Email Marketing – The Number One Secret To Getting Your Email Opened!!

by sue on June 15, 2010

Email Marketing is a brilliant method of marketing your business if you get it right. Of course everyone’s take on getting it right is different. To be honest I had never put much thought into my Email Marketing until recently. I seem to have suddenly been shown the errors of my ways, and I do mean errors, plural, because I have been making several apparently!

Oh well, as Robert F Kennedy once said “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly“. So I have failed, and now I am going to achieve!!

And I know you are waiting for the number 1 secret, so here it is!

I always thought that your subject headline is what would get your email opened.  But it’s not!  But what really does it is You! Your Brand! If you are building your social media or online presence properly, your name should start to ring bells to the people you are sending emails to. Because if they have seen your name and picture constantly on Facebook or Twitter over a few weeks or months, when they receive an email from you, they will recognise your name, probably even picture you in their mind, and they will want to open your email because they feel they know you, like you and trust you! This is another reason why you need to brand yourself!

You could use the header from your blog at the top of your emails so people recognise your ‘brand’. You could have your own signature from mylivesignature.com which will help to brand you. And you must make sure you inject some of your own personality into your emails.

Try to keep your emails light; don’t get to heavy. Make sure you have plenty of new paragraphs. Look at your finished email. Would you read it? If you have one solid chunk of text it may look boring and then it won’t get read! And try to keep it reasonably brief.

I have had several emails recently where the writer has just used a short line of writing, making a small column down the left hand side of the page and I must admit these do seem easier to read! And remember to put the important bits in bold or italics so they stand out! Because there is so much information on the internet nowadays that we are all learning to ‘scan’ read. And if the important bits don’t standout, they will be missed! :)

Recently I had a complaint from someone on my list complaining about me sending them information. They had obviously opted-in for some training I offered, not realising that they would in fact be getting emails from me once they had opted-in. My answer to this was to put a disclaimer at the TOP of my emails, saying that they were receiving my emails because they had opted-in on one of my sites, and if they did not wish to receive help in building their online business, they could opt-out easily at the bottom of the page!

I panicked a little when I sent this out the first time, but actually only got a couple of people opting-out and actually got more click-throughs than usual. Probably because I was making it clear what the emails were about and injecting a little bit of my personality into it. I was actually saying, if you don’t want my emails, fine, no problem, goodbye!!

Remember you are sending emails to communicate with your list. You must be giving value to your potential buyers before they will become customers. Give them information that will help them, tips, how to’s, special offers, in fact anything that will bring them value. Consider what they are searching for and try to help them in their quest, and you will become invaluable to them.

Remember, people only do business with people they know, like and trust!!

 Email Marketing   The Number One Secret To Getting Your Email Opened!!

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Hope you are learned something from this article on Email Marketing! If you want to learn how to use Attraction Marketing to Brand Yourself on the Internet grab the system that Sue uses to cut your learning curve in half!!

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Comments
  • Christine Casey June 15, 2010 at 3:10 pm

    Wow Sue! I truly appreciate you sharing the info about little things you can do to tweak your email's (as you say, to get them opened!). I have been looking for something like the mylivesignature-dot-com, so thank for mentioning this. And, like you stated about your opt-in message disclaimer, I do know how scary it can seem when you first do something new, not knowing the outcome, yet I've found that by making a decision that is right for me, or what I believe is right for my business, and sticking to it (no matter what the outcome) that alone is so very powerful! ;-) Christine

  • Lesly June 15, 2010 at 7:52 pm

    Who said email is dead? It's how it's used that matters. I find no when my newsletters are short and sweet they are opened more. Also, I email on the week-end because the rest of the week people are bombarded with emails.. thank you for sharing and giving value! I have also come to accept there will always be one person that complains – the nature of life. :-)

  • Sue Collier June 16, 2010 at 7:16 am

    Yes you're right Lesly, there is always one! :) What a good idea emailing at the weekend – never thought of that before, thanks.

    Thank you for your comments.

