Thanksgiving Day has just gone and many SEO resellers took
advantage of the holiday to send out emails to their clients. Some are as
simple as a Thanksgiving greeting. Others contained he usual news about the
business and the industry. Many probably sent promotions via email, too.
But hopefully your email wasn't "stuffed."
In the words of email software company AWeber, email
"stuffing" is "when you try to cram way too much into one long
message." Are you a private label SEO reseller guilty of stuffing? Then
you should definitely read this post.
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Prefer Shorter Emails
To stay updated with the latest SEO and online marketing
reseller trends, you’re probably subscribed to various email lists. Do you
appreciate cluttered and convoluted emails? Or succinct ones that lead you to
more information through a link? Think about it. You won't be able to consume
the appetizer, main course, and dessert at the same time, right? The same goes
for email and research backs this up.
Studies conducted by Marketo showed that emails with shorter body copy tend to have higher click-through rates (CTR). The
marketing software maker compared concise emails with highly descriptive longer
ones and found that the shorter version increased click-to-opens by 7%. In
another test, this time with a bigger audience, the shorter email beat the long
one by 2%.
“We believe difference exists because not only are short
emails less likely to overwhelm readers, but also they're not cluttered by
text, so the CTA (call to action) appears prominently,” Marketo said.
Prepare,
Segment, Maximize
According to AWeber, the best way to avoid stuffing emails
is to use these three tips: prepare a content plan, segment the audience, and
maximize other channels.
For instance, instead of cramming all your SEO and online
marketing promotions into one email, you may opt to send a few shorter emails
throughout a longer period of time. These smaller messages will be easier to
digest for the recipient. And because you’re sending out a number of emails as
opposed to a single message, you have more chances of converting subscribers to
buyers.
Another strategy is to send a small email to a segment of
the audience that is more likely to be interested in that offer. For example,
many white label SEO reseller consultants have verticals as their market. Can
you segment your food and beverage establishment clients into family friendly places
and couple restaurants?
As for maximizing other channels, AWeber recommends sending
only the highlights of your promotion via email. The rest can be announced via
other channels like social networking accounts and the company blog.
Focus on
CTR, Increase Conversions
Shorter copy generated a high CTR (image: Marketing Experiments Blog)
In a post for the Marketing Experiments Blog, MECLABS senior research editor Brad
Bortone argued that marketers often confuse the purpose of an email message
with that of a landing page. “Our research shows that selling your product
twice – in an email and then the landing page – disrupts the reader’s thought
sequence and could possibly hinder conversion,” he said.
The research was conducted on a highly targeted audience
that was very interested in the contents of the emails. In the end, the shorter
copy posted a 16.9% higher click-through rate. Bortone said there were two
lessons here: “How can I “learn more” when there’s not much left to learn?” and
“Don’t make me read when you want me to click.”
“Many marketers lose connection with their audience by
overstating value, or simply burying it in a wash of information and
unnecessary language,” he said, noting that the email copy should be used as
“catalyst for further discussion, rather than as an impromptu landing page.”
Copy
Shortened, Now What?
Obviously, the first step to cleaning and shortening your
emails is editing the copy. Don’t cram everything into one long copy. After
you’ve done that, what else can you do?
A great recommendation from emailmonday is to clean your email template. Maybe it’s time you sat
down with the designer to see which elements you can take out. “Don’t stuff
your email template… Beyond one point, you are not adding value at all. But
just confusing people,” the email specialist said.
Another recommendation is to not send one big image. While
it may be tempting, emailmonday discourages this practice as the image may not automatically
load on your recipient’s browser. It might also not display automatically in
popular portals like Gmail. In some client-based email portals, the image can
even appear as an attachment.
Avoid Other
Common Email Errors
Aside from shortening your copy, cleaning elements, planning,
and focusing on the click-through, you must also avoid typical marketer
mistakes to improve your email marketing campaigns. Service provider MailChimp listed
down common rookie mistakes when it comes to email marketing.
White label SEO resellers can learn a lot from this list. One
of the best pieces of advice from the list is to stop thinking of email
marketing as a “blast.” Rather, it should be thought of as a “relationship.” “Email
is all about getting permission from customers, sending them stuff they want to
read, and listening to their feedback,” the post said.
