
By Amy Derksen on in Email Marketing
Email should always be plural: How to boost results with drip campaigns.
Email marketing is a numbers game. More than 80% of what we send out is destined to go unopened, and even more goes unclicked. There are lots of ways to increase open rates (including great content and offers that engage and convert), but the biggest impact on opens is likely to come from simply sending more email.
That’s why, when a client says they’d like to send “an email,” our response is often, “You mean three emails, right?” Or seven. Or whatever it takes to break the information into digestible chunks that will land in inboxes when recipients have the time and inclination to pay attention.
Why send one welcome email when you can send three?
Marketing automation platforms make it easy to set up a series of emails that will warm up relatively cool prospects, ensure that new customers feel valued, or help people make the most of your products. Unlike an enewsletter, a drip campaign doesn’t ask the recipient to dive into the middle of a conversation. It walks them through a clear journey starting at step one. From your point of view, aside from occasional updates as the world or your offering changes, you just set it and forget it.
Shorter body copy combined with more specific, targeted messaging hooks and subject lines—not to mention multiple excuses to get in front of interested audiences—will add up to a much more effective experience.
With this in mind, it’s time to revisit the emails you send. For example, why stop at a single “welcome” or “thank you” email? Onboarding new subscribers or customers is a great opportunity to spin out your message into multiple touches—and it’s even more valuable if you have a complex product or an overwhelmed audience. What’s more, many companies find that welcome emails bring in bigger sales than promotional messages. (My two cents—maybe that’s because it’s one of those times when customers really feel like you’re putting them first.)
Rather than telling your audience everything you want them to know at once, and hoping they not only open that email but continue to read to the bottom, break your story down. Send one quick email on products. Another brief hit on the company’s culture. And a third on your amazing customer support. Maybe a fourth asking for a review, now that they’ve had time to try things out.
Shorter body copy combined with more specific, targeted messaging hooks and subject lines—not to mention multiple excuses to get in front of interested audiences—will add up to a much more effective experience.
Double your return on prospect content.
If you have content for three acquisition emails, I’d argue that you’re actually ready to send six. You might not want to duplicate content intended for current customers, because welcome and customer emails generally get opened at reasonably high rates. However, lead generation emails tend to hover at the bottom end of the open rate averages.
Because so few people actually see cold prospecting emails on the first try, make the most of your investment in time and creativity by sending each email a second time, but only to those who didn’t open. Pop on a new subject line and it’ll be just like new. You can append “Don’t forget” or “Reminder:” to add a bit of urgency, but resist the temptation to call out how many times you’ve emailed. It’s up to you to be relevant and engaging enough to be opened, and coming off as passive-aggressive or impatient or frustrated that the recipient isn’t paying close enough attention is likely to do more harm than good.
Let your audiences decide your timing.
You may be in a hurry to make a sale or demonstrate results, but mailing too frequently can turn people off. Rather than putting anyone in the nonresponder queue before they’ve even had time to notice you, look at your campaign analytics. If it takes a few days before your opens fall off, add a few more days before you trigger another message. You want to find the sweet spot between annoying and forgettable—one that evokes a warm feeling of recognition and helps targets off the “should I open?” fence.