Do you know what Pretargeting is? It is a method through which an advertiser pinpoints customers that haven’t even started looking for its products and services. Essentially, Pretargeting is predictive in nature. Most importantly, though, successful Pretargeting results in incredible conversion rates. These are the kind of conversion rates that you can’t find with many other online marketing techniques. However, the same or even better conversion rates have been seen with the first step of email marketing i.e. welcome emails.
According to research, welcome emails end up generating far more revenue for the business than all other types of promotional emails. In fact, the statistics say that welcome emails generate 320 percent more revenue than other types of promotional emails. Other metrics are equally astounding as well. Consider that welcome emails provide 336 percent improvement in transaction rate, 196 percent improvement in unique click rate, and 86 percent improvement in unique open rate. It is almost as if, the customer is pretargeted.
More precisely, the customer is pre-prepped. In other words, the customer is more open to opening a promotional email from the business in question because, in the majority of cases, he has voluntarily provided his contact info. What all this goes to show is that welcome emails have the potential to be crucial to your bottom line. This is why you should, perhaps, try to follow the best industry practices. Here are some tips based on those practices.
Personalise the Welcome Email
Most businesses have an opt-in form placed somewhere on their website. Typically, these opt-in forms require the interested individual to provide name along with their email addresses. In fact, if your opt-in forms don’t ask for the individuals’ names, then you should change them. The reason why names should be incorporated is that it will open up the possibility of personalised welcome emails.
Personalised welcome emails are nothing but emails that welcome the individual by name and mention specific details. For instance, by mentioning the lead’s name, you connect with him at a subliminal level. If you add further specific information such as the fact that you took his email at an event, then the individual thinks that he is remembered. Thus, his proclivities get tuned towards your business and he remembers your brands.
Send the Welcome Emails Real Time
There are two ways through which businesses handle welcome emails. Some let them bunch up before sending them in groups while others send them as and when the individual signs up. The latter is far more effective than the former and the numbers back this premise too. For example, the transaction rate of real time welcome emails is around four percent which is about ten times higher than the transaction rate of delayed welcome emails.
Why should you send real time welcome emails? The reason is obvious. When an individual has signed up, then he is expecting to be contacted in one way or another which again means that he is pre-prepped. This should be seen as an opportunity to engage with the individual.
Consider Sending a Series of Welcome Emails
Sending a series of welcome emails instead of a single email is also something that businesses should consider. Series of emails have the potential to ensure greater engagement. For instance, imagine you sent the first welcome email to 200 people, of which 100 became your customer. Now, if you send the second welcome email to the rest of the 100 people, then you may get 20 more conversions. Similarly, sending the third email to the remaining 80 people, you may get five conversions more and so on and so forth.
Alternatively, welcome email series isn’t ideal for very business. It is most suited to larger businesses that have multiple product categories or brands. If a business with only two to three products to sell tries multiple welcome emails, then the strategy may backfire when the potential customer starts seeing the business as a spammer.
Make Your Subject Lines Effective
Subject lines of emails are like headlines of a news article. They’re there to draw the viewer in. This can be done through various methods such as offering free stuff, offering incentives, using on-going trends, utilising celebrity or corporate endorsements, or even simply being friendly. Whichever direction you take, you’ll have to beware of certain things.
For one, you’ll want to make your subject lines as descriptive and clear as possible. You can try to be creative but it shouldn’t come at the cost of being descriptive because the former almost always leads to ambiguity. Personalisation again is a good idea here along using questions to get the reader interested. However, research and market studies reveal that simplistic is most effective.
Be Polite Even If You Have a Quirky Image
When a business’s or products’ persona is extremely impersonal and chilled out, it is very easy for it to get lost in it. A good example of this is the tone of the email. It is true that your welcome emails should reflect the most obvious quality or Unique Selling Point (USP) of your business. However, at the same time, it is also imperative that businesses come across as polite and considerate as opposed to uncouth, childlike, or even boorish.
It’s a very thin line that businesses with informal brand personalities have to straddle on a regular basis. It is very much possible to say “thank you” or “please” while treating the potential customer as a buddy. There are numerous brands with quirky or edgy personas that have managed to achieve these objectives.
Use the Right Words; Avoid the Trigger Words
Countless researches have shown that certain words have certain effects on people. These studies are used in various aspects of online marketing and email marketing is no different. Whether it is the subject line, the body of the email, or graphics inside the email, you’ll have to understand what kind of trigger different words have.
Here’s an example. Words like ‘prize’, ‘free’, ‘bonus’, ‘buy’, ‘purchase’, and ‘order’ are considered to trigger the ‘Spam’ folder i.e. emails containing these words, in the majority of situations, end up in the spam folder. On the other hand, words like ‘because’, ‘you’, ‘imagine’, ‘sale’, ‘news’, ‘bulletin’, and ‘video’ are incredibly effective.
Beyond the triggers of these words, certain words perform better than their counterparts. For instance, if you use ‘sale’ instead of ‘save’ in the subject line, the chances of your email being opened go up by an amazing 20 percent.
Offer Clear, Beneficial Incentives with CTA
The receiver is pre-prepped when he opts to receive your emails. So, your welcome email is a wonderful opportunity for you to gain conversions. However, while the viewer may be ready, you still need to close the deal. For this reason, your welcome emails should include clear and beneficial incentives for the reader.
These could be anything from discounts and deals to access to premium level content. The trick is to use these incentives with Calls to Action (CTAs). CTAs prompt the viewer to take an action. They can be incredibly helpful when used properly but can also peeve the viewer off, if used in the wrong way.
For example, welcome emails need to be used as introductions to the business or brand. This means that you can’t really push the sales agenda too strongly. Therefore, depending on the design, no more than one to three CTAs are recommended in welcome emails.
Request Whitelisting and Integrate Social Media Buttons
When it comes to email marketing, straightforwardness really does pay off and veiled requests or references can be counterproductive. Therefore, it is always a better idea to ask for what you want straight away. One of the things you should always ask for is whitelisting.
A direct request for whitelisting can help greatly because it will prevent your future emails from being routed into the spam folder. Similarly, one of the best ways of engaging the viewer further is to request him to follow you through one or more of your social media pages. Resultantly, it is recommended that you integrate social media buttons into your welcome emails.
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