Powerful Email Marketing Tips You Need To Know

The highest return for the least amount of time and money in online marketing comes when you send an email to your list.

You take 30 minutes to write an email, another 10 minutes to format it and insert your affiliate link. You upload it to your email system, test to make sure it looks good, and then send it out to your list.

20 or 30 minutes later, you get a sale.

An hour later you have 5 sales.

Two hours and you’ve got 20 sales.

Twelve hours and you’ve got 60 sales.

Your numbers will vary but this is exactly how email marketing works. It’s like spending an hour of work to watch money fall into your account the rest of the day.

In fact it’s just about the closest thing I’ve ever seen to magic, and I love it.

Here then are 12 powerful email marketing tips that everyone should know:

1: Build a q-u-a-l-i-t-y email list.

Your email marketing campaigns will only be as effective as the quality of your email list. Focus on building a high-quality, targeted list of subscribers.

What do I mean by high-quality? Ideally your list will be composed of buyers or people who will become buyers. Offering an irresistible offer at a super low price is one way to build a list of buyers. Another is to offer a free product or membership to people who purchase a related product.

As to the term ‘targeted,’ consider these two examples…

If you’re in weight loss, you might segment your lists based on age or gender. And if you’re in travel, you might segment your lists based on locations.

3: Use a clear and attention-grabbing subject line.

As you know, your subject line is the first thing your subscribers will see and it will be the determining factor on whether or not they open and read your email. Make your subject clear and attention-grabbing and give a preview of the content inside.

4: Personalize your email content.

Personalization can sometimes significantly increase the effectiveness of your campaigns.

People respond to seeing their own names, their locations, interests and anything else you can use to make your emails more relevant to them.

5: Keep your email content short and to the point. People are busy. If they know your emails are short and to the point, they are more likely to open them. For longer content, make a blogpost and then use the email to send them to the post rather than placing the entire blogpost within the email. This will also increase traffic to your site.

By the way, this is not a hard and fast rule. If you write truly captivating emails, then you can always test longer emails on your list and see if they are more effective than shorter ones.

6: Be entertaining and informative.

I have to think it’s because they are missing some of the basics to affiliate marketing, as well as never discovering the ‘secrets’ to taking their income to the next level.

Subscribers are much more likely to open and read your emails if you make the content entertaining or informative.

• You hold a social media contest with the prize being a laptop or an iPhone.

This is what I’m proposing you try to greatly increase your affiliate income:

• You hold a social media contest with the prize being something directly related to your specific niche, such as a book or course.

In the first case you’re going to get a lot of sign-ups but the vast majority will have no interest in your niche and your products – they just want the prize.

Doing the work up front to get it right, so that sales come in like clockwork, rather than ‘winging’ it and hoping you get a few sales.

Use stories and humor whenever you can to pique interest. Give them the latest news and let them know how it affects them. Or tell them how to get a result they are seeking.

7: Use a clear and compelling call-to-action. Tell them in your email exactly what you want them to do.

If you lay a good foundation, then you lose the struggle of trying one thing and another to make it work. You won’t need gimmicks or shady sales tactics.

But in the second case, you’ll get fewer signups but of a much higher caliber. These are the people looking specifically for the solutions you offer.

“To keep reading, click here.”

“To see this shocking photo, click here.”

“To find out how to triple your traffic in 72hours, click here.”

Sales will come almost effortlessly because you’ve laid the groundwork to a thriving affiliate business.

2: Segment your email list.

You can segment your email lists based on factors like age, locations and interests, making it much easier to write emails that appeal specifically to each list segment.

These tips aren’t super exciting because there is no magic formula such as, “Go to this secret website and post this 10word magic message to make massive commissions.”

For example, if you’re in the internet marketing niche, you might have lists of people interested in social media, in video, in traffic generation, in content creation and so forth, allowing you to personalize your messaging and increase the effectiveness of your campaigns.

Yes, I really did see those exact words in a sales letter once. No, I didn’t buy the product, so I have no idea what the supposed “secret site” or “magic message” was. Although now that I think about it, maybe I should have, just for a laugh.

8: Make your emails mobile-friendly.

With more people using their smartphones to check email, it's important to ensure that your emails are mobile-friendly and easy to read on smaller screens. Always send a test email before you send it to your entire list to see how it appears on your own phone and in your email browser.

9: Test and optimize your campaigns.

Test different subject lines, content, and calls-toaction to find out what works best for your audience. If you have a large list, you might send two different test emails to two small segments of your list to see which one works best, and then send the winner out to the entire list.

Also keep careful records of what works and what doesn’t so that you can adjust your future emails accordingly.

10: Optional: Include social sharing buttons.

When appropriate, you might encourage your subscribers to share your content on social media by including social sharing buttons in your emails.

But don’t do this if it will distract them from, say, going to your sales letter. I prefer to have one day a week when I send out a breezy newsy email that specifically asks them to share on social media.

11: Use images and visuals when appropriate. Including images and other visuals can make your emails more engaging and help to break up long blocks of text.

Then again, if I have a long text I prefer to get them on the website to read most of it. Also, some super successful emailers never use visuals in their emails, so it just depends. When in doubt, test.

12: Track and analyze your results.

Use analytics to track the success of your campaigns and adjust your strategy accordingly.

13: Provide value to your subscribers.

Ultimately, the success of your email marketing campaigns will depend on how much value you provide to your subscribers. Focus on providing useful and relevant content that meets their needs and interests. There are two schools of thought when it comes to providing value: One says that you should give away a lot of valuable information because readers will think, “If she gives this away for free, then her paid stuff must be absolute dynamite.”

The other school of thought is to provide value through entertainment – stories and humor – and save the valuable information for paying customers. Both are correct, and which one you choose will depend on your niche and your own personal style.

13.5: Have fun in your emails.

If you enjoy writing them, then your readers will enjoy reading them. Write as though you are talking to a friend, and you’ll do just fine.

You can’t expect others to get excited about something and pay money for that thing if they are not interested in it, but you can work and make substantial money in a niche that does not excite you. Just focus on how you are helping others and let that be your passion and motivation, and the money will come.

Step 2: Build a solid brand. It's important to consider what your brand will be and to have a professional and consistent brand image across all your online platforms. This helps build trust with your audience and makes it easier for them to recognize you.

Branding is really important, so here are a few more branding tips:

First, define what your brand is all about. What are your values, your mission, and your unique selling proposition? Who is your target audience and how will you relate to them? What makes your brand different from your competitors? When you’ve clearly defined your brand then you can create a consistent message and visual identity.

Next, develop a strategy for building your brand that includes creating your visual identity, developing a content strategy and deciding which channels to use to reach your audience. (Hint: Find out where your audience hangs out.)

Create a consistent brand message. Your goal is to make your messaging and visual elements consistent across all of your channels, including your website, social media, and any other marketing materials.

Notice how big brands do this, and then do it on a much smaller scale for yourself. And you don’t necessarily need to brand a business name. In many cases your own name will also be your brand.

Monitor and adjust your strategy. Building a brand is an ongoing process, and you need to be willing to monitor your progress and adjust your strategy as needed. Pay attention to what is working and what isn't, and be willing to make changes to your strategy based on your results.

Overall, building a brand takes time and effort, but with the right strategy and a commitment to consistency and engagement, you can create a brand that resonates with your audience and helps you achieve your business goals.