Tips for creating Email Marketing content that works

Tips for creating Email Marketing content that works

Marketing email – we get them in our inboxes and even spam folders all the time. But did you ever wonder why we take more notice of some and totally ignored the others? Was it the attractive graphics? Or perhaps it was the engaging content? Maybe it was because we were anticipating it!

Whichever the reasons, the fact remains that some emails have a higher chance of evoking actions by the readers while others do not.

Now, let’s take a look at a more personal level. Many of us send mass emails, e-newsletters and announcements. And obviously, you would want your readers to open the email, read it and do something about it. You would want to avoid creating an email that does not work and is considered as a spam by your subscribers, right? However, more often than not, we find ourselves having absolutely no idea how to go about it.

This is where this article comes in. We are going to share with you tips on how to increase the success of your email through writing better marketing content.

Tips on Creating Email Marketing Content

Now, let’s take a look at some of the things that successful email marketing people are doing right.

• Conversational

  Imagine that you are having a conversation with your readers. Readers like it if you keep your writing personal. Little things like friendly greetings and using their personal names are a couple of subtle ways to make your readers feel at ease.

  Don’t worry about having to manually insert individual names for all the thousands of emails that you will be sending out every month. Some bulk email marketing software can automatically insert it for you. This feature is available in our very own Thunder Mailer. Check out this feature under the “Personalization” section on this page.

  Don’t use bombastic languages or industry-related jargons, unless your readers understand them. Not everyone is a rocket scientist. It’s also recommended to add some humor.

• Don’t Hard Sell

  Being pushy is not going to get you what you want and that’s for the readers to take an intended action. Neither is being arrogant and proud. You may have it many times before but it is true. Your emails might just end up in the Trash folder.

  Instead, write about what is relevant to them and what they enjoy reading. How do you know which topics are more popular? Well, you will need to test them out. Look through an analysis of past emails and note the topics or categories which received more responses.

• Words to Avoid or Reduce

  There are plenty of words that seemed harmless but in fact are what is called spam-trigger words. Some of these words include Act Now, Free Sample, Buy Now, Great Offer, Discounts, Easy Repayment Terms and Not A Gimmick.

  But this does not mean that you can’t use them at all. If you need to use them, just use them sparingly.

• Length Matters

  How long should your email be is quite subjective. It depends on many things like your readers, the message and even the time they are reading your email. Too short and you will leave out plenty of information. Too long and they will be overwhelmed with all those information. Personally, I think email marketing should be within 600 – 700 words.

  In order to help keep your readers’ attention, you could try to:

  • Include sub-titles

    Give them a gist of what you are going to discuss. Some readers might want to skip certain part and zoom into what they are interested in.

  • Use short paragraph

    It’s easier to scan through, which is what majority of your readers do.

  • Link to your website

    If you have a lot of information to share, you could place a hyperlink to your website (or another source of information) where the readers can check out if they are interested to know more.

• Listen to Your Readers

  If you are ever at a loss of what to write, especially when you are preparing the periodic newsletters, let your readers tell you what to write. Do note down the compliments, suggestions, comments or even criticisms that your readers and customers had provided you. It doesn’t matter whether it was through official communication channels or just as a passing remark.

  Bear in mind that when you heard it from one person, chances are there are many more who think the same. You can also be direct and ask your readers what they want to read.

  You can quote the question or statement and use it as an opening in your email. For example, “Many people have wondered why our Company does not offer free delivery”. From there, continue to explain the reasons and even insert a few links to your website.

• Don’t forget the Formatting

  If you were copying an entire content from a separate program like Microsoft Words onto your email, do remember to review the content and ensure that all the formatting is properly copied over. Amend those that are not. Another way is to copy and paste the content onto Notepad before copying that into your email.

  Many mass email marketing software do not have the tool to translate special characters and complex formatting. These may end up looking weird and not making any sense. You certainly do not want your email to show meaningless characters and confusing words, do you? Use a good mass email software, such as Thunder Mailer.

• Highlighting your Call-To-Action

  Keep in mind the purpose of your emails. It could be introducing your new products or visiting your website or subscribing to newsletter. That’s your call-to-action. Whatever your purpose is, remember to have clear and obvious call-to-actions as part of your email marketing content.

  • One rule of thumb for call-to-actions is that it should be short and precise. Again, please do not be too pushy.
  • The call-to-action has to be visible, obviously. You could highlight your call-to-action by adjusting the fonts, its size and color. You could also use capitalizations, italics and underlines to create call-to-actions that grab attention.
  • Having said that, do not turn your email into a colorful work of art. This is not the time to test out all the fonts and font colors available for you. You want your readers to be able to scan through it fast and still understand the gist of what is being delivered. Personally, I think Arial and Times New Roman are good enough.
  • Alternatively, you may want to incorporate buttons and images. Lastly, remember to link your call-to-actions.

  Thus, it is important to look for a bulk email software that provides you with a very good WYSIWYG editor, which allows you to do all those editing easily and quickly!

Re-Check your content before emailing!

Always re-read your email and look out for grammar mistakes and typos. Run spell-checks, hire a part-time proofreader or get the help from a professional content writer if you need to. Make sure your emails are clear of mistakes that can hurt your brand image. The last thing you want is for your mistakes to go viral!

Conclusion

There are quite a number of tips here and I hope that you will find a few which works for you. No matter which industry you are in, I believe the above tips will suit your topics.

If you are looking for a reliable and affordable email marketing software, why not check out Thunder Mailer. It is a powerful mass email marketing software with lots of features that help you simplify the entire email marketing process, from managing subscribers to personalizing the emails to monitoring delivery!