Struggling to increase your open rates? To make money with your email marketing? Is email marketing dead?
It’s one thing to have a nice, long email list. But if your open rates and engagement rates are low, what’s the point???!!!!
Email marketing is the engine that runs your business, so if your broadcast emails remain constantly ignored by your prospects, that’s hurting your chances of driving in sales and profits to your business.
That sucks.
You have to know how to play the email marketing game right to get the results you want.
So I’m going to lay out the tried-and-true effective email marketing tips for you right here!
Execute these 7 tips, and you’re sure to become a pro email marketer with a thriving internet business.
P.S. there’s an 8th tip!
Let’s sell some stuff!
How to Make Money Every Week
Growing up in the San Francisco Bay area and going into the workforce immediately after high school…
I spent a lot of time commuting.
I even delivered windshields all over the Bay Area full-time for for a while…
Literally spent eight hours per day in a van driving around.
There were a few amazing radio personalities who I always looked forward to listening to…
From local personalities on Live 105 to the sports broadcasters talking about last night's Giants game on KNBR 680...
And of course, some of the personalities from the nationally syndicated shows… Opie and Anthony was my favorite show, no doubt!
These radio personalities were there every day for me, to help me get through my day, to add a little light and laughter or thoughtfulness to my drive time…
And inside of the radio shows they had a few bits… Short little segments they repeated often, that I absolutely loved.
They were sharing everything about their lives in a very vulnerable way and I couldn't stop listening.
Marketing Content Every Day
There were days when I would even get home and keep listening…
I either sit in the car, parked in the driveway, for the end of the segment... And then I would run in the house on a commercial break and turn on another radio just to keep listening.
The 90s and early 00's were awesome! Nothing was on-demand you either caught it or you didn't!
This is where my love for radio broadcasting came from and probably why I decided to go get an Associates degree in radio-television broadcasting.
Okay, so what is have to do with you… And what does this have to do with email marketing?
Glad you asked...
Is Email Marketing Dead?
In my AWESOME live question and answer session about email marketing yesterday, many people are filled with doubt and fear about the idea of emailing their list more often.
The idea of emailing every day seems very scary at first… I get it, I've been there, too!
And it wasn't until I realized that my daily emails are most similar to a radio talk show segment delivered via email… That it all really clicked.
No one ever thinks about a radio personality… "Geez I wish they would only do their morning show three days per week"
And the radio personalities never think "I probably shouldn't go on every day, that might annoy my audience"
Now, you don't have to produce a professional full show every day…
That's the good news!
The goal is to create one little segment each day… A "bit" as they would call it in the comedy world.
This is where you share a story, a lesson, an analogy or idea that is relevant to your audience and their goals…
You make it entertaining, informative (infotaining?), emotionally engaging, or you put a new twist on an old idea so they enjoy reading.
I mean, let's be real…
There are no new ideas in this world. Even when I'm teaching here and on YouTube can be synthesized and picked up in other areas.
Jay Abraham has talked about giving value first and building trust for decades.
Neil Patel has been teaching how to learn SEO on YouTube since way before I knocked him out of the number one spot with my learn SEO video! 😉
Some people don't like the way I teach and they prefer to tune in to other shows… That's cool.
Some people don't like my little radio show that's delivered via email and they change the station… That's cool too!
But that doesn't change my commitment to being that consistent broadcast of fun, helpful, insightful ideas…
My commitment to helping you grow your business and to remind you that putting in the work every day is the trick.
Because some people love my content and they are turning in to raving fans because they are taking action and seeing results!
THAT is who I'm talking to every day... Those #BadAss marketers who are in the trenches doing the work!
7 Email Marketing Tips That Get Results
A lot of people ask me, “How can I improve my email marketing? How do you write a successful email campaign? How do I start email marketing?”
The new game is attention marketing, building trust and using consistent action over periods of time, but where do YOU need to put your focus?
Turn your email stagnation into a solid tool that’ll bridge the gap between the value you have to offer and the growth of your income and online business.
