5 Tips to Get Your Email Clicks

So you’ve purchased a fancy program that enables you to send hundreds or even thousands of emails to whatever addresses you collected via your fancy new “subscribe here” button on your really awesome new website… now what??

In an ideal world, you would get lead after lead because customers cannot get enough of your really awesome emails…and calories wouldn’t count. However, this isn’t an ideal world and the donut I ate this morning is currently making its way down to my hips.

So, back to your emails. Of the emails you are sending, how many people are actually clicking on them? How many leads are you generating? When you review your email analytics, if you have a big fat zero under “Clicks” it would be in your best interest to keep reading.

Personalize

I get over 50 “spam” emails a day just in my personal email alone. I skim the subject lines and unless the email has 50% off at one of the way too many clothing stores I subscribe to or the subject is directly related to me, I delete it.

Gone.

Sayonara!

The first step in improving your click through rate is just simply getting your prospective client to open the email. And if you think that maybe I’m just picky on my email reads, MarketingSherpa did a case study and found that 40 percent of email subscribers have marked messages as spam because the email had no personal relevance to them.

A great way to personalize your email is to show your prospective client you know something about them. Now don’t go listing off their children’s or pet’s names—that’s just creepy. But, there are ways to include relevant data into your email to gain your prospects’ attention.

Using website analytics and tracking as well as a web visitor conversion tool can actually show you who is visiting your website and what pages they are browsing. You can even see how long they’ve viewed the page and how they got there.

With this information, you can email prospective clients and mention the page they’ve visited. Don’t email them the second after you saw they viewed your page, which is also creepy. Wait a week and then email them, casually mentioning the service or product page they viewed. This works really great for B2B companies.

Get Creative with Your Email Content

Be creative but be concise. The average person spends 15 – 20 seconds reading an email. In those 20 seconds, most people can only read about 50 words. So unless your lengthy monthly e-newsletters are filled with really compelling content, you are most likely wasting your time.

If you only have 50 words or 20 seconds to get your prospective client to click through, you need to be clear and concise. Make sure your reader can clearly tell what the offer is and why you are emailing them about it. You don’t want to email John Doe about building a new screened porch when he owns a 3rd floor condo.

Create Email Lists

Once you have compiled a general list of email addresses through subscriptions, referrals, returning customers, and however else, it would be best to place them into sub categories.

For example, if you are an HVAC company servicing several states, you can target your lists by city or state. Or, if you send an email to everyone on your email list about your upcoming AC installation specials but I just paid you to install a new AC unit in my home, it could be more helpful to send me an email about AC maintenance package specials since the chances of me buying another air conditioner is slim to none.

The more personalized and targeted you make the email, the more likely your reader will be to not only open it, but click through as well.

Enhance your Email with Images

If you only have 20 seconds to grab someone’s attention, it can be very helpful to add an image to your email. Making your email visually appealing can catch the viewer’s attention before they even start reading. You can also use images to help communicate your message.

For example, if you are offering 20 percent off any deck installation, get a picture of a really pretty deck (girls love big, pretty decks) and write 20% off in a large red font right on top of it. Then place that image towards the very top of your email. It will surely grab someone’s attention faster than 50 words of content will. Also, it tells the audience what the email is about and what they can expect to get out of it. If they are interested in what the picture is portraying, they will most likely read the rest of the email.

The Call to Action

If you have mastered all of the content above, the last and most important step is a call to action. The sole purpose of your email is get your readers to convert into potential leads (whether by clicking through to your website or picking up the phone to call you—preferably on a tracked line!).

The first step is to decide what it is you want your readers to do. Most of the time, it will be to click through to your website, but if you’re offering a special that is time-sensitive, you may want them to call you directly.

Whatever the call to action may be, you want to make sure it is visible to the reader when they first open the email. Again, getting them to open the email is a feat in itself, so you don’t want to spoil it by putting your only call to action all the way at the bottom.

So, before sending your emails, just think, would you be more inclined to open an email that is directed towards your personal needs or one that you can tell a few hundred other people have received too? Is your email all text? Make sure to add a picture and that your call to action is visible and towards the top. Your main goal is conversions and if you follow all the steps above, you will surely see an increase in your email campaign’s click through rate.

If you are interested in learning more about your click through rate or would like more help with your email marketing, reach out to one of our marketing gurus. We would be glad to help!