5 Tips for Your Next Email Blast

Getting ready to send your next email blast and wondering what you can do to improve your results?

This post was written for you.

Here are 5 simple tips for your next email blast, or eblast.

1. Don’t call it an email blast!
If you read our blog or subscribe to our Hints & Tips newsletter, you know that “blast” is a word we never use.

That’s because email blast is a dirty word.

Blast invokes images of something you send out without much thought or consideration. It doesn’t take much time or effort either, because you’re literally just “blasting” out information.

Effective email marketing on the other hand is something that takes time, thought, and consideration because you’re focused on building relationships and not just “blasting” your audience with updates. You need to craft a message that’s relevant to your readers and offer something of value.

This type of email marketing enables you to build relationships, stay top of mind, drive valuable repeat business, and encourage word-of-mouth referrals.

Achieving these types of goals starts with dropping the “blast” mentality.

2. Get to know your readers
Once you decide to market to your audience the right way, you’ll need to take steps to better understand who they are, what they’re interested in, and how you can improve your relationship with them.

But keep in mind that all of your readers are not the same.

Some people may be lifelong customers while others may be completely new to your business.

Rather than “blasting” all of your contacts with the same information, you should take the time to figure out how to deliver a more personalized experience to each of your subscribers.

This process is known as segmentation. Here are a few examples of how different industries segment their list:

• A nursery will email its residential customers about new spring plantings and its commercial customers about availability of bulk mulch.
• A cosmetics boutique will email one discount coupon to customers who buy makeup and another to those who buy skin-care products.
• A financial services firm will email tax prep customers a timely IRS filing reminder and another to financial planning clients about rebalancing their portfolios.

3. Email with purpose
When you approach emails with an eblast mentality, you risk forgetting one of the most important steps in an effective email marketing strategy: setting a goal.

Whether it’s to bring new customers into your store, drive traffic to your website, or simply raise awareness — your goal should dictate how you craft your message and deliver it to your target audience.

Rather than packing information into an email and “blasting” it out to your list, you can focus your message around a particular goal and hit send only when you have a clear purpose in mind. By delivering a more focused message, you’ll not only improve your chances of driving action from your readers but you’ll give your audience what they want.

4. Make it valuable
Today, consumers expect more from the businesses they interact with online and off.

With so many brands competing for their attention in all the places they visit every day — whether it’s through TV, email, or social media — consumers have gotten better and better at filtering out messages that aren’t relevant to their needs or interests.

If you want your audience to remain engaged with your content, you need to make sure you’re offering something of value. For some readers, that means offering a special discount or an exclusive promotion to your email list. For others that could mean offering a how-to article from your blog or a piece of content that’s more than just the typical sales pitch.

Make it valuable, make it relevant, and most importantly, make it something your readers will thank you for time and time again.

5. Measure your results
If all you’ve been doing is sending out email blasts to your readers, you probably haven’t taken the time to measure your results.

But if you’re not measuring your results, how could you ever hope to improve on the work you’ve been doing?

Measuring your email marketing results starts with looking at your email reports.

These reports will tell you exactly how many people are opening your emails, clicking your links, and even sharing your content. They’ll also provide insight into the type of information your audience is most interested in and will provide a benchmark to improve upon every time you hit send.

Whether you’re trying to learn more about your readers, provide valuable content, or give your emails more purpose — your email reports can help.

Email marketing the right way
Thinking of your email as writing a “note” rather than a “blast” gets you in the right frame of mind. Your emails should be like a pleasant conversation amongst friends. First, you get their permission to enter into a dialogue, then you offer interesting and informative content, and lastly, you listen to their responses and feedback.

Friendly conversations that offer helpful, relevant information will go much further than “blasts” that talk at your customers rather than with them.

Ready to get started? Log in and put these tips to work today.


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Source: http://blogs.constantcontact.com/

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