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Email Marketing: When the Opens are FALLING – Do THIS

Leave a Comment / Fun Stuff, Marketing, Must Read Blogs, Tips / By Cindy Donaldson / January 20, 2021 / Cindy Donaldson, Covid, email marketing, emails, open rates, subject lines, value, videotaping, youtube

I’ve been an email marketer since the beginning of email marketing. It’s just my jam. I love writing, I love getting instant feedback – and yea, I’m not going to lie, I love seeing open rates in the 30’s and 40’s.

And then came Covid. Everyone was Zoomed out and Emailed out. There was very little room for fluff. Unless it pertained to your job or your kid\’s homeschooling or staying in touch with a shut in loved one – no one wanted to look at another pixel on the screen.

My email open rates dropped – and dropped big time. I even had some of my most loyal followers apologize to me that they haven’t been reading because well…life.

Here’s how I reacted:

I added more emails. If they missed one on Monday, they may get one on Thursday – or Friday. I surely didn’t stop. I ended up broadening my reach and collective open rates went up. In other words – someone may not have read both Monday and Thursday – but they may have read one. I’ll take it.
I started videotaping my emails! Yes – you heard it. I was always an email purist. If you don’t sign up for my list – you aren’t getting my email. People do have time to listen to a short 3-5 minute video – so I did it. Grab the replays on youtube.com/cindydonaldson. I’m getting engagement from NON-email followers! Double win.
I didn’t judge or worry. I put on my big girl panties and my empathy hat – everyone is in the same boat. It’s not me.
I didn’t change the structure or the time of my emails – my followers know my drill. Why add confusion?
I encouraged followers to save them – toss them in a folder for later.
I dumped in VALUE. Now wasn’t the time to sell them “stuff” – it was the time to over-serve – I mean OVER SERVE.

I still 100% believe email marketing gives marketers the biggest bang for their buck – and that means brands. The cost is in the time and creativity – oh and paying for a good platform, but the cost pales in comparison to a huge digital advertising campaign.

Here are my rules of engagement:

Keep the subject line intriguing, genuine, and short. I love the 2-3 word ones.
Keep it conversational – tell a damn story
Tell them what the main goal is in the first paragraph
Dump in the value
End with something for them to do – a call to action
For service businesses like mine – only sell a couple of times a year

It’s not that hard. Write like you speak. Don’t overthink it.

Email marketing isn’t going anywhere. If you aren’t on my list – what are you waiting for? Join HERE.

Email Marketing: When the Opens are FALLING – Do THIS Read More »

It’s 2018 – why aren’t you using email marketing!

I’m sure we’ve written several blogs, emails, social media posts, and talked about the importance of email marketing, but it’s 2018 and there are still people who aren’t taking advantage of the amazingness of it so, it’s time to share some remarkable statistics with you.

The return on investment is MASSIVE! There are many reasons to use email marketing but if you are honest with yourself, the end goal is to make money. And for every $1 spent on email marketing, you get an $83 return on your investment. That is huge!

It’s bigger than social media. Yes, Facebook ads are big right now, but email marketing is the most direct way to reach and interact with your clients and prospects. People are twice as likely to sign up for your email list as they are to interact with you on Facebook.

People prefer to communicate via email. Let’s be honest, very few people like to pick up the phone and call people these days – and even fewer like answering – especially with all the spam robocalls these days. 72% of consumers prefer email as their source of communication – they can learn about your business and make informed buying decisions.

Your customers WANT emails from you. Surprised? Well, 61% actually enjoy receiving promo emails and 38% want more frequent emails!

Consumers who purchased products via email spent 138% more than those that didn’t receive email offers.

The conversion rate for men and women on a desktop is about equal, but women are more likely to purchase on a tablet and men on a smartphone.

Wonder why Red Barn predominantly sends plain text emails for our weekly newsletters? Because although people SAY they prefer HTML emails, the open rates are higher for plain text.

Don’t have a segmented email list – you might want to create them. Segmented lists have a 14% higher open rate and 100% higher click thru rate. WOW!

It doesn’t matter the size of your business, but when it comes to email marketing, you can’t afford NOT to invest in it. From a limited budget to a hefty one, you can still accomplish great things using email as a business tool. With so many awesome platforms out there, it’s easy to find one that can meet your needs and your budget. Not sure where to get started – give us a call. We love talking about email marketing!