We'd like to wish all of our past and present clients a very Merry Christmas and all the best for 2015.
Best wishes from Lisa, Henrietta and Debbie.
Monday, 22 December 2014
Wednesday, 17 December 2014
Over 20 email marketing tips to increase your open rate
On average, subscribers only spend 3-4 seconds deciding whether they’re going to open your email. You’ve got to get in there quick! Here are over 20 easy-to-implement tips to get more email opens and keep readers engaged.
Subject line space is precious. The most successful subject lines are straightforward, to the point and non-salesly.
Research by MailChimp of 200 million emails found that subject lines longer than 50 characters had lower open rates.
Short. Stands out.
Seven tips for a better subject line:
1) Keep it under 50 characters.
2) Be specific.
3) Be informative.
4) Give location and / or date information.
5) Avoid salesy, promotional language.
6) Use amounts instead of percentages.
7) Words to avoid: free, reminder, CAPITALS!!!, help, special, and any promotional phrases.
The pre-header space is the snippet of text pulled in from the message of the email to next to the subject line. On an ISO mobile (an iPhone for example), the subject gets one line of space and the pre-header gets two! So it’s a great opportunity to give subscribers another reason to open your email.
Four tips for a better pre-header:
1) Continue the conversation on from the subject line.
2) Be personal. Emails from personal contacts get the highest open rates and they usually start off something like this: ‘Hey Henrietta, how are you doing?’.
3) Include a call-to-action. This sets the expectation for the email.
4) Above all make sure your pre-header doesn’t include default text like: ‘view email as webpage’ or ‘If you’re having trouble…’ This is wasting the opportunity.
Nearly half of all email content is read on mobile devices and 80% of consumers say they delete emails immediately if they are not optimised for mobile.
The most successful email marketing uses responsive templates which resizes the content to fit the device screen size, but even without a responsive template you can make your emails work better on mobiles.
Here are six tips for mobile friendly emails:
1) Minimum font size of 13 pixels.
2) Buttons should be large enough to read and click on a mobile.
3) Use a single column.
4) Make sure links aren’t too close together.
5) Check that the call-to-action is above the fold.
6) Use bullet pointed lists rather than paragraphs.
Newsletter subscriptions start off with high open rates, then as time goes by, email opens drop off. The challenge is to keep your content fresh. A big part of this is personality.
Here are four tips to keep your email content fresh and interesting:
1) Have a voice. Say things in a particular way. Your voice should be recognisable and fit in with your brand.
2) Sign emails from a staff member. Your emails will be far more memorable if readers think they’re coming from a real person.
3) Offer opinions in your writing, and anecdotes too. This will set you apart from the boring marketing spiel that so many promotional emails are filled with.
4) Start with a friendly hello and message, just as you would if you were emailing a friend.
Personality is really important to maintain engagement and it’s what will keep each email fresh and different to the last one.
When your images don’t show up in an email, alt text will describe the image that can’t be seen. Alt text is really important to encourage people to download images and not just click delete on your email. If images aren’t downloaded your email will not be classed as an ‘open’ and any activity or links clicked won’t be tracked.
Then you can craft the subject line, message and images to that topic. The subject line must set up the expectation, the content must be informative and to the point, and the call-to-action obvious but not salesy.
Emails covering multiple topics with multiple call-to-actions will often see better success when split up into shorter, more focused emails. Lower down in the email, you can of course include some relevant offers or promotions but make sure it’s clear what your email is about.
A/B email testing involves comparing the performance of two variations of the same email, where there’s one difference between the two emails. You can test which subjects, call-to-actions, styles of writing, length of content, format etc… get the best responses from your readers.
Summing this all up, I would say, think as if you were the reader. Think about your own experiences with promotional emails and full inboxes and ask: Would you open your emails? Would you stay subscribed?
Please let us know in the comments below if you’ve got any great email marketing tips, we’d love to hear from you!
Short and sweet subject line
Subject line space is precious. The most successful subject lines are straightforward, to the point and non-salesly.
Research by MailChimp of 200 million emails found that subject lines longer than 50 characters had lower open rates.
Short. Stands out.
Seven tips for a better subject line:
1) Keep it under 50 characters.
2) Be specific.
3) Be informative.
4) Give location and / or date information.
5) Avoid salesy, promotional language.
6) Use amounts instead of percentages.
7) Words to avoid: free, reminder, CAPITALS!!!, help, special, and any promotional phrases.
