Almost everyone has an email address, which means almost everyone is a potential customer. Email newsletters are one of the best ways to reach out to those potential customers and convert them into paying customers. Here’s how to make your email newsletter convert more of those potential customers into paying customers!
The difference between having an email newsletter, and having an email newsletter that delivers results, can be quite significant for some businesses. If you’re putting time, effort and money into building a list of subscribers and sending out email newsletters, there’s no point if it doesn’t gain you the results you need as a business.
Conversion means different things to different businesses. For some, it might mean making a sale, for others it might mean getting a lead or signing up to a service. Whatever your conversion goal is, there are certain things you can do to increase the chances of achieving it.
Here are some tips on how to make your email newsletter convert.
Keep It Short And Sweet
People are busy and they don’t have time to read a long email. Keep your email newsletters short and concise. Get straight to the point and make it easy for people to see what you want them to do. Often less text means more to your customers, but you need to use the words you do have wisely. Make your sentences short, easy-to-read and engaging. Use well constructed, plain English – and check it with a tool such as ProWritingAid. Use web-optimized imagery if appropriate. And let your customers know the crucial message you are trying to relay.
Why Do They Care?
Before you start writing your email newsletter, think about why your customers would care. What’s in it for them? How will they benefit from reading your newsletter? If you can’t answer these questions, then chances are your customers won’t be interested either. Write down a list of reasons why someone should read your email newsletter, both generally and the specific email newsletter you are planning now. If you can pinpoint this sentiment, and then use the right words to relay this, you’ll stand a much better chance of converting them.
Prove It
Once you’ve identified why your customer should care about the topic of your email newsletter, you need to figure out how to back this up. You need to provide evidence that what you’re saying is true. This could be in the form of a case study, research data or even customer testimonials. Statistics can also work really well here – how many people say your product changed their life, or how many businesses have enjoyed success because of the service you gave them. If you can provide some solid proof that what you’re saying is worth reading, then this increases the chance that your customers will convert.
Compelling Subject Line And Preview Text
Your subject line and preview text are the first things your customers will see. If they’re not compelling, people won’t even open your email. So make sure you spend some time crafting a subject line that’s going to make people want to read more, and then back it up with interesting preview text. This is your chance to get creative and really hook your customers in, so make the most of it!
Consider The Stage Of The Customer Journey
When you’re planning your email newsletter, it’s important to consider what stage of the customer journey your subscribers are at. If they’re new to your business, they might not be ready to buy from you yet. In which case, your newsletter should focus on building trust and credibility. If they’ve already bought from you before, then your newsletter should focus on cross-selling or upselling. And if they’re at the end of their customer journey, then your newsletter should focus on customer retention. Each type of email newsletter serves a very different purpose, and you’ll need to respond by creating content that is just right for each stage.
Make It Easy To Convert
Include a call to action in every email newsletter and make it easy for people to take that action. Include links to where people can buy your products, sign up to your services or whatever it is you want them to do. And make those links prominent and easy to spot. Use buttons or highlight the text so that people can’t miss it. Most marketeers find it more effective to include links with the call to action at least a couple of times in their email newsletters.
Remember The Mobile User
More and more people are reading emails on their mobile devices. This means you need to make sure your email newsletter is optimized for mobile. You’ll need to use a single column layout, large font sizes and keep the overall design simple. You also need to make sure your call to action is prominent and easy to click on a small screen. Often simple linked text can work best on mobile devices, so flashy buttons with great designs aren’t always the answer.
Test, Test, Test
Finally, don’t forget to test your email newsletters before you send them out. Send yourself a test email and check how it looks on different devices. Make sure all the links work and that your call to action is prominent. And then track your results once you’ve sent it out to your list. Check how many people opened it, how many clicked through and what the conversion rate was. Use this information to improve your future email newsletters.
By following these tips, you can increase the chances of your email newsletter converting. So spend some time crafting a great email, testing it and then tracking your results to see how you can improve.