Email Campaign Blunders to Avoid
© 2006 - 2009 Kendall SummerHawk
You've spent weeks pouring your heart and soul into creating your new information product, a new program or a new coaching group. Your outline is done, your handouts or exercises are ready and you've finally created a catchy title.
All that's left to do is sent out your email announcement.
But if you send the typical, yawn producing, "Announcing my new...whatever" email you'll be quite disappointed with the results.
The thrill of reading someone's announcement has been gone since the turn of the last century.
Instead, what will get your readers' attention is a compelling, emotional, well-crafted and thoughtfully formatted letter-style message. And not just one of them, but three, or four, or seven.
Here are four email campaign blunders that you can easily avoid so that your next email promotion is authentic, powerful and does its job, which is to connect your readers to their longing for your products or services, then inspiring them to click through to your sales letter page.
#1 Subject lines that are as dated as skinny ties and leg warmers
The job of the subject line is to get your reader to open the email. Be as provocative as you possibly can. One technique I like is to be ultra conversational.
For example: "Dave, have you seen this yet?" or "Sue, I can't believe I did this again!"
Yes, these subject lines are slightly hokey but they ask a question that the reader can't help but want to find out the answer to.
If you're marketing to a more conservative audience you can try subject lines that play on a sense of competitiveness, such as:
"Nora, did this sneak by you?" or "Julie, if you're competitors knew this, they would flip"
#2 Boring messages that yammer on about how happy and excited you are to announce your new product or program
I know this may sound harsh but honestly, most folks just don't care. What they DO care about is how well you know them and show that you know them.
For example, one of my Platinum Inner Circle clients, Helen Graves (www.HelenGraves.com), recently crafted an email offer that started with a eye-catching, whimsical subject line of "What do you and Tony Robbins have in common?". Then, in the body of the email, Helen wrote:
"Ever feel just a teensy bit jealous of the "big names" like Michael Port, Tony Robbins and Jack Canfield, who get to rake in the bucks with all those passive streams of income?"
See how beautifully Helen speaks to the emotions of her core audience? Of course we'll keep reading with an opening like that!
(By the way, Helen used my favorite technique to start a promotional email and that is to ask a question.)
#3 Telling people to buy what you are selling
The job of your email is to get your reader to click through to your sales letter page where the heavy lifting can take place. In your email, stick to telling a story that brings home this vital point.
Paint a vivid, detailed word portrait of the pot of gold that awaits them when they click through (the pot of gold is what your prospective client dreams of either achieving or avoiding).
Tell them that if they wait they'll be stuck right where they are, and how awful that will be. Be vivid, detailed and graphic in your portrayal of the consequences of waiting.
Which leads me to my fourth and final tip (and perhaps the most important one of all!).
#4 Leaving your heart out of the message
Email campaigns that succeed (meaning, they persuade the reader to click through to your sales letter for more information) are miniature pieces of emotional art.
They must be written with your passion fully engaged as you type out the words.
If you don't "feel the love" for your reader and for your product/service as you draft your emails, then neither will anyone else.
When I write my promotional emails, I am feeling an urgency that is palpable. I am dearly, deeply and utterly passionate about my reader getting what she wants and I let my emotions guide my choice of evocative, and yes, sometimes provocative sentences.
You must speak to their heart and not be afraid of going to an extreme with the comparisons you sketch out upon the page. It's as if every sentence has an underlying sub-text that says, "I care about you; I understand who you are, what drives you and what you want; follow my lead and I'll show you the way."
Putting your heart into your email message isn't about telling them how happy you are to announce your newfangled whatchamacallit; it's about connecting deeply with the soul of your reader and being willing to put what you see in their soul into words that sell.
About the author:
Kendall SummerHawk, Million Dollar Marketing Coach, delivers smart, savvy ways entrepreneurs can turn their hectic business into a smooth-running, fun, 6-figure money-making dream. To learn more about her book, Brilliance Unbridled, and sign up for more FREE tips like these, visit her site at http://www.kendallsummerhawk.com
NOTE: You are welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end). I would also appreciate a copy of your reprint sent to kendall@kendallsummerhawk.com