Email Marketing, 3 Critical Questions to Ask Before Hitting Send

Email marketing is still one of the most effective forms of online marketing. However, with the increasing assault of nonsensical spam getting high response rates is requiring more and more skill. Your success with direct email marketing or autoresponder service campaigns is directly related to these 3 critical questions: Will it be read?, Will it add value?, and Will they take Action?

Intuitive and simple as these questions may sound, direct email marketing execution is complex. Designing an direct email marketing campaign that drives a customer from open to action is tricky. By following this simple framework your emails will be opened, read, and result in action maximizing email conversion.

Will It Be Read?
Emails that go unread kill your small business email marketing campaign before it even has a chance. The most efficient autoresponder service, best copy, most elegant proses, and extraordinary calls to action are irrelevant if you can’t get it opened. Attracting the overwhelmed attention of the average person is increasingly a challenge, and for good reason.

Researchers estimate that, as of June 2007, 100 billion spam emails a day reach our email inboxes. The problem of email attention is highlighted even stronger by the Spamhaus Project that estimated 90 percent of email is spam, according to a survey of 100 million email inboxes.

That leads us back to the original question–Will my email be read?

There are a few basic psychological influences that enhance the likelihood of us taking notice of any interruption in our daily life. Here are a few email marketing tips framed in Cialdini’s seminal work on the psychology of persuasion:

• Reciprocity: People will pay attention and open your email to return a favor. One of the best strategies to achieve this is to begin each of your email opt-in campaigns with a free gift (i.e., ebook, discount, or other give-away). This sets the ground work for your emails to be owed a read.
• Commitment: Like the rule of reciprocity commitment can be achieved during the opt-in process or early in the email campaign. As your subscribers to commit to a goal, objective, or a trial period. This commitment as non-binding as it might be will induce compliance–in this case an email read.
• Social Proofing: The power of the group is well known, but on the Internet it can be even stronger. The Internet allows us to track and showcase affinity. Display to your readers the growing numbers of subscribers, buyers, or actions occurring within your readership. Rising tides will gather strength behind your email campaign.
• Liking: Finally, liking is one of the most powerful persuasive factors in getting your email read. If people like you, the sender, the forwarder or other person associated with the email–it will be opened.

Will It Add Value?
So, you got your email opened. This is a solid first step in email conversion. Congratulations, but if you want the real benefit of that open you need to stuff it with value. Start with these email marketing tips:

• Subject Line: Make sure you are clear what they should expect. Don’t be clever or secretive, give a clear indication of what they are about to unlock.
• Opening: Start with a clear objective and start adding value immediately. Give them a statistic or unknown fact. Ask them a question. Get them pondering and wondering what other treasures are buried in this email.
• Body: Get into the meat of your value quick. Break the content into clear, easy to scan bullets or steps walking them briskly to your desired action.
• Closing: This is where you are moving your reader to action. Make sure they are clear what you want them to do, but more importantly ensure they understand the value to them.
• P.S.: Don’t forget this powerful trick from the days of printed sales letters. Give them one last incentive and drive home your final value.

Will They Take Action?
Now it is time to make your small business email marketing pay. This is why you sent the email in the first place. Make sure they take action. The real secret to this is simply making sure you are clear and direct. Often we not only forget to call our customers to actions, but we make it complex and confusing.

Getting hyper-efficient with the top autoresponder service, great email marketing tips, and benefit laden copy will never yield top email conversions without a solid closing. All of your email marketing campaigns need to end simple, clear, and direct about what you want from your customers–you will be amazed how many comply.