When I first started my career, I worked for a company who was really into email blasts.

video-newsletters

Before I got there, they were sending the same exact message to their entire contact list every week on a Friday. Needless to say their open rates were pretty low. That contact list was also dwindling. That was quite some time ago.

Email marketing has changed since then to say the least. Since consumers are are bombarded with emails from companies vying to get their business, marketers have to be innovative and work harder to create messaging that customers will open to begin with and then actually convert. Here are my tips that may have helped make that happen for companies I’ve worked with.

Subject Line

  • Get to the point. Make it clear what the email is about (sale, new product info, news, etc).
  • Avoid being too general
  • Make it unique
  • Add a deadline if it’s time sensitive

Content

  • Use SEO keywords. Your customers will be scanning and you want to grab their attention with terms they use in search. Also remember that links within emails can count toward your SEO efforts.
  • Be funny. It will increase engagement and social sharing.
  • Use as much personalization as possible. Go beyond the first name. If you have the data, content should include shopping habbits, products, etc.
  • Use videos. Video newsletters are new and growing. It’s a different way to connect with customers. Video newsletters can also be shared on social networks (creating that back link for your SEO efforts).

We’ll tackle what you shouldn’t do in my next post.