“You’ve got mail!” Of course you do, with over 4 billion people using email in 2021 and a staggering 89% of marketers using email to reach out to their customers. Our inboxes are crammed with messages from work, family and businesses.
So, as a startup business that’s trying to get attention and get noticed in such a crowded space, what’s the best way to go about it?
We’ve got some handy tips for you (you can email us and thank us later!):
1. Quirky subjects
How are you going to grab the attention of your reader and get them to open your email in the first place? ‘Traffic-stopping’ subject lines are what you’re shooting for here, something punchy that stops them scrolling past or hitting delete.
47% of people open email based on their subject line, and 69% will report it as spam based on that opener alone. Tough crowd huh?!
Think about including your recipient’s name or company to personalise the introduction. Avoid including a ‘FW’ or ‘RE’, as that’s proven to heavily reduce the chance it’ll be read. Using emojis depends on your target audience. Millennials love them and 68% of them will respond more favourably to emails with an emoji. It’s also been proven that women react to emojis better than men, and including them in seasonal greetings can resonate more with the reader.
2. Getting personal
No one like a pushy salesperson. It’s off-putting and less likely to evoke a positive reaction to the point of your email. It’s far more valuable to personalise the message and create content that’s insightful and interesting.
If it is a product you’re trying to sell, think about including a discount code or promotion, or tease an element of exclusivity to the reader. Angle your promotion in such a way that it’s engaging and fun, rather than a product-and-price combination only.
If it’s an introduction you’re trying to make, positioning yourself or your startup in a unique way works much better. Instead of pushing for a call, think about instead sharing some trends or marketing statistics with your recipient. Teach them something, share a fun fact, disclose a piece of information – something that will stand out, rather than a ‘My name is *** and I work at ***’ type of thing.
Personalising the email to your reader and/or their business is proven to work better. Including clever visuals like graphics or videos have a higher chance of being opened and favoured but do spare a thought about whether they risk ending up in Junk due to a larger file size.
3. Sharing is caring
You’ve got your reader to open your email and you’ve successfully entertained and captured their interest with your amazing content. Have you thought about that next step? What do you need them to do now?
Including strategic call-to-actions within your email is vital, so that your relationship keeps building, beyond that email.
Adding links to your social media accounts will encourage them to become active followers of your startup. The ability for the reader to share your email content with others through easy-to-use buttons will help spread the information onwards and give you a greater chance of meaningful conversions.
If you have products or articles within your email, make sure you have clear links that the reader can use to direct them to the right place. Keeping the email interactive but simple to use works really well.
4. Healthy stalking
A carefully thought-out strategy for your email campaign is important. There’s no point spending time on a single email and leaving it there. Good marketing relies upon a good follow-up system. But there’s a fine line to tread when it comes to this.
Bombarding your recipient with too many emails will instantly ruin any chance of a relationship building. You need to try and stay in their minds, without being seen as annoying. But you should not stay away for too long, otherwise you’ll have to start building that presence from scratch again.
Take the time to map out a strategy that’s going to work for your startup. What is the main objective of your campaign? How long is the timeline of this journey? How many emails will you send, and when will you send them? Then you can start to create a template for each email and begin preparing the content.
It’s all about a healthy level of ‘stalking’ – and your mission is to keep your business front of mind.
If you need support with your email marketing, come talk to us and we’ll start planning your individual strategy.
