Guest blog post by Captured Elegance Design
You’ve heard it a million times. You need a list. The money is in the list. No, not your to-do list. Your email list! Once you start collecting email addresses, what exactly do you send to them and what will they find interesting? Well, stay tuned! I’m sharing 5 Characteristics of a Successful Marketing Email to help boost your marketing and profits!
1. Engaging Content
In order to have loyal readers, you must have engaging content in your emails. Before planning out your emails, think about your ideal customer and what would interest them. Always provide valuable content to your audience before you try to sell to them. I always recommend planning out your email content schedule in advance. Know what you are going to write about and start building that content into a library to be able to use. Always be engaging in your emails. Be a great storyteller. Relate to your ideal clients and invite them to continue the conversation with you after they have read the email!
2. High-quality photography/graphics
You may have seen a ton of emails hit your inbox that are very text heavy. The content may be intriguing, but it is just missing a little zing! Adding professional photography or graphics to your emails can break up a text-heavy email and give you the professional edge. We recommend one strong photograph or graphic near the top of your email to grab your reader’s attention. Another pro tip? Include a professional headshot of YOU in your email signature!
3. Intriguing design
Your emails should be showcasing your best work. You want them to be professional, but fun and intriguing. Take a regular text email template and turn it upside down. Make the design interesting by adding your logo, branding colors, photographs, graphics and breaking it up with colored text along the way. Gone are the days of an email in just black and white. It’s time to use all the tools in your toolbox and show your clients why they should hire you!
4. An irresistible subject line
Your readers are potentially receiving hundreds of emails a day. What will make your readers stop in their tracks in their inbox and open YOUR email? A showstopping, irresistible subject line! This can be accomplished by asking a question, using emojis or including humor in the subject line. Remember, you want to catch their attention quickly, so make it brief! You want to make the subject line so enticing your readers just have to open it!
5. A Call to Action
When building your emails, think about the purpose for your audience. What is your goal of sending emails? Ultimately, it should be to get hired, but there are warmer ways of doing this. What will your call to action be at the end of the email? Do you want them to visit your website? Would you like to continue the conversation via email or in your Facebook group? Is it to stay tuned to the next email for a special announcement? Be explicit and direct your readers to what you would like them to do after reading.
Take a look at the emails you currently offer and make a plan to kick them up a notch in 2018! Focus on one area first (content, graphics, etc.) and continue to build from there until your emails are a perfect reflection of your brand and work!
ABOUT THE GUEST AUTHOR
Megan is the owner of Captured Elegance Design based in Cleveland, OH. With over 12 years of experience in publication design, Megan specializes in creating custom designed welcome magazines, client & pricing guides, lead magnets and E-mail marketing for photographers and wedding professionals. In her free time, she loves spending time with her husband and two children and pursuing her love of photography.