    Sue

  • Sue Collier June 16, 2010 at 7:19 am

    Hi Christine, yes I agree, sometimes you just have to make a decision that is right for you, even if it isn't for everyone. And it did feel great when I got a better click through rate; I knew then that I madethe right decision.

    Oh, you may want Wisestamp as well for your signature, they let you add your social media sites and a picture if you want one. Only just remembered it. It sits in the corner of your screen and when you click on it it puts your signature on the page for you. Simple.

    Thanks for your comments.

    Sue

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  • debbybeachy June 17, 2010 at 2:33 pm

    Hi Sue
    So glad I ran into your post I'm studying e-mail marketing and how to capture targeted leads into my sales funnel. E-mail campaigning may be
    old school, but FAR from being outdated. In fact staying in touch with people on your list with an e-mail Auto-Responder is still the number one way to communicate and build relationships! (-:
    Great post and your doing great as well!
    Warm Regards
    Debby

  • social bookmarking June 17, 2010 at 3:14 pm

    Sue, great advice here. I would like to add that the title of the email may not make you decide to open an email, but it sure can be the reason to UNsubscribe. I am normally pretty easy going about emails, but lately there has been a trend to send emails with very misleading titles. Examples are:”here is your download information”, pretending you opted in for something, whereas in reality you had not. They achieve the goal of having me open the email, but the only reason I am opening those misleading ones is to unsubscribe.
    I agree with your statement though, that if you know and trust the person who sent you the email, you are much more willing to open and read it. Great point. Thanks.

  • Michael Berry June 17, 2010 at 3:56 pm

    Thanks for pointing that out Sue. I never thought of using the header from my blog in my emails. What a great idea.

    Thanks again,

    Michael

  • Val Wilcox June 17, 2010 at 5:34 pm

    Sue,
    Some great basic tips in constructing an email to your readers. Give them all the options and they'll come to trust you even more. Thanks,
    Val :)

  • Nelson Schroeder June 17, 2010 at 11:00 pm

    This is a very valuable post for me Sue. Thanks for these great tips that I'll start to use right away.

  • larryandlaura June 18, 2010 at 6:03 am

    Thanks for this great article Sue! I am particularly interested in the tips on personalizing my emails and injecting my personality thank you for showing your vulnerability and willingness to fail, get up and try again! I thought I was the only one who was feeling my way around all this stuff. There sure is a ton..but what's great is that there's so many fantastic people willing to lend a friendly hand of help, like the people of TSA.
    Great post!
    Laura Morris

  • Nicole Rushin June 20, 2010 at 6:47 pm

    Great point Sue! They say over and over again on our company conference calls how e-mail marketing does not work, but there is a correct way to use it. Your brand has to reflect not only your style but trust and value. Great point.

  • sue June 22, 2010 at 11:34 am

    Thanks for your comment, Nicole!

    Sue

  • maryloukayser June 24, 2010 at 12:09 am

    Hi Sue,
    I completely agree with this post about the power of personal branding! While time is the biggest investment a person can make in developing a personal brand that “rings bells in people's heads,” that time investment will pay off forever! I like the idea of including a banner or header that looks like my blog in email correspondence. Thanks for the great tip!
    Mary Lou

  • sue June 24, 2010 at 8:55 pm

    You’re welcom Mary Lou, and thanks for your comments! Sue

  • Moniquedavis80 June 25, 2010 at 9:47 am

    Must give value always to the customers. http://www.stayonthemap.com

  • Jacqueline Green June 26, 2010 at 1:22 am

    Thanks for the information Sue. I have been thinking that it is my subject line that gets my email opened up. However, I know that if the sender is not someone who has a strong brand, I often sign up for something and then don't open subsequent emails. It isn't that I'm not interested, or I wouldn't have signed up, but I get too many competing emails.

    I look forward to reading future suggestions of yours!

  • sue June 27, 2010 at 2:12 pm

    Hi Jacqueline,

    Thanks for your comments, yes i used to think it was the subject line that made all the difference. And you are right, we all get far too many emails. You have to be selective, or you would be reading emails and clicking links all day, lol :)

    Sue

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