Lately there's been a lot of talk about ROI and email. It has been a particularly hot topic among the sales team here at HubSpot. Quite a few clients have raised the question about creating emails that will be effective in driving leads to their site and ultimately converting them.
If you have the right methodology, creating a killer email offer can become less painful. Try Following the steps below the next time you sit down to create an e-mail offer.
1) Witty Title (4 minutes)
If you want a prospect to open your email then it all comes down to the right title.
The title has to be succinct, but also crystal clear.
How many spam emails do you open that say something like "Free Yacht Just Click Here"? Probably very few, but I bet the email saying "Getaway in the South of Spain" grabs your attention quite a bit more often (Jetsetter does a great job of this).
We recently found out that sex sells on Facebook, well we probably could have guessed that, but it is important to make your e-mail titles sexy and compelling.
A common saying at HubSpot is that a blog article takes an hour to write, 40 minutes of which is dedicated to the title because without that, you've got nothing. Spend the most time of your 10 minutes around your sexy, clear title.
Here is a great example and proof that the title caused me to open it:
2) A Solid Offer (3 minutes)
Make it personal and make it count. The more customization in the email itself the better, greeting by first name if your program allows is excellent. If not, don't sweat it, focus more on what they find within the email body itself. When you get to the body trim the fluff and give just enough information for someone to know what they are getting. An example is one HubSpot launched last week for one of our webinars around lead generation; simple, sweet and letting you know what you will be spending 45 minutes on:
3) Make It Easy To Convert (2 minutes)
Opening the email to find an applicable offer inside should be said without being said, the key here is to make sure your e-mail links to a landing page that includes a few key elements. The most important element is a clear path for people to follow in regards to what the offer is, how it will benefit them, and what YOU want them to do, such as filling out a lead conversion form.
This simple change can be incredibly effective, a recent customer of mine had previously never used landing pages or content on their site for simple email marketing. By taking an old white paper that was buried on the site and distributing it to a small portion of their database a lead goal of 3 was achieved in 2 minutes with nearly 30 leads coming in over 24 hours. Their lead goal was 50 a month and simplicity got them 30 in one day.
4) Send It and Forget It (1 minute)
Ron Popeil, the infamous infomercial rotisserie king, knew the way, you really do have to set it and forget it. It's gone, so stop thinking about what you could have done differently or perhaps better. Instead, take a minute, step back and think about what you can do to improve future offers.
What other advice would you suggest when creating successful email offers?
Photo Credit: sindesign