will leave you starting from scratch to build a new email list.

Only sending out promotional emails

You’ve probably been on at least one list like this, where the owner does nothing but send out offers on a daily basis until you’re forced to unsubscribe. The reason people do this is because, believe it or not, it does work and it does get results. However, the results are purely short-term, and marketers who follow this strategy need to continually add new subscribers or eventually they’ll be marketing to no one. It’s always better to focus on delivering good value, relevant content and expertise in your emails and building a long-term relationship with your subscribers.

Making it impossible to unsubscribe

This is a very common beginner mistake. For some reason, some email marketers believe that by making it difficult or impossible to unsubscribe, their subscribers will simply be forced to read their emails and buy their products. Well, think again, because it will cause them to click on the ‘Spam’ link instead, which is definitely not good. If enough people on your list, click on this link you can actually get banned or have your account closed by your service provider!

Hammering the list with advertisements

Some marketers who are out to make a quick buck and build a list as fast as possible sell solo ads and do ad swaps with affiliates to accomplish their goals. Nothing wrong with that, if it’s done tastefully and rarely. If it’s all you do, you’re not going to build a good relationship with your subscribers as it’s basically the same thing as only sending out promotional messages.

Importing a list from a social media stream

I’ve seen clients regularly import their list from Linkedin or another social media platform and the results are never good. This is not a quality list because they’re used to seeing you on a social platform with updates, not via email. These types of subscribers normally unsubscribe quickly, wonder how they ended up on your email list and report the list as spam even if they love hearing from you on the social media platform. Just don’t do it!

There are many more mistakes that beginner to email marketing can make. A simple rule of thumb is that if the content is quality content that your subscribers originally opted in for, then they will love your content and stay an avid reader of your email newsletter.