To get you on the path of email success you really need to nail down these 7 fundamental email marketing tips.
1. Make Sure Your Sender Information Looks Great
How your sender info looks affects your open rates.
Maybe you haven’t considered this but it is a small change that can get you big results. Many people overlook this but it is the first thing your customer sees every time you send an email!
Make sure to nail down the name and email address that your emails are coming from, this is something you can set up in your autoresponder!
Two things you have to keep in mind when creating your sender information:
Use Your Full Name
Forget the aliases or weird names that don’t match the name you’re giving your YouTube, blog and social media audiences. Your name and email address should always be the same as what you’re advertising, otherwise you’re going to confuse your list.
Definitely have a “you@” and not a info@” or a “noreply@”. The sender information is key.
You can also use a variation of your name like milesb@milesbeckler.com (just an example!) and have that go straight to your support queue to make it look personal and avoid getting your inbox filled with replies.
Use A Personal Sounding Address
It’s all about building relationships in a digital business.
You are a personal brand. You want to make sure you have a brand character, someone people can connect with and trust.
This is why you want to send an email using information that makes you sound like an individual instead of a big company, that’s a way to build trust more easily.
Another thing, make sure you use an email address that’s your own. No Gmail or Yahoo account. Use a legit, individual email address that’s really all yours.
2. Work on Your Subject Line/Headline to Make it a Click-Magnet
Building a click-magnet headline that generates interest and clicks doesn’t have to be hard. You need to utilize the tools you already have to create great headlines: yourself!
What makes you want to click an email? And what makes you want to ignore it or put it straight into the trash?
Use your own experience as someone who reads email to help you figure out what your list will respond to and how to grab their attention.
You can master the art creating a smart subject line that people actually want to click and consume. I am going to show you how to take what you already know and create something great.
Here’s a tip for creating a headline that works. Write out a temporary headline, then you write out your entire email. Now look at your headline again.
Is it creative enough? Does it draw out any emotion?
If you were the recipient, would you gladly click it?
Your subject line is a pivotal piece of content. It’s because of that catchy, click-magnet headline that your content gets read and your links get clicked on, and ultimately, you make money.
So you gotta to make it #strong and something that will stir the recipient’s curiosity and entice them well enough to open it.
Need even more ways to stir curiosity? I am going to give you 2 more click-magnet secrets right now.
Use a “How-To” Subject Line
Say you’ve got a how-to video or a how-to blog post that helps someone solve a very specific problem.
Don’t even give it a second thought. Begin your subject line with a “how to” if that’s what your email is all about. That right there can be the headline because it hooks people right into your email, people who are looking for a solution to their problem.
They’re going through their email with that question or problem in their mind, then boom. They see your email that reflects their question.
This is how the human brain works! Our thought patterns actually work in a questioning format and when you pose a question, your brain can’t help but search for ways to get it answered.
And your email can be the very thing that your audience needs right now!
“Last Chance” Subject Line Themes
“Last Chance”. It’s one of those headline themes that really triggers curiosity in a powerful way.
And there are a ton of different times you can use a “last chance”. That means you have tons of different ways you can trigger curiosity.
When you’ve got last chance emails, or you’re running launches, or you’ve got a deadline funnel, or you’ve got automations to where your list can get a special deal, then always start your email with the words “Last Chance…”
That’s a great way to get good click-through rates.
Warning! You also don’t want abuse the last chance subject line.
You can’t say the words “last chance” several times. People are gonna start thinking you’re a liar because it’s never a “last” chance! Lol
Use it once, then if you want to send an email with a similar “last chance” theme, come up with a different headline like “Tick-tock, it’s gonna end soon!” or “We’re closing in 3, 2…. Are you in yet?”
3. Give Them a Hook and Payoff
You have to keep your list curious about what you’re going to tell them. Always.
Once you have hooked your reader with your awesome headline, you need to keep them glued with your content.
You have something around 6 seconds before the reader decides if they are into your email or not. You want to make your reader drop everything they’re doing, and get them absorbed in your email.
How the heck can you do that?!!
