Last time in Part 1, we covered the when and the who of a successful email marketing strategy — who should make up your groups and segments, and when they should each receive your expertly curated targeted messages. Now, we fill in the rest of the strategy puzzle and offer some tips on how to create the most engaging content to keep your audience opening, clicking and buying. Short and Sweet Detailed promotions and aggressive timelines? No, short messages and sweet imagery! Perhaps a cliché idiom, but it works. Your goal is building your brand, cultivating a loyal audience, and intriguing that audience just enough to open your emails on a regular basis — which, in turn, motivates them to buy on a regular basis.

Soft content (i.e. flash sales and product announcements) won’t achieve goals like these without a methodical balance of true content (i.e. blogs and newsletters). Just like your soft content, keep anything else simple and keep it a little interesting. Aim to evoke some kind of emotion that instills your brand into customer brains for the rest of day, week or month until your next email floats through their inboxes.

Deviating from the traditional product promotion or flash sale, which are great for impulse buys, email doesn’t only provide opportunity to show your expertise in other areas or engage audiences beyond one transaction, it also shows your customers you aren’t always selling and the brand has more to offer than just a good deal. The formula for success is as straightforward as the end result: great photography and product shots coupled with clean typography and engaging copy.

Best of Both Worlds

So, aside from selling (we know you already have great promotions and products to share), what does a successful email content strategy aim to do? Inspire? Motivate? Engage? Promote? All of the above! Create an editorial calendar that systematically balances your promotions and a mix of the below content categories that accurately speaks to your segments. Send your target segments something they don’t have to buy, but will still find useful. Of course, you can always promote sales, whether it’s a strong CTA banner ad or blanket offer at the bottom, just as long as the main content remains innovative and plugs your brand in a variety of ways over time. PRO TIP: When using a CTA for complex buys with multiple steps (like a computer or camera) use “Click for More Info” for complex buys, as customers are less likely to make impulse buys on a complex purchases, but they will be interested in learning more.  

Personalized Letters

Whether it’s a designer or the president of the company, everyone still loves receiving an old fashioned letter. Pictures always stand out, but the occasional expert advice or insider’s tip goes a long way for a loyal follower. These types of emails, along with a personalized subject line (example: “A Special Message from President Joe Smith”), achieve 2x the open rates compared to other types. Like everything in life, if emailed too often, letters lose impact and may increase unsubscribe rates. If used at the right pace, however, SellUp clients see 20-40% increases in CTR and sales when implementing letter-focused emails.

Notes of Apology and Appreciation

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to make a mistake to say “sorry”. The unexpected apology goes quite a much longer way. Imagine a subject line of “We’re Sorry…” followed by a body headline explaining “…Summer is Gone, but Here’s What We Have for Fall!” This kind of slightly tricky promotional effort results in open rates and sales increases of 25-30%. On the flip side, saying “Thank You” in a subject line increases open rates by at least 20%. Admittedly, don’t we all love being appreciated and acknowledged? Your customers will, too.

Newsletters

This is really the time for your brand and culture to shine. Share back what your fans have been asking and saying on social media. Post stories and inspirational snippets about your official, and unofficial, brand ambassadors. Or write about your industry, in general. A children’s clothing brand may have some great tips for keeping cool in the summer. A shaving product company may know a couple travel hacks for keeping fresh and clean abroad. Make content light, easy to read and relevant to your newsletter.

Creative Promotions

Whimsical, cute, humorous — decide what tone aligns with your brand and craft your emails so they both represent that unique voice and create a bond between you and your customers. Make the audience excited for your emails, make them wonder “What joke [or inspirational quote] do they have for me this week?” And, don’t forget about all the ready-to-go user-generated content from your social media platforms. Host some contests or brand building exercises with your followers and schedule in a time to use those pictures, stories and posts throughout your email campaigns. PRO TIP: Crafting campaigns around primary, secondary and tertiary holidays can also serve as a great base for your editorial calendar. Use them to both give your calendar the right cadence of flash sales, and as clever subject lines and eye catchers that encourage more clicks.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Pigeonholing your brand into an endless promotional box doesn’t do your products or your customers any favors. Strategize what exactly your segments respond to, then spice it up, change it up, and always strive for uniqueness — maybe using the occasional cliché or idiom along the way.Have you found a certain type of content that keeps your customers opening, clicking and buying? Or, are you stuck and need some help crafting your voice and strategizing your calendar? Let us know what’s working, and not, and we’ll help optimize and maximize your content and clicks!