Make best use of pre-header space
The pre-header space is the snippet of text pulled in from the message of the email to next to the subject line. On an ISO mobile (an iPhone for example), the subject gets one line of space and the pre-header gets two! So it’s a great opportunity to give subscribers another reason to open your email.
Four tips for a better pre-header:
1) Continue the conversation on from the subject line.
2) Be personal. Emails from personal contacts get the highest open rates and they usually start off something like this: ‘Hey Henrietta, how are you doing?’.
3) Include a call-to-action. This sets the expectation for the email.
4) Above all make sure your pre-header doesn’t include default text like: ‘view email as webpage’ or ‘If you’re having trouble…’ This is wasting the opportunity.
Mobile friendly design
Nearly half of all email content is read on mobile devices and 80% of consumers say they delete emails immediately if they are not optimised for mobile.
The most successful email marketing uses responsive templates which resizes the content to fit the device screen size, but even without a responsive template you can make your emails work better on mobiles.
Here are six tips for mobile friendly emails:
1) Minimum font size of 13 pixels.
2) Buttons should be large enough to read and click on a mobile.
3) Use a single column.
4) Make sure links aren’t too close together.
5) Check that the call-to-action is above the fold.
6) Use bullet pointed lists rather than paragraphs.
Keep content fresh
Newsletter subscriptions start off with high open rates, then as time goes by, email opens drop off. The challenge is to keep your content fresh. A big part of this is personality.
Here are four tips to keep your email content fresh and interesting:
1) Have a voice. Say things in a particular way. Your voice should be recognisable and fit in with your brand.
2) Sign emails from a staff member. Your emails will be far more memorable if readers think they’re coming from a real person.
3) Offer opinions in your writing, and anecdotes too. This will set you apart from the boring marketing spiel that so many promotional emails are filled with.
4) Start with a friendly hello and message, just as you would if you were emailing a friend.
Personality is really important to maintain engagement and it’s what will keep each email fresh and different to the last one.
Include alt text in your images
When your images don’t show up in an email, alt text will describe the image that can’t be seen. Alt text is really important to encourage people to download images and not just click delete on your email. If images aren’t downloaded your email will not be classed as an ‘open’ and any activity or links clicked won’t be tracked.
Focus your emails on a single topic
Then you can craft the subject line, message and images to that topic. The subject line must set up the expectation, the content must be informative and to the point, and the call-to-action obvious but not salesy.
Emails covering multiple topics with multiple call-to-actions will often see better success when split up into shorter, more focused emails. Lower down in the email, you can of course include some relevant offers or promotions but make sure it’s clear what your email is about.
Perform A/B testing
A/B email testing involves comparing the performance of two variations of the same email, where there’s one difference between the two emails. You can test which subjects, call-to-actions, styles of writing, length of content, format etc… get the best responses from your readers.
Summing this all up, I would say, think as if you were the reader. Think about your own experiences with promotional emails and full inboxes and ask: Would you open your emails? Would you stay subscribed?
Please let us know in the comments below if you’ve got any great email marketing tips, we’d love to hear from you!
Monday, 15 December 2014
5 tips for mobile friendly email marketing
This week we have 5 tips to help make sure that your marketing emails are mobile friendly.
Nearly half of all email content is read on mobile devices and 80% of consumers say they delete emails immediately if they are not optimised for mobile.
The most successful email marketing for mobile uses responsive templates which resizes the content to fit the device screen size, but even without a responsive template you can make your emails work better on mobiles.
Here are five tips for mobile friendly emails:
1) Use a minimum font size of 13 pixels.
2) Make sure your buttons are large enough to read and click on a mobile.
3) Use a single column.
4) Make sure links aren’t too close together.
5) Check that the call-to-action is above the fold.
Thank you for reading.
Nearly half of all email content is read on mobile devices and 80% of consumers say they delete emails immediately if they are not optimised for mobile.
The most successful email marketing for mobile uses responsive templates which resizes the content to fit the device screen size, but even without a responsive template you can make your emails work better on mobiles.
Here are five tips for mobile friendly emails:
1) Use a minimum font size of 13 pixels.
2) Make sure your buttons are large enough to read and click on a mobile.
3) Use a single column.
4) Make sure links aren’t too close together.
5) Check that the call-to-action is above the fold.
Thank you for reading.
Monday, 8 December 2014
5 Tips for Ecommerce Websites
With more and more ecommerce websites popping up every day it can be difficult for businesses (old and new) to keep up with best practices when it comes to selling online.
So this week we have 5 tips to share with you.
