My daughter recently had a birthday. As a seven-year-old girl, opening birthday presents is one of the highlights of her special day. Then again, even as an adult, who doesn’t like opening presents? As she sat among what seemed to be mounds of sparkly, very decorative colorful boxes, which is certainly “candy to her eyes,” the first gift she picked to open wasn’t any of these packages. The first package she chose was a package that was wrapped in very classic birthday paper with a simple white bow attached. This gift also was very small compared with all those oversized glitzy packages surrounding her. I was quite surprised at her first choice. Later, I had asked my daughter what made her pick that particular package to open first. She replied, “Mommy, it was from Grandma Kathy.”
After hearing my daughter’s response to why she chose Grandma Kathy’s gift first (it was “FROM” Grandma Kathy), I realized many of us marketers miss the most important element to getting our emails opened.
Surprise … The Subject Line Isn’t Most Important
There is no doubt that the “right” subject line is critical when it comes to boosting open rates. I am sure, like me, you have found yourself many times spending hours creating a laundry list of alternative subject lines for an email only to change it again right before the email mails were sent.
And, I bet if you took a survey, most people would tell you the subject line is the most important element of an email.
The truth is that they are almost right.
So if the subject line isn’t the most critical component of an email, what is?
Drum roll … the FROM line.
Yet, too many times, this vital component of an email campaign is overlooked.
As marketers and buyers ourselves, we all know people do business with others they know and trust. If a lead trusts you or your company enough to open the message, you’ve won half the battle and closing a sale with that lead will be all the easier.
So how do you do it? How do you turn your emails into “birthday presents” that just have to be opened? How you do get your readers to click to open your messages as soon as they see an email “from you?” … email newsletters.
Email Newsletters: A Key to Getting Emails Open
One of the best ways to foster our relationship with our leads and customers both old and new is through email newsletters. They have been around a long time and they didn’t die with the birth of social media.
According to Imaginepub, 83 percent of B2B companies use email newsletters as part of their content marketing program.
And 40 percent of B2B marketers say email newsletters are most critical to their content marketing success. (Content Marketing Institute)
Email newsletters connect at a personal level. They are friendly and “human” with “personalities.” If sent regularly, email newsletters subtly sends the message to your subscribers that they can count on you. These newsletters also give you the opportunity to become a go-to authority in your industry and you don’t even need to create all the content on your own. All this builds trust and that trust gets your emails open.
Newsletters: You Benefit Too
But your leads and customers are not the only beneficiaries of email newsletters. You too gain direct benefits. Through email newsletters, you can strengthen connections and build trust with your leads and customers without having to worry about algorithms or the next trend. You also can test new ideas without worrying about social media backlash.
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I look at my daughter’s relationship with Grandma Kathy. Not all grandmothers and granddaughters have a bond like my daughter and Grandma Kathy. What makes their relationship so special? What makes my daughter think to open Grandma Kathy’s present first among a bunch of oversized, glitzy packages? It’s trust and the relationship that developed between them.
Though it’s on a different level, it’s trust and the relationships you build with your prospects and customers that get your emails open.
Many of us already know how to build trust as marketers, but sometimes it just takes a seven-year-old to remind us of the basics.