Tips & Talk 86 – 6 Tips to UP Your Email Game

Hi there,

It's Sue and thanks for joining me for Tips and Talk

Day. These are bite sized topics that I pull from community

questions and things that I'm observing in the world of handmade

small business.

If you'd like to submit a topic,

DME over on Instagram at Gift Biz Unwrapped.

Before we get started,

I'm gonna share a secret with you.

One of my superpowers is the ability to get an enormous

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rarely forget to do something,

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attention and action type A personality.

Yes, and a follow through on the Kobe assessment,

which should have given me the clue,

but it wasn't until people started commenting to me that I

realized not everyone naturally knows how to do this.

It's the biggest single contributor to the growth I always see

in my businesses without spending hours and hours working either.

It's about focus and doing the right things efficiently.

Prompted by all the questions on how I do this,

I went about finding a way to help you perform at

a higher level too.

I analyzed my methods and formalized my process,

which is one many of my coaching clients.

Now, also follow.

You can use it too.

It's all part of a tool called the Inspired Daily Planner,

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There's more to this email thing than just sending them out

regularly, you know,

although that is the first step,

meaning actually working your list,

collecting emails wherever you can,

committing to a consistent schedule than writing and sending them out.

If this is where you're at High five,

because you are already ahead of 90% of people who are

still thinking about doing this or dabbling in and out on

the email sidelines,

if you haven't gotten started with email already,

seriously, what are you waiting for?

You're leaving money on the table,

struggling with what to say in your emails.

I've got you covered here,

so this can no longer be an excuse,

wink, wink.

Just jump over to my tips and talk episode number 83

today. Let's take email marketing up a notch.

I'm going beyond the basics to help you put even more

power into your email efforts towards that end.

Here are six ways to up level your email game to

start. Give your list a name.

Let's be honest.

Who wants to sign up for yet?

One more newsletter that you already know is gonna be cluttering

your inbox.

Simple newsletter requests worked years ago,

but people are way more savvy now.

Instead of this old approach and term,

give your email list a name that makes those who join.

Feel like they've entered a special and exclusive group.

Explain what they'll get in return for sharing their email with

you, something that's meaningful to them.

Things like exclusive deals.

The first look at new lines or special messages reserved only

for that select group,

this kind of thing.

It's way more tantalizing and you'll get more people to join

than just adding them to your email list.

Then point to,

here's a deliverability tip.

Once someone joins your list,

send them an automated welcome email,

and in that email,

explain to them how often they'll receive communication from you.

Reiterate why they'll want to watch for it.

In other words,

what's in it for them?

And then here's the big thing.

Ask them to reply to that welcome email and answer a

very easy question.

Ask a question like,

Help me out with a little research here.

What's your favorite candle sent?

Something that doesn't require a lot of thought.

Just a press on the reply button and their quick response.

What happens when people reply to your emails is it alerts

your email service provider that this person is interested in receiving

the emails that you send in Gmail,

it helps prevent your emails landing in the promotion folder,

and for all other providers from you hitting the spam box,

bottom line,

your deliverability goes up because if people don't see your email,

they don't even have a chance to open three deliverability is

one thing.

Getting people to actually open your emails is another.

It's unrealistic that every single person you send your message to

will open your emails.

This number of opens is something you can monitor in the

analytics of your email service provider.

It's always the goal to get this higher.

Having said that,

the general range for our industry is an open rate of

six to 26%,

but don't let this discourage you.

Think of your own email habits.

You don't always open emails even from businesses that you love.

I've talked a lot about what to say in emails to

condition your list to want to open.

Again, that's all in tips and talk episode number 83,

But it all starts with,

and this is tip number four and intriguing subject line direction

on this has changed over the years.

Do you remember in the past seeing messages like open before

it's too late or your life will change after you read

this? Or emails with lots of emojis,

exclamation marks,

and full big capital letters.

Remember these?

They were all tactics used at that time to get you

to open the email.

In some cases,

the content didn't even have anything to do with the subject

line. In today's world,

these subject lines will automatically find their way to the spam

folder, so make sure to consciously avoid these things.

So then what is a good subject line?

One that relates to what's actually in the email for one,

and then something that provokes interest and leaves someone wanting to

know and see more.

Hence, the open.

A great way to inspire subject line ideas is to look

at emails coming to you.

There are some in your inbox,

of course,

from businesses you've interacted with lately or have indicated your interest

in them in some way,

but also go into that promotions folder in Gmail.

There is gold there.

I actually make it a habit to look about two or

three times a week in my promotions folder because there are

emails landing there that I want.

Even sliding them over to the primary folder doesn't always do

the trick.

Oh, so frustrating those email goblins.

But this is a fabulous way to see what others are

doing and tweak their ideas to apply to your content and

to your style.

We don't always have to reinvent the wheel,

you know,

we'll be on to number five.

As you get more sophisticated in your email marketing,

it's a great idea to separate your list into different segments.

An obvious one is customers versus prospects.

You can also tag a list for in person,

show attendees,

small business contacts,

past holiday purchasers,

you name it.

One contact can be tagged for multiple lists too.

Of course.

What this allows you to do is speak to these groups

more directly.

An email sent out to an e-commerce customer isn't gonna sit

well if you're talking about seeing them at a live show

this past year,

but directing messages and or offers that align with certain groups

of customers heightens the chance that they'll take you up on

an offer because it relates specifically to them.

You could send out an email to all the people who

purchased over the summer talking about why your fall version is

just what they need as the cold weather approaches because of

the seasonal scent or different ingredients based on dry weather and

perhaps even a special discount code only for that select group,

of course,

including a deadline of when they have to purchase to take

advantage of the offer.

Always, always add a deadline when you do discounts like this.

The point is,

with the list segmenting,

you can tailor your message to that special group and make

it so relevant that they easily know you're their choice for

this purchase.

And number six addresses varying lengths and topics of your emails.

You're gonna love this one.

Your emails don't need to be long.

In fact,

I'd recommend you test out varying lengths to see what your

audience likes the most,

this place to the point that you aren't conditioning them to

know what to expect before they open.

When there are surprises upon opening,

they're more likely to do so each and every time.

So some emails can be longer,

some shorter,

some direct to the point with selling.

Some containing a story or a tip.

If in your business you make candy spice mixes or baked

goods, offer recipes and emails,

that's always a hit.

And one more thing.

Just because you hear something works for someone else,

even if they're in your same industry,

doesn't mean it will necessarily be interesting to your audience.

You need to check things out for your yourself with your

unique group of supporters.

I can't stress enough how important email is to your business.

Those who give you their address are putting trust in you

that you'll provide emails that they want,

and when you do,

they'll return the goodwill with sales and spreading the word about

you and your fabulous products.

Two thumbs up for email.

That's a wrap.

I'm a get to the point kind of girl,

and this is what you can expect from these quick midweek

sessions. Now it's your turn.

Go out and fulfill that dream of yours.

Share your handmade products with us.

We want them,

and they bring us both.