Bill Rice Internet Marketing > Email Marketing

5 Tips to Better Sales Emails

October 27, 2011 By

Email is still the most effective marketing technique. It’s easy to automate and highly efficient at bringing in qualified new leads. Whether you are managing a large marketing list or trying to open the door on a new major accounts, these are a few tips proven to increase your email sales results.

Sales email

1. Subject Line That Look Human

It all starts here. Even the best of emails will go unopened 60-80% of the time. That’s why repetition and frequency is important, but that’s another topic. However, to get that 20-40% open rate you have to make it look like something worth opening.

Here’s my mental checklist:

  • Does it look like a subject line a friend or family member might write
  • Make it short and avoid Title Case (marketer red flag)
  • Make it interesting, maybe even a little mysterious

2. Short and Casual Copy

Make your email short. No one reads email, they glance at it. If they open yours and it looks like a college term paper, even in the best of scenarios, they will file it for later. Most likely they will delete it.

Keep everything casual. Again complex and formal gets filed for later. Simple and breezy copy gets them to glance at your offer.

3. Add a Little Value

The body of your email should flow naturally from your subject line. In other words it should fulfill the promise of the subject line. If you promised secrets, a list, or 5 tips–make sure they are there. This gives the customer the feel of real value–something to try now.

You noticed I mentioned secrets, lists, and tips. This is what people open emails for. Even if you are selling something make sure you are giving them a secret, a list, or some tips to validate the value and credibility of your offer.

4. Create a Sense of Urgency

Open up Google or Yahoo! News. Grab something from the headlines. Something that is already probably top of mind. Weave it into your offer. Make it be the reason they need to drop everything to act on your email.

My experience has shown me that buzz topics get the best response, but you can also try special offers and discounts. However, I think most customers are numb to those techniques.

5. Make Action Clear and Easy

MOST IMPORTANT ALERT! Sorry for all the caps, but I see this mistake all the time and it kills email performance.

Give your email reader only one thing to do. Request only one action in your email. And make it crazy obvious and easy.

If you want them to come to your website make a big button and say. “Get X at My Website.”

Don’t say, “Buy my book, or click on that ad in the corner, or follow me on Twitter, or call me, or email me a good time to talk, or, or, or, or.” Your email reader will do nothing. Guaranteed!

What are your secrets to selling with email? Do you have any tricks that work like magic? Tell us in the comments.

Filed Under: Email Marketing Tagged With: 5 tips, email marketing, social selling

Email Marketing to Segment and Reignite Your Sales Pipeline

January 11, 2011 By
Segmenting Your Sales Pipeline - BetterCloser.com

Segmenting Your Sales Pipeline - BetterCloser.com

One of the hardest parts of sales is understanding what’s happening in your sales pipeline. This challenge impacts every aspect of managing your sales process–how you prioritize, how you engage, and how you forecast. Consequently, any little tips or intel we can generate on where our prospects are in the buying process, the better.

Here’s one I came across the other day from one of Blue Sky Factory’s email marketing experts, Christopher Penn. Here’s a short excerpt:

Last week I explored the idea that email is just as effective a sales tool as it is a marketing tool, if not more so. This week, let’s look at an idea from sales and how your email can play a powerful role in building more business.

One of the most effective ways to build business is to work with the prospects who are most ready to do business with you. Generally speaking, people who call or email you are far more ready to buy than someone engaged in an activity that has nothing to do with what you sell. Sometimes, however, people will start down an activity and forget what they were going to do along the way or decide to come back later and never do. That’s where a prospect recovery system is useful.

A prospect recovery system relies on basic click tracking to determine intent and readiness to buy by asking prospects where they are in their buying process. Virtually every email marketing system out there lets you track what’s clicked on in a message. By creating simple 1-click actions for subscribers to perform, you can determine intent with a minimum amount of effort on the part of your subscribers. Here’s how.

I want you to go to Chris’ blog post, on email marketing to sales opportunities to get the tip for two reasons:

  1. It’s a great idea and he has some excellent data to support it in his post
  2. You probably should read more of their stuff–email marketing is key to improving sales

Did you like learning more about how you can use email marketing to improve your sales results? If so, you’ll want to join the Better Closer newsletter there are some similar tips coming this month, exclusively to those members.

Filed Under: Email Marketing Tagged With: email marketing, sale tips, sales pipeline, segment

Snag Customers By Letting Prospects Go

November 13, 2009 By

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Let me start by saying that if you are trying to land big accounts there is no one better to listen to than Jill Konrath.

