The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing and How to Send Effective Emails That Convert

September 20, 20226 min read

Email is one of the most popular ways to communicate with your audience. It is fast, convenient and relatively inexpensive. However, if you don't know how to use it effectively, it can be a HUGE waste of time.

This article will teach you how to send effective email marketing campaigns to both save time and sell more!

The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing

Email Marketing Subject Lines that Convert Like Crazy

Email marketing subject lines are the most important part of your email marketing campaigns because they are what will determine whether your emails  get opened or not. (And we need them to get opened!) Therefore, they need to be written in a way that will not only catch the readers attention, but entice them to open it. Email marketing subject lines should be short and to the point, and include a strong benefit for the reader. (The benefit is what gets them to open it.) If you are struggling to come up with a good email marketing subject line, here are some tips to help you write effectively:

  1.  Build suspense in your email marketing subject lines 

Keep your headlines short and concise! However, you want to create suspense, tension, drama and intrigue. So, do not explicitly mention what the email is about, just enough to pique the reader’s interest. That way, they will be inclined to open the email and read what it is all about.

  1. Make email marketing subject lines personal

Personalize your email subject lines by addressing the recipient by name. This can be accomplished by using your email service providers custom values. By doing this, the person feels special and like you actually care to share something with them over importance. 

  1. Use numbers in email subject lines

People love numbers (sometimes, too much!), so use them in your email marketing subject line to grab their attention and make them want to open up your emails! Include a number in your email marketing subject line, such as "5 Tips for Managing Your Time,” or “3 Business Tools You Cannot Live Without.”

The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing and How to Send Effective Emails That Convert

How To Make Sure Your Marketing Emails Stand Out In a Crowd Full of Spam

With so many marketing emails being sent every single day, it can be hard to stand out from the crowd without looking like spam. So-called "spam-free" marketing emails can help you stand out without looking spammy (let’s be honest, no one wants to end up in spam!). 

These are specialized newsletters, or any specific marketing  email that you might send your audience, that are formatted to be easily read on any device. This format means that they include the usual elements of text and pictures, but with a minimal amount of embellishment and detail. It is a good practice to Include images that support the content of your email where possible, but don’t use too many!

NOTE: We’ll be writing a WHOLE blog post on how to get your emails into the inbox and having the correct ratio of text to images is KEY!

Similar to what was mentioned above, personalization goes a long way! The more personalized you can make the body of your marketing email, the better chance you will have of getting the recipient to take the action you want them to take (in other words, buy your thing!). Some ways you can do this is by sending a personalized greeting, using a person's name in the body of email, and using their first name when addressing them.

How to Effectively Design a Marketing Email with a Call to Action that Converts

A Call to Action (CTA) is a persuasive message that encourages the reader to take an immediate action. In marketing, CTAs are used to increase the likelihood of a customer making a purchase or engaging with the product or service.

It’s human psychology, if you simply tell people what you want them to do next, a large percentage of those people will actually do it! (Sounds robotic, but our brains try to conserve energy and decision making fatigue is real, so anything that helps save energy is key.)

An effective CTA can be a button, text link or an image. It should be clear and concise, and should have an immediate impact on the reader's decision-making process. Here are some tips in designing marketing emails with effective CTAs:

  1. Make the Call to Action Stand out

You can have more than one call-to-action on your marketing email, but at least one should always be the primary call-to-action. The primary call-to-action should be placed throughout your marketing email since many people skim & scan their emails. You do not want them to miss the main point. It’s also a good idea to make sure to close with the call-to-action at the end of your marketing email.  

  1. Make the Call to Action Effective

A clear CTA encourages your audience to engage with you. Some examples include: “Sign Up,” “Try At No Cost,” and “Subscribe Now.” Ensure that these cues are enough to catch your readers’ attention and for them to act on it. It may also be effective to inject a sense of urgency such as: “For 24 Hours Only,” and “Limited Slots Available.”

Additionally, you can use full sentences as call-to-actions. For example: “Sheri closed 20 enrollments this month using this simple 3-Step Process and you can too!” That entire sentence can be hyperlinked and act as your CTA button. Conversely, making your CTA buttons actionable such as placing this text on the button “Sign Me Up Before The Cart Closes & The Price Goes Up!”

  1. Have Multiple CTAs (When Applicable)

A single call to action can't be expected to achieve the desired goals for all audiences. For example, if you are planning an email campaign for a local publication that focuses on encouraging people to adopt new pets, an explicitly political call-to-action might not be the most helpful at all. The marketing email would then need to include another call-to-action that could speak specifically to the audience's interests.

The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing and How to Send Effective Emails That Convert

Conclusion (TL:DR)

A marketing email is a great way to engage with your audience. It can be done at any time and it's often the first touchpoint with a potential customer. Sending an effective marketing email is not easy, but there are some things you can do to increase the chances of your email marketing campaigns being successful.

It all starts with the right marketing email subject line. The subject is the first thing your audience will see, so it is important to capture their interest in that first line. There are also steps you can take in designing your marketing email such as using the right amount of photos and proper formatting of text. Lastly, focus on what you want the reader to do and make sure that your call-to-action is clear. Ensure that you're sending marketing emails that people want to read, so make them interesting or useful in one way or another.

Social Fox - The BEST Email Marketing Tool For Your Business

If you’re serious about email marketing for your business (and you should be!), we may be biased, but we would really like to help you out! We would love to help you NOT ONLY get your marketing emails to your recipients  inbox and get them opened, BUT get people looking forward to receiving your marketing emails week after week! Schedule a demo call with us at here!

Custom HTML/CSS/JAVASCRIPT
Back to Blog

Let Social Fox Help You...

and ultimately be your business growth partner!

© Copyright 2019 - 2024 Be Inspired Now Media, LLC | All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use