It takes anywhere between 7 to 13 touches before your target prospect becomes a viable sales lead. Given the high costs of advertising, it is not really viable to make use of this medium alone to make a sale. For optimal ROI, it is a good idea to make use of advertising to build a mailing list and then establish a regular communication channel through newsletters to convert these prospects into leads.
That is easier said and done. A MailChimp study finds the average open rate of newsletters to be in the range of 15%-25%. So at any given time less than one in four people actually read your emails, lest be nurtured enough to convert into a qualified sales lead.
But open rate is not always the best metric to measure engagement levels. Emails get lost due to several reasons. What matters is how you can engage and nurture this small fraction of subscribers who actually open your emails.
Currently, less than 2% of subscribers actually click through links presented within the newsletters. Engaging your audience with an eye on improving this metric alone can dramatically increase conversions.
Content Strategy
The average consumer receives nearly 88 emails every single day. Unless your newsletter fulfils a desperate need for your subscriber, chances are they are never going to open it, let alone read the content.
The first and foremost thing a marketer must do is to design a content strategy that fulfils what your consumer wants. For instance, eCommerce retailers routinely make use of newsletters to highlight the latest discounts. But discounts are not viable across all industries.
You may also look at providing a weekly roundup of industry events and news – this can be highly attractive to a B2B audience.
Visual appeal
How does your newsletter stand out from the dozens of similar marketing mailers sent by competitors and other businesses vying for your subscriber’s attention? A picture is indeed worth a thousand words and sometimes even more.
One study found that animated GIFs in newsletters generated 26% more click-throughs than static newsletters. This is because of two reasons. Firstly, animated visuals can explain or demo your product much better than what text can achieve.
Also, in doing so, your mailers instantly stand out from the rest of the marketing messages and thus elicits higher subscriber attention.
Consistency
One of the easiest ways to lose a prospect is by not being consistent. Although it is important to make use of trial and error to figure the best time to send your mailers, it is vital that you maintain this time slot for all your future mailers. This helps create a habit among your consumers.
For instance, if you have a subscriber who reads your mails during their commute, it is important to reach them at the same time of the day each time. This creates a habit which contributes to better nurturing and eventually their conversion into a qualified lead.
The Right Length
There is no one newsletter length that can guarantee high conversion rate. The length of your newsletter depends to an extent on your content strategy. It is important to measure your engagement rate against the length of your newsletters and stick to the length that fetches the best results.
Engaging your subscriber is an important component of the nurturing process. Failing to execute your plans here can make or break your email marketing campaigns. Do you have a strategy that has worked for you in improving engagement? Share them with us in the comments.
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