Email marketing is one of the best ways to bring new sales, promote your business to the next level and more importantly, engage with your existing customers. I like the third thing very much and I strive to establish genuine connection with my prospects and keep them engaged on a regular basis.
One of the great advantages with email marketing is that when you use it in a right way you will be able to build rapport with your subscribers on a regular basis. Building rapport is the sweetest thing with marketing - when you build rapport with your prospects you slowly build a loyal fan base. That is a very important aspect of any kind of marketing, and in particular email marketing.
However, not every internet marketer bothers to do it “right”. Of course, I’m not here to define what’s right and what’s wrong. Every business has its own right and wrong way of doing things.
But there are indeed some mistakes that are considered “mistakes” almost universally (duh!), and that can be fixed with some common sense.
I am going to talk about some of the really important (yet, ignored) email marketing tips that can help you to grow your business and increase your profits. If you are planning to implement an email marketing strategy then make sure you follow these tips to be successful.
#1 Test your campaign before you start
There is nothing worse and embarrassing than sending an email and then finding out that it has gone to the spam folder - or that you have made a silly mistake in the subject line or inside the email. It is very essential to test your emails before you could send them to your entire list. Send test email to each big email provides such as Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo.
I have test email accounts on Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo that I use for various purposes. After I finish typing my newsletter (or the autoresponder email) I make it a point to send myself test emails.
Of course, even after such testing sometimes my emails end up with some minor mistakes - but I make it a point to catch all the major, obvious and embarrassing mistakes BEFORE I send out the real email to my subscribers.
I do this every time before I send a newsletter out. And yes, one out of twenty times, I get my own mails delivered to the spam folder. I then go back to tweak the subject line and get rid of any overly promotional or too generic words.
You know what? - Adding “Thank You” to the subject once landed my email to the spam folder when tested with Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo!
If you find any errors, then it’s time to fix them before you send your emails to the main list. Make sure the links that you include in your emails are working. The more time you spend on testing, the more great ways you will find that can work best for getting more sales to your business.
#2 Make your emails personal
If you are looking for good email marketing tips that can help you to increase the sales then the most important one that you need to follow is to ensure that all your emails that go out are personal. People like it when you use their names and hence try to put in a little extra effort to ensure that you address the recipient by their name.
Always keep in mind to write your email for people and not robots. Even a small store draws more crowds mainly due to the personalized services. Hence you need to make sure that you respect your readers and keep them in mind when you communicate with them.
Now, if you have 10K subscribers you don’t have to write 10K separate emails with names on them. Email marketing tools like Aweber, GetResponse and the like make it easy for you to personalize your emails even if you send them in bulk. You could use tags like “firstname” or “name” so each email gets the name of the person inserted appropriately.
#3 Keep your texts short and sweet
Most of the users are not going to read the entire text in your email; you see, everyone is busy just like you. Hence it is very essential to include only the most important phrases in your email in an attractive way that can grab the attention of the readers. Too much text can get your email deleted fast.
Personally, I never take the time to read long emails. I skim them. If it is a short email I take the time to read it because I know it is not going to take longer. So…
Treat others as you would like to be treated 
It is always wise to use concise keywords and make sure you highlight the important messages to reach your customers. Always keep the subject lines short, honest and attractive. Minimize the number of images in your email as most of the readers will not see the images; plus it makes your emails heavy.
#4 Be honest and realistic
Always make sure that your emails are honest and realistic. You can discuss about the problems that you face and how your products help you to overcome it everyday. This will help you to connect with your audience to a greater extent.
Tell stories and make your emails more personal. Of course, you don’t have to disclose your credit card number in an email, but keeping it personal feels much better.
Never try to deceive your audience with false promises. Be honest while you communicate with your audience; don’t have any hidden messages in your email.
Most of the affiliate programs have ready-made email that promotes their products and services. Never be one among them when you email your audience. First study your products and then draft your version of the email with a honest approach.
#5 Provide the option to unsubscribe
Always make sure that you have a clear and easy to find unsubscribe link that requires minimum “searching” from your users. It is always better to provide an unsubsribe option to your users rather than landing in their spam folder.
When your user’s find it difficult to unsubscribe they may end up dropping your mails into the spam folder. By doing so, your reputation as a sender would go down. In order to avoid being spammed, always follow the anti-spam tips while drafting an email (most email autoresponder services have assistance on this).
Takeaway
Though email marketing might seem like a very complicated process, it becomes much easier to handle when you follow these tips. On the flip side, ignoring these tips is no joke. You can easily spoil your reputation if you ignore these tips.
Most of us often wonder whether the emails are making it to the customer’s inbox and pleasing them with the email campaigns. By following the above email marketing tips you will be able to improve the quality of your email to your subscribers, and more importantly build an engaging subscriber base which is a great asset for your business!
Hope you enjoyed this post. In the comments below, let us know ONE tip that you found the most useful and would like to apply immediately!
