Susan Payton: 4 Email Marketing Best Practices to Help You Keep Subscribers Active

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It’s a sobering statistic: Each year, your email subscriber base downgrades approximately 22.5%, according to HubSpot’s Annual State of Inbound 2014 – 2015 report.

Sometimes, people leave your list because they change jobs, companies,  or locations. Other times, it’s because they’re no longer seeing the value in what you’re offering. And therein lies the problem.

The content and copywriting you use in your emails can make or break a transaction. When your reader opens your email she’ll either fall in love with you or decide that you don’t offer enough value to keep reading (or keep hanging out on your list.)

To keep your readers engaged, happy, and on your list, here are four email marketing best practices to follow in 2015.

1. Segment Your List.

Smart copywriters will tell you that speaking person-to-person is the most effective way of reaching your buyers. By carefully defining the ins and outs of your buyer and crafting messages that speak to her internal thoughts, goals, wishes, and desires, you’re far more effective.

When you use one large list, you can’t make that connection. Email marketing programs today let you segment your lists, pulling out various categories of buyers.

Don’t make the costly mistake of sending mass messages in hopes that one of your many buyer personas will bite at your offer. Keep the inbox relationship personal with targeted messaging that shows your reader you get her.

2. Banish the No-Reply Email Address.

If you’re like me, you are buried in email up to your eyebrows. You can’t possibly sift through all the replies you’re bound to receive from your leads and customers, can you? Yes. You can.

No-reply email addresses are the easiest way to turn people away from your business and show your reader you’re not interested in what she has to say. They’re a one-sided relationship that only serves your needs. That’s not why you’re in business.

Banish the no-reply email address and set up a separate account where your readers can respond. Dedicate time to going through each reply you get and send (or having one of your team members send) a personal response. You’ll deepen the relationship and strengthen your chances of the buyer choosing your brand over your competitor that continues to show blatant disregard for her needs.

3. Offer Something of Value.

If this seems fairly straightforward, it should. Yet many email marketers forget to provide a valuable offer in an email.

Valuable offers range from helpful guides or ebooks to a personal response to a burning question. These offers don’t have to cost your business a small fortune. They just have to give the reader a reason to open your email and engage with your brand.

4. Guide Your Reader With a Call-to-Action.

Your audience is busy. Your reader has a lot on her plate, and your business is probably the last thing on her mind. If she opens your email, she’s interested in what you have to say. Don’t leave her hanging, unsure of what to do next. Guide her with a strong call-to-action. That might be to click to buy, or to leave you a review on Yelp.

The more you can give your reader in terms of guidance and solutions, the more likely she is to continue engaging with your content. When your emails anticipate her needs and offer up a solution on a silver platter, she’ll eagerly open your future emails in anticipation of what you have to offer next.

Building this type of relationship is essential to your long-term profitability, but it can only happen with a little bit of human interaction and valuable content.

For the full article, please visit The Marketing Eggspert HERE.