Everything You Need to Know About Email Marketing

By Brian | March 31, 2020

As more people begin to work from home, email is the new “workplace.” Now is the best time ever to perfect email marketing.

Read this post on sending emails during a pandemic first. To sum it up now is NOT the time to begin an email marketing campaign; it will NOT be appreciated unless you deliver anything that will be beneficial during the crisis.

Ultimately, though, life should go back near enough to normal for email marketing to be acceptable again, so now is a perfect time to learn more about email marketing and create a strategy in preparation for a return to normal.

So, for email marketing, this is what you need to know, in a broad sense:

Get people to open your email in a few simple stepsEmail marketing has three components:

  1. Cold email: initiate an online discussion.
  2. Campaign: get the answer to the cold email.
  3. Closer email: if you get a reply, use it to set up a telephone or Zoom meeting.

As a general rule of thumb: If you happen to get a “no” at any point, reply with: “Okay. But out of curiosity, why did you say no?”

PART 1: THE COLD EMAIL

1. Never send SPAM

  • Using a purchased list of email addresses to send generic content is SPAM.
  • Using an “opt-out” tool to deliver generic content is SPAM.
  • Mass emails sent to people who have freely signed up is not SPAM.

2. Increase Your Open Rate (Subject)

  • Shorter is best; 2-3 words are optimal, but…
  • Hit the pressure point for the prospect. Bad: “SUBJECT: New Products Release” Good: “SUBJECT: Eliminating Production Overruns”
  • If applicable, include the location of the recipient: “SUBJECT: Effective Production in San Antonio.”
  • If relevant, refer to the recipient’s competitor: “SUBJECT: [competitor]’s strategic plan” Avoid fake “RE:”; it’s annoying and old fashioned.
  • Avoid selling terms such as “free,” “guarantee,” “customer service,” etc.
  • Do not include the name of the client (SPAM flag).
  • Don’t ask for assistance (SPAM flag).

3. Increase Your Open Rate (The Salutation)

  • Be as casual as culture permits; in the USA only use the first name
  • Don’t use “Dear…”

4. Increase Your Open Rate (The Teaser)

  1. Most of the inboxes show the first words of the first paragraph.
  2. The teaser is just as critical as the Subject line to be opened.
  3. Don’t waste it on platitudes (“Jim, At a time when corporations are trying to …”), fake concern. “Jane, I hope you’re all right. My company is …” or housekeeping (“Click here to open this email in your browser…).
  4. Focus on a unique, quantifiable gain, if possible. GOOD: “Our clients see an average decrease of 15% …”
  5. If not, strengthen the subject line. GOOD: “If you’re wondering about [competitor]’s ambitions for the San Antonio area …”

5. Get It Read (Contents)

  1. Three short, simple sentences at most.
  2. Don’t use corporate jargon.
  3. One benefit, but no FEATURES. (It’s too soon.)
  4. Address the recipient’s three questions: “What’s in it for me?” “Why buy it from you?” “What’s the next step?”
  5. Always speak from the customer’s point of view.
  6. Never assign homework (‘For more information…)
  7. Don’t overthink this; write as you speak.

6. Get a response (Call-to-Action)

  1. Use only a single call-to-action: a yes / no question; more than one CTA receives fewer replies.
  2. Go after the lowest obstacle to strike up a conversation: three-finger taps <reply> <y> <send>
  3. Examples: “Does that interest you?” “Are you the best person to talk about it?”
  4. No formal closing (“Sincerely,” “Cheers”).
  5. Don’t use live links in your signature line; that’s an alternate call-to-action.

PART 2: THE EMAIL MARKETING CAMPAIGN

If you get an answer at any point, skip to THE Closing Email.

  1. Send Cold Email
  2. Wait three Days
  3. If there is no reply, send Cold Email (Forward) with a yes / no CTA at the top. (‘Is the one below of interest to you?’)
  4. Wait three days.
  5. If there is no reply, send Cold Email (Forward) with a yes / no CTA at the top. (‘Are you the right person to contact?’)
  6. Wait three days
  7. If there is no answer, send Cold Email (Forward) with ‘Hail Mary’ call-to-action. (‘Am I right to think that this is not of value to you?’)

PART 3: THE CLOSING EMAIL

  • Just three to five, short, simple sentences.
  • Thank your prospect for their reply.
  • Include two additional benefits.
  • Don’t ask for a time and date to meet; ask (yes / no) if it is possible to schedule a meeting: “Would you be able to meet me [xx] minutes more to discuss this?”
  • If the answer is yes, sort out the time/date details.
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