Email Blasts – Tips and Tricks

A Crazy Eggs study provides further proof. It found that email marketing campaign returned $44 for every dollar spent.

Despite the high ROI, marketing emails do have very low open rates. One way to overcome that would be with email blasts. We’ve created a detailed guide to help you create killer email blast campaigns.

What are Email Blasts?

An email blast is a marketing strategy of blasting one email to a large number of subscribers. It’s as simple as that, though many marketers fear that it’s like sending a lot of spam emails.

This doesn't mean that you should avoid email blasts. But rather rethink the email marketing strategy and create emails that will prompt the subscribers to take action.

A good email campaign should start with a respect for the interest and time that the recipients dedicate to your company/brand. You would still have to work on valuable content. This means employing some emailing manners like a clear subject line, accessible unsubscribe button, and no click baits.

Simple Email Blast Rules

The following list features a few easy-to-apply rules that should optimize your email blasts to the right target audience.

Size Doesn’t Matter

Contrary to what some might believe, email marketing makes sense even if you only have a handful of contacts. A small list allows you to do customer segmentation quicker and dedicate more time to create high-quality personalized email templates.

Think of it this way: Having thousands of subscribers or email addresses won’t do you any good if nobody opens your emails. So, think about the quality of your contacts and message, not the numbers.

Consistency

Whether the strategy is to send emails every month, every week, or more often, you need to stick to a consistent schedule. This way recipients can expect the emails at a certain time. In turn, it builds better momentum for your brand and keeps the customers in the loop.

It is recommended to factor in seasonal and other business changes when you create the emailing schedule. For example, eCommerce websites might want to boost their emailing efforts before the holiday season.

Commitment

A single email blast can do very little for your business. Some people make the mistake of waiting for the response and analytics before they send another blast.

However, you should plan on sending your email blasts for at least two quarters before you take a closer look at their effectiveness.

Template Design

A good email template (welcome, follow-up, or other) contains a strategic balance of images and text. Too many pictures might trigger the spam filter. And too much text is likely to deter the recipients from reading the email.

Use a couple of images that reflect your message to grab the subscribers’ attention, and add simple clear lines to call them to action. It’s good to start with text first, then add the images where necessary.

Plus, don’t forget to keep the email short.

Call to Action

Recipients need to understand what they are getting right away. Be it a freebie, promotion, or subscription, it should be the first thing they see.

In general, calls to action follow above-the-fold newspaper philosophy. It means that the items which are above the fold get the most attention.

Segmentation

The aim is to make your emails look and sound as if you are addressing each recipient directly. Unfortunately, this is almost impossible if you have a huge mailing list. But list segmentation can get you close to it.

This turns generic emails into a message that is more personal and likely better received. Today’s marketing tools allow you to easily segment the recipients by region, age, gender, and past behavior. As a result, you achieve more efficient targeting and build a stronger customer relationship.

Track and Test

You should send yourself a test email before you initiate the blast. This gives you a chance to correct any formatting issues that might appear. You can put yourself in the shoes of the recipients and think about whether they would read the email.

Setting up trackable links helps you understand how well the emails work. It removes the guesswork from your campaigns and allows you to finetune email blasts according to analytics.

Extra Tips

To avoid the need to perfect every little detail, which is a time-waster that may do more harm than good, you should stay focused on the key message and wrap up the email as soon as it looks good.

Don’t forget to include your contact info. A professional signature needs to be in every email regardless of its purpose. Remember, you want to make it easy for the recipients to get in touch.

Conclusion

So that’s about all it takes to create email blasts that resonate with your subscribers. Initially, it might take some time to get the ball rolling, but you are bound to be surprised by the results.

Also, make sure to find an email marketing service that can streamline your efforts and that comes with good analytical tools.