Give your visitors (and Google) something new to look at each time they visit your website. Keep it fresh. This can include displaying special offers, best sellers, sale items and what’s new etc on your homepage.
It's important to clearly display delivery costs and any free delivery threshold on every page of your ecommerce website. Information on how to return items must also be easily accessible as this will instil confidence and encourage people to purchase knowing they can easily return easily if they need to.
Displaying star ratings for products (like Amazon does) will allow your visitors to see which products have been voted the best by other customers. Products that have reviews that customers have written are an excellent way of making use of user generated content (Google will love you for this too).
It's important to show your customers that it’s safe to buy from your website, especially when they're adding debit or credit card information. This must be clearly displayed for any visitor (repeat customer or new prospects) to see.
Make your Thank You page work hard for you. Here's a few examples of what you can include... social sharing buttons to encourage customers to share what they've just ordered, also include social follow buttons. Ask for feedback about whether the order process was easy. And you can provide examples of similar items to those they've just purchased.
Thank you for reading.
So this week we have 5 tips to share with you.
1) Add attention grabbing deals and bestsellers to your homepage
Give your visitors (and Google) something new to look at each time they visit your website. Keep it fresh. This can include displaying special offers, best sellers, sale items and what’s new etc on your homepage.
2) Display delivery and returns information prominently
It's important to clearly display delivery costs and any free delivery threshold on every page of your ecommerce website. Information on how to return items must also be easily accessible as this will instil confidence and encourage people to purchase knowing they can easily return easily if they need to.
3) Make use of onsite product reviews
Displaying star ratings for products (like Amazon does) will allow your visitors to see which products have been voted the best by other customers. Products that have reviews that customers have written are an excellent way of making use of user generated content (Google will love you for this too).
4) Let visitors know your website is secure
It's important to show your customers that it’s safe to buy from your website, especially when they're adding debit or credit card information. This must be clearly displayed for any visitor (repeat customer or new prospects) to see.
5) Optimise your Thank You page
Make your Thank You page work hard for you. Here's a few examples of what you can include... social sharing buttons to encourage customers to share what they've just ordered, also include social follow buttons. Ask for feedback about whether the order process was easy. And you can provide examples of similar items to those they've just purchased.
Thank you for reading.
Monday, 1 December 2014
5 Easy to Implement Blogging Tips
Hello everyone and welcome to December!
Today we have 5 easy-to-implement tips to help you when blogging.
We know how difficult it can be to fit regular blogging into your busy schedule so here's an article containing 6 easy steps to fit blogging into your working week.
There are tried and tested best practices when it comes to blog writing. Everything from the article length, blog title, content type and media used should be considered. With that in mind, here's an article we wrote containing 18 statistics to help you write the perfect blog post.
It's really important to check your work for typos etc before you pop it live. Not only from the 'back-end' in the CMS but preview your article at the 'front-end' to make sure it looks good and there are no double spaces etc between words. Ask someone to cast another pair of eyes over it too.
Probably more important than the blog article itself is making sure that you promote it effectively. We have a total of 169 tips on how to do this in another article here.
It's all very well creating the best blog post you've ever written and actively promoting it but you also need to define measurable goals too. Who do you want reading your content, what do you want them to do and how do you know whether they've done what you want? Metrics can include page views, social shares, comments, newsletter signups, media downloads etc.
Thank you for reading.
Lisa
Today we have 5 easy-to-implement tips to help you when blogging.
1) Make time to blog.
We know how difficult it can be to fit regular blogging into your busy schedule so here's an article containing 6 easy steps to fit blogging into your working week.
2) Keep in mind what's proven to work.
There are tried and tested best practices when it comes to blog writing. Everything from the article length, blog title, content type and media used should be considered. With that in mind, here's an article we wrote containing 18 statistics to help you write the perfect blog post.
3) Proof, proof, proof.
It's really important to check your work for typos etc before you pop it live. Not only from the 'back-end' in the CMS but preview your article at the 'front-end' to make sure it looks good and there are no double spaces etc between words. Ask someone to cast another pair of eyes over it too.
4) Promote your blog content.
Probably more important than the blog article itself is making sure that you promote it effectively. We have a total of 169 tips on how to do this in another article here.
5) Measure.
It's all very well creating the best blog post you've ever written and actively promoting it but you also need to define measurable goals too. Who do you want reading your content, what do you want them to do and how do you know whether they've done what you want? Metrics can include page views, social shares, comments, newsletter signups, media downloads etc.
Thank you for reading.
Lisa
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