Using email marketing can be advantageous in two different ways; both to familiarize new, potential clients about your business, as well as preserving the relationship with your existing clients. Yet, some email campaigns can fail miserably if not implemented properly.
To understand this concept, think about your own message box. Generally, people “clean out” their emails daily, especially in the morning. People don’t have time or desire to read a lot of spammy messages, promotions and other non-essential emails. So, how do you make your email marketing messages stand out? And more importantly, how can you get people to read them?
There are a few critical elements, with the first being the subject line. The subject line must be very compelling, either by piquing their curiosity, asking a question or something highly arousing.
Once they do open the email, it must be very purposeful. Many emails are time wasters, and you might as well say they are a waste of your time, as well. Generally “fluff” emails will get tossed into the “delete” folder. Thirdly, trying to oversell or market too many things within an email is also a bad idea. Not only is it confusing and unproductive, your readers are inundated with these types of messages all day, and it may be a turnoff for them to see this.
Improve Sales Performance
If you’ve already set up a dynamite lead capturing system on your website or a separate landing page, then you understand its value. Once you capture the readers’ name and email address, this is half the battle won. However, you must make sure to interact with these new leads regularly, or the lead capturing system is all for naught.
Here are some ways to make sure the email marketing will be most effective:
- Don’t worry about the volume; focus on the usefulness of the list. This is a backwards error that many business owners make. They focus on getting hundreds or thousands of email subscribers, thinking that the odds will be more in their favor of booking new patients or repeat customers. Instead, make sure the lists you have are people who are the strongest candidates. It doesn’t matter if someone from Alaska subscribes to your list; if your office is in Kansas. Zoom in on the patients who are most likely candidates.
- Make offers that are related to the right subscribers. Going back to being too “general”, the message that you want to put in front of the right buyer will work best if it promotes an issue the person is experiencing. Make sure to segment your list properly.
- Write emails that are personal, engaging and action-bearing. Customers are more likely to respond if they feel as though the email is speaking directly to them, rather than sounding like a commercial. They are more likely to ACT upon your offer if you invite them to do so, which is called; “Creating a Call to Action.”
- Keep at it. As mentioned before, it may take a number of times before your customers pull the trigger and call you. Keep emailing them until they finally give in and book your services, or unsubscribe, or until they tell you they no longer want your emails.
- Timing is key. Sending the message on the wrong day – or even the wrong TIME of day – can be deadly. For example, some industry marketing experts believe that mornings are the worst time to send your message because many people clean out their inbox. Mondays and Fridays can be too distracting, so the best days are generally Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday afternoon.
- Testing, Testing. People may not like your email, or perhaps inadvertently discard it. Test different slogans and content within your emails to find the one that yields the highest conversions.
Finally, don’t forget to keep track and use the valuable statistics from your email marketing campaigns to constantly improve and refine your marketing process.