By taking attention marketing seriously!
Make the first paragraph of your email powerful enough to hook them into reading the first sentence, second sentence, so on and so forth, until they’ve read your entire email.
Deliver a clear and strong message that makes them want to take action.
By “powerful”, I don’t mean saying anything weird or outrageous, and like “whaaaat???!!”
You don’t want to freak them out and make them run away or hate you for wasting their time.
Start with an open-ended question that will set the mood for your readers.
These people have an itch that they want scratched, but you don’t want to scratch that itch right away. Do that, and they’re gonna leave, be done with you and end up not enjoying your email.
So if I send an email that starts with “Did you see this?”, I’m going to let them know what I’m talking about very, very quickly to pay off that question as quick as I can.
THEN, you want to hook them into the idea of reading the rest of it.
It’s kind of like a teaser that you give to them through the subject line, and you want to do this in such a way that will make them want to consume the rest of your email.
4. Transition Your Email Into a Story
Everybody loves a good story.
There’s nothing more powerful, more relatable, more click-worthy then emails that have a story in it.
That’s why I’m all about story-powered marketing. There’s even a course on the ultimate framework for telling stories for marketers and digital marketers and it’s not an overpriced 2k piece of crap!
I’ve watched dozens of trainings on how to write a story but I’ve never found anything that is as good or better than Story Powered Marketing.
The feedback I get from other people who go through this is astounding because when you learn the framework to writing a story, you have the power to really play into that mental patterning that we all live with because every Hollywood movie we watch, every TV show we stay tuned in for does a great job of hooking people in.
So if you want your call to actions to be increased, then you have to give them a story to read. A freaking awesome, super powerful, gripping one!!!!
Be a super story creator that will make your readers want to consume your stuff because it’s ultra relevant to their needs and answers their questions.
5. What’s in it for Them?
Always remember that your emails are NEVER about you or for you.
It’s all about and all for, your readers.
It’s why you have to be upfront about how your email is going to help them. You tell them straight away why they have to read your email, and it’s all because of what they can get from it.
Talk about what’s in it for them.
Use the word “you” as if you’re speaking directly to them. Tell them the benefits that they’re going to experience from reading your email, so they will keep consuming what’s written there.
For example, you’re sending them an email about a 24-hour sale you’re having, don’t talk about your product specs and stats.
Talk about what they can get from your products, how it will solve their problems, how it comes alongside accomplishing their goals.
The right way to present an affiliate offer!
Make them your world in your email, they’ll stay interested in reading further in each email and continue to stay on your list.
6. Call to Action/Train to Click
The more they keep reading your email, and stay curious about what you’re giving them, you can then transition them to your call to action.
Every single email has to have a call to action.
But that doesn’t mean you’re selling something there. It’s not all about a buy, buy, buy.
You want them to take action in any form and any way whether it’s clicking on a link to a free book, or clicking the button that allows them to get the discount code.
A successful email marketing strategy is all about engagement, which pretty much counts as conversion for you even though it’s not the exact kind of conversion that turns into $$$ in your personal bank account, yet.
See, here’s why you want to have a call to action in your email all the time:
You have to train your readers to click on your links. Any link you have in there, you want them to click on it.
So when you do promote a product, whether it’s your product or an affiliate product, they’re already used to clicking on your links. You have a link in there that’ll take them to your sales page and that creates an opportunity for you to make a sale.
Your goal as an email marketer is to pre-program their mind and their finger to click on your URLs in your emails.
If you don’t send an email that has a URL on days 1 through 13, then on day 14, when you send a URL, they’re gonna get confused. They’ll be like, “Wait a minute. This guy never gave me links before.” They never clicked your URLs in the past because there never were any, and it just doesn’t compute for them.
On the other hand…
If every email that you send has a link to one of your three pillars of content, be it a blog post, a video, or any content that’s helpful for them, something that can solve their problems, you’re training them to click on the links each time.
Training them to click each time leads to something magical several emails later…
When you do deliver that hook, that offer in your email, they’re already predisposed to click because they’ve clicked on links in your emails before.
