I have noticed how ineffective B2B email marketing is lately. I call it an E-Malaise. It is that general feeling of discomfort, illness or uneasiness you feel when you open up your inbox and marketers are tossing unclear messages at you that are complicated and without pinpoint purpose. Most business marketers suffer from a desire to tell you everything but nothing specific. Communications are most effective when it is singularly focused. One topic. One message. One call to action.
Email, like most communication, works best when it is very specific about one subject. A company that is trying to reach new audiences and to get someone interested in raising their hand needs a hook. A single, simple message that might be helpful to me will attract my attention. The broader the message, the less effective it will be.
A Good and Bad Example
Did you miss our conference on the new cloud-javascript technology last Thursday? Spend 7 minutes watching this video from the event to see what you missed. Click here.
That’s an email I might open if I missed your conference; I care about the subject, and I’d like a quick update on what I missed.
We are the leading technology firm in the emerging cloud space that connects consumers and retailers with javascript enabled gobblygook that you need for infrastructure redesign. Visit our website for more information.
What? Delete. Too unspecific.
Email marketing should offer your potential clients something of value to them that in an eighth of a second, they understand. You don’t get minutes to explain yourself. Most folks just glance at the subject line and click or delete instantly.
E-Malaise and the Consumer
If you are a B2C marketer, the consumer’s attention span is even less. In the email marketing world, the following is a complete list of what wins:
- Simple.
- Helpful.
- Relevant to me.
- Easy to act upon.
- Different.
Imagine you are sitting in across from he recipient of your email at a coffee shop. They give you 7 seconds to explain what you want from them. Not minutes, not 32 pages of PowerPoint – 7 seconds. Go.
What would you say to them? How would you offer them something of value that gives you a foot in the door, a chance to engage, an opportunity to get a little more of their attention? Your email should be written as if the clock is ticking down from 7 seconds.
Ten Tips To Overcome E-Malaise
- Subject line with less than 50 characters. Short and to the point.
- Be human. Have an email response that goes to a person John@mycompany.com not noreply@mycompany.com
- Personalize the message. Joe, thanks for clicking on this video.
- Use the preview text whenever possible to give the reader a hint of what is coming. Read what Mailchimp has to say on this.
- Don’t overpromise. Offer something of value and deliver it.
- Time sensitive messages get attention. This offer is good until midnight.
- WIIFM? The reader wants to know what is in it for me? Its about the benefit to them not the features you are promoting.
- When will you recipients be receptive? The time of day can make a big difference in open rates.
- Like a newspaper headline or blog title, grab the readers attention. Lists still work. 7 reasons to open this email.
- Test two ideas. A/B subject line testing can improve results dramatically.
Get clicking.
Need some help to overcome the e-malaise of most email campaigns? Let’s talk.