Jill Konrath, Author of Selling to Big Companies

I recently reread Selling to Big Companies (affiliate link) and I am amazed at the contrast between Ms. Konrath and the average sales recipes books stuffing the stacks at the local bookstore. She strips away the average and gets you to think specific, but remarkable in you approach to landing better deals.

Lead Nurturing, Get Prospects Back By Letting Go

Konrath gives us another gem with this “true story” on how she got a non-responsive prospect to reengage with her “let them off the hook” strategy.

I love this story because it highlights an objection we rarely acknowledge and overcome–the “this isn’t a priority” objection. Konrath gives us a clever little tactic to flush out the ones that are interested, but where the pain for the solution has not quite bubbled up to the top.

Sending a quick email letting them know that it is obvious this is not a current priority, but you are available when it becomes one could be the right spark to revive the conversation.

How to Write Great Emails

This is just one example of how Konrath creatively thinks about using communication techniques to motivate prospect response.

Selling to Big Companies

Her ideas on crafting better performing emails is one of my favorite sections of Selling to Big Companies (affiliate link). That section alone will return your $11.00 (probably in the first day).

Other Sales Tips for Non-responsive Prospects?

I am sure you all have other tricks and tips you use to re-warm cold leads. What are they?

If you liked this post please sign-up to the RSS feed or get them via email and avoid missing any Better Closer sales strategies.

Filed Under: Email Marketing, Social Selling Tagged With: email, lead nurturing, prospects, Social Selling

How to Ensure Your Email Marketing Campaign is Successful

June 2, 2009 By
Image via Wikipedia

Email marketing, when used properly, is a very powerful tool for businesses. Despite the fact that it has been abused by spammers, with the right techniques and the right approach, it can have a dramatic impact on sales.
Let’s take a look at what you need to know to make sure that your next campaign is a success, and discuss some pitfalls that you’ll need to avoid.

List Building Made Easy

The first step to effective email marketing is list building. In some cases, it can take years to build a responsive list, but there are a few shortcuts that you can employ to speed this process up.
First, you’ll need to come up with an incentive that will make people want to join your list. Whether it is a free gift that is related to your niche, or simply a helpful newsletter that contains tips that will appeal to your audience, this incentive is vital.

In order to convince a future customer to join your list, you have to give them something with a perceived value. It doesn’t have to be extravagant, but it should make the decision about whether or not to reveal their email address to you an easy one.

Using a double opt-in system is the best way to build your list effectively. In fact, many web hosting companies now require this step before they will allow you to use their servers to send out emails. Even if you decide to use a third party list application, double opt-in is the best way to go.

This is also known as permission maketing, and will make a difference in the type of response you receive. Although you may have a smaller list if you utilize double opt-in techniques, it will be a list comprised of those who are truly interested in your product or service.

You can look at it this way – would you rather waste your time with a big list of 5,000 people who are not really interested, or with a list of 500 people who continually make purchases?
Third party list applications, such as AWeber, make it easy to manage and keep in touch with your list. Beginners are better served by using a proven service like this instead of trying to host and mail their list on their own. Most third party list servers will make permission maketing much easier.

Once you have your list, you don’t want to lose the momentum you’ve worked so hard to build. It is very important that you keep in regular contact with them. Typically, you will want to send out at least one message per week to keep those lines of communication open.

List building is an activity that should be continued, even after you have a solid base of subscribers. This will help you beat attrition rates, and assist you in continually reaching out to new markets.
Now that you know what to do, let’s take a look at some techniques you will need to avoid.

  • Failing to use permission maketing. It may seem easier to simply collect email addresses, without adding the double opt-in step, but in the long run, you may regret it. Take the time to build your list the right way.
  • Over communicating with your audience. One email a week is sufficient, and occasionally two if you have something special to discuss. Any more than that may be considered spam.
  • Getting too friendly with your audience. Developing a rapport is one thing, but if you’re discussing your fabulous vacation instead of topics your audience wants to hear, your unsubscribe rate will go up.
  • Falling out of touch. Your email list is only effective if you use it. Some weeks it may be difficult to find something to discuss, but with a little effort, you can keep those lines of communication going.
  • Failing to introduce new products or services. If your business does not evolve, your list may grow stagnant. Don’t stop innovating.

The best time to start your list is right now. Don’t put off using this powerful tool that can help you grow your business. In time, the effort will pay off.

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Filed Under: Email Marketing, Lead Generation Tagged With: E-mail, E-mail marketing, Electronic mailing list, Internet marketing, marketing, Spam

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