Subject lines decide whether emails will be opened or not. Similarly, blog titles decide whether articles will be read or not. Many digital marketers will skip through this article since it is about email marketing. They believe:
Email marketing is long dead. It’s 2017 and most of the world’s population is on social platforms. So, in a social world where you can instantly, in real-time, interact with your potential customers, why should one invest his resources (time, efforts and dollars) in email marketing?
This indeed is a valid question raised by digital marketers but let’s have a look at a chart which shows us some different results:
Email Marketing Vs. Social Media Marketing
It is clear from these figures that even in 2017 you will need email marketing in your marketing arsenal.
Easy to say, difficult to do!
Simply sending promotional emails will do you no good. Digital marketers must send optimized emails that get clicked.
What is the point of having email marketing campaigns and sending promotional emails if your email does not get opened?
Today, people receive a large number of marketing emails which they delete without opening. Adding to the woes of email marketers, email service providers are offering advanced spam features — which means your marketing emails will land in your potential customers’ spam folders and never get clicked or noticed.
Google has developed a promotional tab for Gmail users to ensure that all marketing emails fall under this category. This has resulted in a rapid decline in open and click-through rates for many brands.
With these developments in technology, today’s email marketing is a big challenge for legitimate marketers.
Turning Challenge into Conversion
Email marketers are tackling this challenge with various tactics. Some digital marketers are addressing this challenge by embedding enticing product videos in emails and some are using the tactic of personalization. However, one of the best tactics is to leverage social proof in promotional emails.
We have seen that word-of-mouth marketing gives impressive results. Digital marketers are therefore leveraging user-generated content (UGC) in social media marketing, paid ads and even while developing corporate websites for their business.
Below given tweet with the stat proves that UGC works in email marketing as well:
Why Inserting UGC Boosts Email CTRs?
1. Lets You Smash Your Competitors
To rise above the noise, initially email marketers took the road of personalization. However, today there are various tools available in the market which makes it easy for email marketers to send personalized emails to thousands of subscribers with a single click. Most of the promotional emails in our inbox are today addressed with our name, so personalization no more impresses email subscribers.
On the other hand, embracing UGC in email marketing campaigns, digital marketers can beat the competition and at the same time prove their brand worth to potential customers.
2. Helps Create Brand Trust in Digital Marketplace
It is difficult to build the trust factor by simply sending emails which are promotional in nature. Every marketer knows that consumers trust online reviews, so adding a story element in your marketing emails can help consumers trust your product more.
With user generated content in email, you can tell real stories with which your potential customers can relate to. Email subscribers will find these real stories quite intriguing. Advertising content of your product or service lacks this quality.
Ensure you tell a story that resonates with your target audience.
3. Builds Strong Relationship with Your Loyal Customers
Featuring loyal customers’ opinion about your product/service in emails will show that you appreciate their feedback and in turn, they will appreciate your brand. They will feel excited about contributing and will make them more connected to your brand.
Integrating UGC with Different Types of Marketing Emails:
Digital marketers can't include UGC in certain marketing emails like new product announcement or product update emails. Here is the list of different types of emails in which a marketer ‘must’ add UGC:
1. Customer Acquisition Emails:
If you are a small start-up that is looking to build trust in the marketplace, sending emails with customer reviews to potential customers will build trust; thereby helping you grow your customer base.
2. Welcome Emails:
Welcome emails will give the first impression of your brand. To have a stellar first impression, showcase your brand’s personality and add UGC elements in the welcome email. Take a cue from PRWeb that has smartly embedded testimonial in its welcome email:
3. Lead Nurturing Emails:
Analyze and know unique buyer persona and send targeted emails to nurture leads through the marketing funnel to a state of purchasing. Add a relevant and targeted user-generated content in these emails.
4. Remarketing Emails:
If a shopper has abandoned the shopping cart, sending them remarketing email that includes what customers have to say about that particular product may most likely persuade the potential shopper to come back and complete the purchase journey.
5. Thank You Emails:
It has been noticed that the ‘thank you’ emails sent after the order has been placed, offer high open and click through rates than all other types of marketing emails. So, this is a great opportunity for you to cross-sell. For instance, if someone has purchased a camera, in their order follow-up mail send them details about memory card or other camera accessories with user reviews about these products.
Points To Keep In Mind Before You Click on the ‘Send’ Button:
Take permissions of the reviewers before including their feedback in emails. If possible add their names or add a link to their social profiles (again with permission). This will add credibility to your marketing emails and it will look authentic to email readers. Add right CTAs. In remarketing emails, don’t forget to add a link back to that particular product page which the shopper had abandoned. According to reports, 47% of readers, check email based on its subject lines. So, add convincing subject lines like: “Confused between 2 brands: Read what our customers have to say”.The Bottom Line: Jump the UGC Bandwagon to Get Your Emails Clicked
It is crystal clear from the aforementioned points that UGC in your promotional emails will work as a pull strategy rather than push marketing. Strategically sending marketing emails that are embedded with UGC element will therefore significantly improve the CTRs of your email marketing campaigns; thereby boosting your web traffic and sales.
Are you leveraging UGC in email marketing to turn prospects into customers? Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below.
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