We’ve been doing a lot of talking lately about the value of email marketing. In earlier posts, we covered why you need to build an email list, how to build a lead magnet to bring people in, and how to display it on your website. All of those are the groundwork that is critical to your email marketing success. Once you’ve laid that foundation, you’re going to need something to send out to your people!
When it comes to writing emails to send out, it can be a confusing process at first. Don’t worry! PetBrainy is here to help you navigate the ways of email marketing! In this article, we’re going to break down the essential elements in a successful email marketing copy for your pet business. Follow our guide, and you’ll be composing professional emails before you know it!
What Goes in an Email Marketing Message
The message that goes out each week should primarily be sharing your main content. Do you need more information about what we mean by content? Read this Article on Content Marketing to get up to speed! The short version of it is that you should be regularly making content – such as a blog, podcast, or video – and using your email list to show it off to everyone!
Your content exists for two reasons. The first is to nurture and deepen the relationships with your existing subscribers. The second is to attract new potential clients by providing value to them right out of the gate. They come for the articles, stay for the lead magnet, and through your regular emails, get to know, like, and trust you. After all, you are a consistent presence in their life, if only a digital one. It’s the foot in the door that you need to show them what you have to offer.
Components of an Awesome Email Marketing Message
Now you are ready to write your emails. Good news for you, it is not as hard as it sounds. Just make sure that every email features these essential elements, and before long, you’ll be drafting emails left and right. As you get more practice, it will be like second nature to you, and you will hardly worry about it again!
Friendly Sender Information
If you were to get a message from a stranger, would you open it? Probably not with all the viral scams running around the internet. Now, if that email had a company’s brand name on it, it no longer looks like some shady monster trying to sneak a virus into your system. Your client feels the same way. So, since you are a legitimate business owner, you need to take steps to make sure that your message appears just as trustworthy!
That said, it still needs to feel personalized. If it’s just from the company name, it feels impersonal. If that sounds like it’s a contradiction, it isn’t. It will require a careful blend of professionalism and friendliness. Make sure you use a domain email that you own. DO NOT just use a Gmail or Yahoo account! That could be from literally anyone. It should look something like this:
Yourname@yourbusinessdomain.com
So, when you sign up for PetBrainy, you’ll get an email from Shelley@petbrainy.com, not PetBrainy@PetBrainy.com or Info@PetBrainy.com. That personal connection is critical to making your emails feel warm instead of sterile.
The Right Subject Line
Ah, the subject line. One of the deciding factors in whether somebody opens your email or not. They will decide based on the subject line if they want to read it or skip it. How are they supposed to see your content within if they don’t open the email?? The answer is, they cannot. So, be sure to have a little fun with the subject line.
Bonus tip! According to recent polls, the highest “click-through encouraging” first word in a subject line is the recipient’s name!
Hook Them
Your subject line got them to open your email. Now you need a few sentences to get them to read further. Ideally, your hook should connect to your subject line. There is nothing readers dislike more than being promised one thing when they click and find out the rest of the email is something entirely different. They will feel lied to and start to lose trust in your emails.
Since the objective here is to make them feel like they know you better, you don’t want them to think you are lying to them. So, if you promise something in the Subject Line, you better discuss it quickly, or you’ll lose your reader!
Share a Story
People instinctively respond to emotions faster than they do to logic. Don’t just tell them what you want to discuss; make sure to share why it matters to them! When you show them that you are a real person on the other side of the screen, they start to relate to you. Everybody loves a story. It does not have to be a long one. It just needs to come from your heart so it can speak to theirs.
If you don’t think you have a good story, talk about how the content benefits them. If you can’t think of a specific tale, then hypothetical ones can be effective as well. Just show them content that helps them.
Call to Action
There should always be a purpose for your email. You don’t want to waste your time or your clients with a pointless email. What do you want your client to do? Watch your video? Book your services? Or maybe you want them to check out your blog? Whatever it is, that needs to be clearly labeled. There are a lot of ways to make the Call to Action, or CTA.
It can’t be too vague. Use strong, concise words like Download, Watch, Click. They need to stand out from the rest of the text, so try changing the text color, size, or even just putting it in all caps.
Remember, your CTA should not only be an attempt to sell to them. They will stop opening your emails if every time they click, there is a message telling them to spend their money. People don’t like repetitive, constant pushing to buy something. If your CTA gets too pushy, they will tune you out. Try to keep selling CTA’s to less than 20% of the time (as a good benchmark).
Proper Postscript Use
When you scroll down the email, what is the last thing you see? The Post Scriptum, or as they usually call it, the PS. Because it is separate from the rest of the email, it naturally draws a lot of attention. Since it is the last thing your reader will see, it is likely what they’ll remember the most. Take advantage of this and put some valuable information here.
In particular, the PS is an ideal spot for reminders about holiday schedules, highlight upcoming features, or ask for a review. Plus, it feels friendly and casual, so it will help build that personal connection between you and your reader!
Email Marketing Made Easy
That’s it! All you need to do is make sure each email makes good use of those elements. Just like we promised, it isn’t too hard! If you’re getting started with building your email list, don’t miss out on our FREE Guide. It’ll help keep you on track throughout the whole process.
Even better, there are entire companies set up to help you with email marketing. Don’t forget to check them out. There are many email marketing services out there, but a few that we like at PetBrainy are ActiveCampaign and Mailerlite.MailChimp.
Next week, we’ll be talking about repurposing your content. After all, you have worked hard to make it, so you should get the most out of it! Don’t forget to come back next time for more great advice about email marketing for your Pet Sitting Business!
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