One of the most potent and powerful marketing weapons any small business can have is a huge list of email subscribers. They are customers and potential customers that are truly interested in what your business has to sell. Unfortunately, for many small businesses, their subscriber base continues to shrink and they just can’t figure out why their subscribers are vanishing in droves.
- It is, of course, natural for a business to lose email subscribers from time to time. Some drop off, others sign on. But if you seem to be losing them in great chunks, something is definitely wrong. It may be a simple fix or it just may be that you are annoying the heck out of them without even being aware of it.
- The first thing to check is the frequency of your email blasts. You just may be sending far too many. Sending too many tends to send a signal to subscribers that you are either desperate or needy or both. Not an attractive characteristic for any brand. Sending out emails every day may not be the answer. Multiple emails a day is likely a disaster. Try and determine what is just right for your company and it tends to depend what information you are sending out. Monthly subscribers only want one a month. However, if someone subscribed in order to get a special deal or a trial offer, then one email a week may not be totally unexpected.
- Are your emails visually appealing and have they been optimized for mobile devices? If not, your subscribers may be fleeing from text heavy and visually non-engaging emails. If you are using a specific email marketing service, they will likely have many templates you can use that should boost your engagement.
- Your subject line is, of course, your headline. Most research declares that 40% or so of all emails get opened just because of a intriguing subject line. Don’t leave such a thing to an intern or to someone that doesn’t understand anything about sales. They must be short and to the point and perhaps spark a bit of curiosity. If you write a line and you, yourself, wouldn’t open it, then try again. Finally, your email subscribers are fleeing because you are not delivering what they thought they actually signed up for. Sending out spam and unrelated content will have them gone in short order. They must be relevant and they must be providing some manner of answer to a problem or somehow enhancing their life. By now, you should know what they want so, as the thought goes, just give it to them.
-Written by Kevin Sawyer
