Ah the ubiquitous email. Let me ask you a question, “How many of you don’t get enough email?” Okay I know the answer, none of you. Everyone gets more emails than they know what to do with. Well we do really know what to do, and we do it, we send many of them directly to the trash without ever opening them.
It’s important for your business that the emails that you send do not head straight for the trash, so today’s blog includes some tips on how to get people to look at your emails.
Even in emails, one size does not fit all. The first step is to segment your customer list. Break down the list into your best customers (those who are emotionally connected to you and will always open your emails), those who like to purchase when there is a special offer, customers who buy at the holidays and new customers who may not have received many of you emails. These are just a few of the ways to segment your list, I am sure you can think of others. The more you can meet the needs of the individual groups, the larger your open, click through and transaction rates will be. Here are a few tips.
Of course personalization makes customers feel like you have a stake in making them happy, so using first names in the emails is always a good idea.
Consider sending the same email more than once. You don’t know who is overwhelmed with email that day, or who is ignoring their email and ending up with a boxful of emails. By sending it twice you have a better chance of a customer or prospect seeing it. Alter the subject line and resend to those who didn’t open the email the first time.
Make the content relevant to the audience you are targeting. For example don’t send information about red wine to people who only drink white. The segmentation will help with that as you can further delve into which of your customers is opening which of your emails.
If customers trust that what you have to say is something they will want to hear, they will open your emails to see what you have for them this time. You are looking to build relationships with these people and two of the main building blocks are trust and the knowledge that you are interested in what they want and need.
A tip of the glass from me to you
E Column
by Elizabeth “E” Slater, In Short Direct Marketing
A recognized expert in the fields of direct marketing and sales in the wine marketplace. Slater has taught more wineries and winery associations how to create and improve the effectiveness of their direct marketing programs and to make the most of each customer’s potential than anyone in the wine industry today.
Follow E on twitter @esavant and facebook.
