One of my favorite online marketing strategies is email marketing.
Why do I like email marketing?
Here are a Few Reasons to Use Email Marketing:
1. Email is ubiquitous
Everyone has an email account and many people have multiple email accounts.
2. People check email every day
Most people have a habit of checking their email accounts every day. This remains a very popular way to communicate. And the frequency of communication through helps to build trust and rapport over time.
3. Email messages have a long life
While social media messages often disappear quickly off the radar, email messages tend to be more accessible over time. People have a habit of leaving messages in their inbox until they have a chance to read them. It’s not uncommon to have people open an email message several weeks after you sent it. For that reason, make sure that some of your messages have a long life, meaning share content or information that will be beneficial now and several months into the future.
4. You control your email list
We’ve all heard horror stories about people who lost all of their Facebook friends when Facebook shut down their account for posting too much about their business. It’s not pretty. And the sad thing is that most people will have no idea who their Facebook friends actually were. They don’t have an easy to way to just add them back. With email marketing, you can easily download your email list and move it to another email marketing service if you need to. You have control. And control is important in your business.
5. Permission marketing ensures that you reach only people who want to hear from you
When you sit down to send an email message to your list, you can be assured that the people who open your message want to hear from you. They subscribed to your email list and they are still on it. The people who don’t want to hear from you have unsubscribed. So, the people who are left are waiting anxiously to hear from you!
Are you leveraging email marketing as a powerful communication tool?
Or is your list languishing from neglect?
Get into action and start sending emails to your list regularly!
So, once you have identified an offer and a clear message, what’s next?
After you write copy for the email, you need to determine how to make a call to action that causes people to take action.
So, how exactly do you deliver a call to action in your email message?
Here are 3 Great Steps to Deliver an Effective Call to Action:
1. Build up to the call to action
What is your call to action?
Should you just jump right in and deliver the call to action?
In most cases, it is a good idea to build up to it.
Questions are good to get people thinking. Questions steer focus.
Write effective copy that creates interests and builds desire in your prospect for what you are offering.
2. Include a short call to action on one line
When it comes time to make a call to action in an email message, there are 2 steps.
The first step is to make a suggestion or give a direct command. The second step is to share a link or give directions to call or email you.
Here are a list of statements you can use to make an effective call to action:
Click here to register…
Join us for the webinar at:
Visit my website at:
Get more details here:
Read my blog post online…
Enroll now in the program at:
Watch my video – click here:
There are an endless number of combinations you can use to create an effective call to action.
3. Include the raw link for your web page
The most common call to action in an email message is to include a link to a website.
Why?
Asking people to call you on the action will create resistance in many cases. If someone is checking their email at 11pm at night and sees your call to action to call by phone, it is unlikely they will pick up the phone. They may be concerned they might reach you directly and wake you up.
Another action is to ask people to email you. That is an acceptable call to action. It is quick and easy to do. This works well especially if you have a compelling free offer.
It’s good to alternate the type of call to action in your emails.
Any marketing strategy you implement consistently will eventually become “white noise.” That is a term that refers to the way humans begin to ignore a constant and methodical sound, such as a whirring fan. Our brains selectively exclude that noise from our attention.
The same phenomenon can happen in your marketing. You need to change it up periodically and do something expected to grab people’s attention.
How many email messages do you send out per week?
Do you include a call to action in each email?
By the way, if you don’t have an offer, you might consider inviting people to connect with you on social media. Invite them to follow up on Twitter or send a tweet. Or, ask them to post a message on your Facebook Page.
It’s easy to make a call to action in your emails. Get clear on your offer and then build toward it. Then, use an effective call to action and explain what to do, such as clicking on a link.
Give it a try!
Rick Cooper
Online Marketing and Social Media Trainer
2 comments
Rick – great post! Lately we have been discussing the most effective way to use email for lead generation. Your comment about building up to the CTA in an email is very valid and worth consideration for every B2B sales professional. Thanks for your work.
Hello; This was a solid post on the subject. The one point that I found to be new and wished you had spent more time on was the idea that our calls to action should have long lives because people don’t often answer emails right away. I wonder if you have some actual suggestions for how to do this. It does sound right because I do it myself. I once told someone that my inbox is like a man’s coat or a woman’s purse. There are lots of eamils in there I keep there just in case. Thanks for sharing, Max