If you run a business then you know that the number of emails you get can be overwhelming, so you can imagine what it’s like for others to receive yours.
So, how do you make sure your voice gets heard over all the other traffic? Originality is one of the most difficult tasks facing businesses when it comes to messaging. Finding new ways to communicate with business partners and customers is a constantly moving task but the rewards can be huge.
The answer is simpler than you may think. You have to be interesting. You have to be relevant. And you have to engage. But how? eCard Shack has put together some tips on how to make your business email more interesting and engaging.
Read on to find out how to increase engagement through business emails…
Know Your Purpose
Before you begin writing an email, you need to ask yourself: “What am I trying to accomplish?” – why are you doing a business email campaign?
It’s worth taking a minute to think about your goals and what you really want to achieve with your email marketing. This will help decide the type of campaigns you send, who you target, the content you may include, and how you measure the email’s success. Because email marketing is so powerful, plan and research your goals.
Try summarising the purpose of your email campaign into one or two sentences. Use that sentence to keep you focused and on track throughout the writing process. Only include information and content to support your objective or it’s probably not necessary to mention. Keep your email on message with what you want to put out, or you’ll frustrate and confuse recipients.
Knowing your email’s purpose will help you decide which type of campaign you run. Newsletters, offers, invitations and announcements are the main four.
Understand Your Audience
Once you know your email’s purpose, you need to understand your audience; how they think, their interests and background.
Use SEO research to see who uses your website and start building up a profile of a typical user to base your subscriber list on. You should consider the recipient’s beliefs, attitudes, values and knowledge about the subject before you begin writing. This could be influenced if they’re industry experts or not, which could indicate whether you use jargon in your email.
This is where personalisation comes in. This isn’t just addressing people by their name, it’s about addressing the characteristics of a reader’s personality. Use the data you have collected so far from research so you can tailor your message based on the specifics.
Tip: Send your email from an individual account, not your corporate account – it will appear more human and attentive.
Use Their Names
The actual personalisation of an email really does work – using your recipient’s name throughout the email boosts engagement.
People want emails to be like a conversation, it needs to speak to them. So, use their name and talk to them. In the subject line, your opening and in the email copy where necessary. We all feel connected to a marketing campaign or communication when our names are used, so you must do the same with your emails.
The same goes for using ‘you’ to address them. If you want to make your emails more engaging, you have to be genuinely interested in the recipient. If your email uses ‘you’ more often, they will listen and respond to your campaign likewise. This is much easier for some emails than others, such as offers.
Tell a Story
If you want to engage readers in an email, you have to tell a story, use compelling and dynamic language – don’t be bland.
Content that uses storytelling and inspires a reader will make their online experience unique. So, you have to include relevant content that relates to your brand’s message and, crucially, the interests of your subscribers. These should be intertwined already in a content plan.
Your email must be rich with value-add content, such as news, success stories, tips, and more. Audiences crave well-told narratives where they feel compelled into action. Connecting with subscribers in a personal way through content can encourage them to convert into customers for your products and services.
Tip: Connecting with audiences on a personal level can help build a long-lasting relationship and drive customer conversion.
Get Them Engaged Early
Engagement begins early, it starts with your subject lines which have to be powerful and personalised.
Our inboxes are constantly flooded with personal, professional, and promotional emails each day – it’s easy for them to to get lost or become banal. Most of us will skim through our inboxes and decide which emails to open based on the subject lines we see.
Therefore, it’s crucial to create subject lines that appeal to your readers. This will, therefore, lead to higher engagement rates for your emails. Strong subject lines are based on three core principles; they have to be short, descriptive, and promising. You can explore different styles, like informational, personal, or how-to content based on user feedback.
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