Email Marketing Checklist: Best Practice To-Do's for Barbour ABI or Glenigan Campaigns

Don’t neglect the subject line 

Take time to write a well thought out subject line. Don’t try to trick them into opening it. Keep it simple and relevant. Tell them what you’re offering in the email. Here are a few tips: Intrigue them with an open-ended question. Research high performing words and include them. And remember just because we’re in construction doesn’t mean we can’t use emojis, they’ll boost your open rate.😀

Consider the “from” address

The sender of an email has the biggest impact on the deliverability and open rate. People trust people. This is why if you use a person’s name instead of a company name you’ll boost your open rate by 38%.

Relate to a problem they’ve got and the impact of not solving it

Show them you get “it”. You understand the challenge they’re facing and the consequences of inaction. Many *Job Roles* are finding that *Problem* is impacting their job because… …this could lead to *loss of time, money, sanity, etc*.

Show them how you’re going to solve their problem

Now you explain how people just like them have solved the very problem they’re facing by telling them how your product or service works and what it’s done for your current customers.

Be direct, don’t waste their time

Use the fewest number of words as possible.

Help first, sell later

We hate being sold to. And because we see adverts everywhere we know exactly when someone is trying to sell to us. It’s a sixth sense. So don’t sell. Help. Offer them something first. A CPD, an eBook a guide or a video. Demonstrate how you can help them do their job better and then (with a bit of convincing) they’ll happily pay you to do it.

Give them examples of success

Show don’t tell. Provide them with case studies, reviews, feedback and examples. By putting this in front of them from the start you’re already answering their questions and showing them you can get the job done.

Use data, stats, facts

Again this is about showing not telling. Numerical data lets your contacts know what they’re getting in for. You can tell them how much time or money they’ll save. How many of your customers have been successful. What your pricing is. Any data that you think is relevant to their decision making.

Make it personal

If you have the time or resource to include a personal note on every email then that is great, you should do it. But most of us don’t have time. So using personalisation tags such as names, locations, and job titles will make an email feel personal without taking hours to research. And don’t forget you may be sending out an email to multiple contacts but email is a 1-1 channel so adopt a tone that reflects this.

Talk like a human, not a robot

The email isn’t coming from your company mascot or a faceless organisation. It’s coming from you, a happy friendly person, so make sure the tone and content of the email reflect this. Your Barbour contacts want to deal with people they trust and enjoy working with so this is how you need to present yourself.

Don’t be a bore

Your contacts are going to receive many sales & marketing communications every day. So you need to stand out. If you help first and sell second you’re already on your way to doing this. But you also need to connect with them on a human level, after all, they are people too. So keep it light, don’t be afraid to show your personality. Write something that stays with them.

Check your spelling and grammar

Read it over a couple of times to check for any mistakes. Paste into Word and use Spell Checker. Download a tool such as Grammarly, which will plug into your browser and email. Or even get a colleague to give it the once over.

Send them a follow-up

We have to be realistic about the sales process. Unless you’ve got the rub of the green sending one email isn’t going to turn into a new customer. As you well know it takes time and numerous touchpoints before a contact is ready to convert. In fact, on average it takes 6-8 marketing touchpoints before they’re qualified as a sales lead. So send them a follow-up. This doesn’t have to be to every contact. It could just be to the ones who’ve opened a previous one or clicked a link.

Automate your email process

There are 100’s of tools out there that will help you to create an automated email process. You simply add your contacts in when you’re ready to start the process then they’ll receive a set of emails you’ve created on the days you want them to go out. This could be based on a time-period or after they’ve performed certain actions. CRM’s such as HubSpot have this functionality as does email marketing software like MailChimp.

Give them a call

Communicating in different ways gives you an advantage, Some contacts may prefer to communicate by phone, some by email. So try both. The more opportunities for dialogue you create the more likely you are to find a positive response. Jack’s Lead Follow-Up Playbook gives you the low down on how to make successful sales calls after your contact has responded positively to your emails.