An eBlast, an email using direct marketing strategies, is used to communicate with customers and drive sales. Contrary to popular belief, eBlasts aren’t meant to clog up everyone’s inboxes. In fact, it’s one of the best ways to keep in contact with past and prospective clients—that is, if done correctly. With a few essential elements, eBlasts can help drive future sales and distinguish a positive client-company relationship.
So what makes a successful eBlast exactly? Read on:
A compelling subject line. Being the first part of the eBlast recipients will see, an attention-grabbing subject line can mean the difference between someone opening the eBlast and someone deleting it. One way to ensure customers click is to state the benefit that the recipient will gain—for example, some kind of discount, an educational opportunity, a new product, etc. Keep it succinct; about 50 words or fewer. Also, avoid cluttering symbols like dollar signs or writing in all capital letters, which will help your email avoid going to the spam folder.
Optimize your call-to-action. Every eBlast needs some kind of instruction provoking an immediate response, also known as a call-to-action—concise phrases like “call now” or “save money today.” Be sure to make the call-to-action prominent. For instance, avoid image-based calls-to-action, and use surrounding white space in the email’s design to make it really stand out. Also, keep it simple and limit the amount of calls-to-action included in the email. Chances are, if asked to do too much, the customer will skip it altogether. All told, make sure the call-to-action is persuasive and able to resonate with your clients.
Craft dynamic content. It sounds obvious, but it’s the content that will either pique the recipients’ interest or leave them disappointed—and leave the email altogether. Content should be pithy, enticing and to the point, so steer clear of lengthy paragraphs that tend not to say much. In fact, tell your audience exactly what the eBlast is about right up front, which should include the benefits they can receive from your company. You’ll want to avoid the unrelenting “sell, sell, sell” stance that some eBlasts are known to contain, and keep your company’s voice throughout.
Utilize images. Don’t be afraid of a picture or two—just as long as they’re engaging and complement the content of your eBlast. Keep the images small and avoid using too many. That way, they don’t take a long time to load (and your recipient consequently loses patience and deletes it). Also, try to stay away from using stock photos in an eBlast, which can make companies seem cold and impersonal. Instead, use a photo that will help foster your relationship with your customers—something that shows your business’ unique personality.
Make it mobile-friendly. It’s no surprise that the majority of people check their emails on their smart phones, iPads or other mobile device. And sometimes, the text, links and images in an eBlast may not translate as well to an electronic device as it would onto a desktop. Thus, if the email is unappealing or too difficult to click through, recipients may end up deleting or skipping over it (and likely forgetting to read it the next time they’re sitting at a computer). Before sending it off, test your eBlast out on multiple mobile platforms to help ensure a good experience, no matter what device the reader is using. Note: Keep in mind a minimum of 13 pixels is recommended for font size, and even larger for headings.
At Davis, we focus on the research necessary to create solid marketing plans for eBlasts that identify the appropriate messaging and delivery channels to reach your core audience, as well as to identify potential growth niche markets. To learn more, contact us today.