PLUS, if they’ve had awesome experiences with what they got after the click before, they’re always happy, willing and much more ready to click in that situation than if you’ve never sent them a link before.
Make it Clear to Them What You Want to Do
Don’t expect your readers to always know what you want them to do.
Because they don’t!
You have to give them the words that say the action you want them to do. They don’t always know what to do with that hyperlinked text.
So make sure you actually say “click the link below”. If it’s a video, you can copy-paste the link and make sure it’s a clickable link that will take them to the page you want them taken to.
Grow Your Virtual Bank Account
I’m not talking about money kind of bank account.
It’s more of an investment you’re making through the emails you send to your list.
The idea is to keep depositing more than you withdraw. Give more than what you ask from your readers. See, every email that’s value-laden is a deposit. Every offer is a withdrawal. So you want that bank account to grow, which means you need to put more in than you take out.
That’s how your business grows, and that’s the way to do email marketing to make it a success.
7. Don’t Buy The Overpriced Lame Don’t Work Email Marketing Courses!
Here’s the problem, I spent almost 2 years going through email marketing courses to find the right one that will help my fans.
And I found a bunch of $2000 plus courses from fake gurus that are pretty much rubbish at best.
Finally, I learned about Terry Dean’s email formula, bought it, loved it and recommended it my list.
Check out this email I received:
"Miles how are you,
Just wanted to shoot this quick email about Terry's Email marketing course.
Really, one of the best courses out there. I’m already implementing a lot of stuff in my business and to my surprise, I learned a lot of stuff besides email, which is awesome!
And the price? $180 is nothing compared to the ROI the templates he gives away will produce.
If you didn’t point it out at me, I doubt I could ever get my hands on it. This guy is so low key. A hard-to-find gem!
Thank you,
Felipe"
#micdrop
That was my reaction after checking it out too, considering how cheap but so rich that course was.
I kept asking myself, why does this course deliver more value than courses that are 10x as expensive??!!
There’s only one reason.
Greed.
Meanwhile…
The genius behind the best email marketing course lives a quiet life… No Lambo or other flashy cars, He writes emails and copy, and hikes with his dog and his wife every day.
P.S. Don’t Forget About Your Post Scripts
You should NEVER underestimate the value of your Postscript or your P.S.
This is the part of your email that people are known for reading assuming your email is engaging enough that they actually get to the end.
I often use my P.S. as a call to action. But I also use it as a teaser of sorts on what they’re going to receive from me tomorrow.
Example:
“P.S. After you finish listening to that podcast... Can you do me a super-quick favor?
Search for "Miles Beckler" to find my podcast on that site... Go to my podcast home page and click the comments tab and leave me a comment on my podcast feed there.”
Pretty straightforward, right? There’s a CTA in the teaser, and it’s still meaty even though it’s near the end of your email.
You can also use the P.S. as your call to action so you can tell a story in the actual body of the email.
If you think adding a story at the end will add more value and more attention from your readers, then that’s what you can use your P.S. for. Write a P.S with a “click this link to learn about my membership program…” etc.
So it’s kind of a soft call to action but still requires your readers to take action nonetheless.
Who knew a P.S can be used in so many ways?!!!
Put These Pieces Together to Formulate an Effective Email Marketing Strategy!
Your email is the bridge that connects you to your list.
The tool that helps you build a relationship with your list, so they can know, trust, and like you. Three big things that have to happen before they’ll purchase anything from you.
It’s why writing an email takes a lot of work, training, and a lot of copywriting practice.
I recommend you take on the 90 day content challenge to beef up your email marketing skills because once you apply and master these email marketing tips I just shared with you, you’ll never have to write another crappy, junk email ever again.
With a stellar headline, the right sender info, a killer story, benefits outlined, front and center for your readers, and an effective call to action, your email marketing strategy will give you astronomical results!
So put all of these things together as you cook up your next email and let me know if you’re stuck or need some more tips. Drop your comments or questions below and I’ll be happy to help ya out!
