Tag: writing business emails

Why “W” Is Your Best Friend

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Marketing email writing tips

Marketing email writing tips: Sometimes when you have written an email for your RocketResponder subscribers, you may have a nagging feeling that you have left something out.

I know I have done this and I know many other people who have done the same.

It can happen when really important information gets left off such as the links you want your subscribers to click or the date or time that a particular event is taking place.

In these situations having some sort of template or guide can prove very useful and answering the five “W” questions may be a good place to start.

The questions are:

  • Who? – Who will benefit from this email? Who are you looking to target?
  • What? – What are the main points you want to get across? Make sure you cover tham all. What action would you like your subscribers to take after they have read your email.
  • Where? – Where is the action taking place? Is there a physical venue you need to mention or a specific URL you want to direct people to?
  • When? – Is the material time sensitive or is there a deadline or a specific date you must mention in the email?
  • Why? – Why are you writing this now? Why is your offer so good right now or why should your subscriber take the action you want them to take?

Obviously you don’t have to stick to this formula or always cover all the points mentioned but remembering the five “W” questions can act as a good starting point to ensure that the main points get covered each and every time.

Making Those 15 Seconds Count

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Making Those 15 Seconds Count

I have previously estimated that when faced with a lot of emails to read, I would spend no more than ten seconds on each one. Making those 15 seconds count can be the difference between your business failing or succeeding.

It would seem that I am a little less patient than the average email reader as it would appear that around 15 seconds is the average time people will spend reading a marketing email.

Given that an average person will read at around 200 words per minute this means that you might have around 50 words to impress them.

From more than 30 years spent reading written letters, faxes and emails in busy newsrooms this really seems to ring true with me.

So the bottom line is this – each time you send out an email you have to impress your audience really early on.

Don’t spent five or six sentences building up to the main event or the reader will never even make it past all the fluff and filler you so needlessly added.

  • Grab the reader’s attention with the headline
  • Keep them captivated with the introduction
  • Retain their attention with a well-written, clear and focused email which is targeted to their needs and
  • tell them what action you expect them to take next.

Finally if you send out email newsletters you should fare a little better…it seems that people are generally prepared to spend an average of 51 seconds reading newsletters.

 

 

Leave Subscribers Alone When They Unsubscribe

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When people unsubscribe

From time to time the question arises which goes something like:

“What should I do about people who unsubscribe from my list?”.

So let me throw the question back at you…what should you do when people unsubscribe from your list?

Here are some possible things you could do:

  • thank them for being on your list and say goodbye
  • thank them for being on your list and ask them if they are really sure they want to leave
  • point out that they have just unsubscribed and hint that they really must have made some terrible mistake and should come back right now
  • bribe them to come back with some free gift or other
  • plead with them to come back because, well just because
  • ignore them, they have left already.

Personally I would do the last one and that is the recommended response of the entire Rocket Responder team.

Put it like this. They dumped you. Let them go and move on.

 

Five Reasons Your Emails Are Not Working

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Emails Are Not Working

If you are not getting the results from your emails that you think you deserve then, in all likelihood, you are probably doing something wrong. When your emails are not working there is usually something that you can do to put things right.

Remember that your subscribers signed up to your list to receive emails from you…they never promised that they would read them or even open them.

Getting over those two hurdles is your job so do it as best as you can.

Here are five reasons you might not be getting open rates as good as you could:

  1. Your Subject Lines Are Boring – Get this wrong and people won’t open your email. You must capture people’s attention with the subject line and give them an immediate reason to open your email.
  2. Your Content Is Boring – If you are doing ok with subject lines then make sure your content is up to par too.
  3. Your Content is Not Relevant – You can send out the most interesting and useful content in the world but if it is not relevant to your audience then they will never act on it. Always target your emails to the needs of your audience.
  4. Your Call To Action is Missing or Unclear – If you want someone to do something, such as click on a link, then make this obvious; really, really obvious. Preferably just give your recipients one thing to do so they don’t get confused by a whole range or possible options.
  5. You send far too many emails – Let’s just say you get everything right with your emails. They have fantastic subject lines, interesting and relevant content and contain a clear call to action…but still your open rates are declining. It could be because you are sending too many emails. People can get too much of a good thing and that includes your emails. How many is just right will vary from niche to niche and from individual to individual. However if you think you are sending too many emails then cut down things a bit and see what happens.

 

Don’t Be Afraid To Warn People When Things Go Wrong

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When Things Go Wrong

Some people think that using a service like Rocket Responder is only there for sending out marketing messages or other promotional offers but it can be great at many other times too, such as when things go wrong.

As we have already seen an autoresponder is much more useful than that – you can actually send out messages where you for example:

  • give advice
  • offer tips and tricks
  • tell stories about your life (yes you really shoud do this) and
  • solicit feedback

But you can also use emails to break bad news and manage expectations.

Say if you know that you have to take your website offline for a few hours or more (maybe you are having a major server upgrade or some such other major event).

Or maybe the launch that you were planning has been delayed for a month…or you have run out of stock…or the affiliate product you are promoting has run into problems or any one of 101 other things.

Then inform your subscribers about the bad news and while many may be upset, many will welcome you being upfront and honest with them…and in any event they will be less upset than if you had not told them in the first place.

Here are some points you might want to cover in a “bad news” email:

  • Explain exactly what is happening (eg our current servers cannot cope with demand and we are moving so a super new system)
  • Explain what the effects will be on the customer (as a result we expect our site to be offline for anything up to 24 hours from this time)
  • Suggest what your subscribers should do. (so don’t panic if you can’t access the site during this time as we we should be back up and running by Monday)
  • Apologize for any problems the issue may cause. (We are really sorry that you won’t be able to access the site during this time but this is to ensure that you continue to get a great customer service from us.)

You don’t have to write it exactly like that but if you are stuck to know what to write then those points should form a solid platform for your email.

Also don’t forget that when the problem is solved then send another email saying that everything is good again – this might also be a good time to offer some sort of offer or promotion as a mark of your goodwill.