Your customers are ignoring your emails, and here’s why

Any kind of marketing that does not involve personal interaction is tricky to pull off. Remember the good old days of doorstep sales, when people sold everything from encyclopaedias to water purifiers by knocking on your door and taking out the time to talk to you? When your customer is sitting opposite you, it is easy to gauge his or her interest and customise your sales pitch accordingly. But when they’re sitting in front of a computer, how do you ensure that your brand stands out amidst all the noise? A good email marketing campaign gets you sales, and a bad one sends you into spam. So here’s how to do it right.

Are you timing ‘em right?

Does your email go out in the middle of a workday? Well, you know how wrong that is, don’t you? A good email will make the user read it and want to do something about it. How will they read it if they don’t have the time to look at it? Follow these tips to get the best for your buck when it comes to email campaigns.

What users want

In a YourStory survey, about 70 percent of consumers said they didn’t pay attention to an email because it was part of a mass campaign. What’s more, users want no more than one or two emails a week, but companies like Flipkart and Jabong send out about 12 every week. No wonder no one reads them. Customers want your emails to be personal and little in number, so give them that.

Too many deals are not a steal

The first week of every month sees newspapers dedicate their front pages to deals on sugar, oil, rice and dal. If you’re someone who orders out every day, you wouldn’t look at this page twice. In fact, only 8 percent of people receive deals and discounts relevant to them. For everyone else, it’s just spam. Making lists of consumers who have bought stuff from you and sending them relevant deals and discounts is a great way to gain their trust.

Never forget the mobile experience

Did you get your design team together to develop an awesome email, complete with interactive graphics and loads of buttons to click on? A customer who opens this on their phone realises it looks messy and closes it. The purpose here stands defeated. It may seem like common sense, but pause to consider how your mail looks on various devices. There are many more email hacks here that may seem all too obvious, but will help you judge your material before sending it out.

Variety is the order of the day

Consider writing out each email differently. If one is a heartfelt story of your beginning, let the next be on all the features that make you stand out. A third could include a video of some sort. Make sure the subject of your mail points this out each time. Presenting content in different formats can keep your audience engaged. Don’t forget to include a call to action of some kind in each email.

A good email marketing campaign connects personally with each receiver. So when in doubt, don’t spam.