When it comes to e-mail marketing, there are a few main ideas that you’ll see used over and over again. They are gamification, autoresponder sequences and the importance of recipient audiences. Each has its own specific use case, but they all end up being part of the same generalized strategy: Add a little fun to your e-mails with these helpful tips.
And by “add some fun”, we mean “add gamification to your e-mailing process and increase engagement“. If you’re not careful, e-mail marketing can become a bit tedious. With the right strategies in place, however, it can be fun and your targets will enjoy opening your e-mails (which will keep you out of the “spam” box).
Play with the e-mail landing page
A great way to add a little fun and novelty to your e-mail marketing efforts is to play with the e-mail landing page itself. This could be a fun button in the body of the e-mail or a side note in the pre-header. It could even be something as simple as a GIF.
If you’d like to test different variations of your landing page for your e-mails, there are plenty of free tools for doing so. One of them is the Launch Site Analyzer, which lets you examine the performance of different landing pages and see which one performs best for your audience.
Add a gamification element to your e-mail sequence
As we’ve seen, e-mail marketing can be a fairly repetitive process. You may even find that you run out of steam by the end of the campaign. To keep your e-mail campaigns fresh, you need to break the cycle by adding variations to your e-mailing sequence. This could mean adding a new offer or a test promotion to your e-mail sequence. You can surprise your audience with a random “What’s this?” e-mail. This will give you another angle of attack. And if it’s done well, such e-mails will develop your audience’s curiosity and sympathy.
Gamify your recipient audience process
One of the best ways to add a little fun to your e-mail sequence is to add some gamification to your e-mails. This can be as simple as a reward system. You can also try changing the order of your campaigns to use different mechanisms. For example, you could send an initial series of e-mails accompanied by a free gift, then switch gears and launch a larger campaign with additional incentives. Alternatively, you could continue to use the initial follow-up e-mail as the basis for a new, heavier campaign, using the new e-mail to provide additional incentives and give your fans another reason to sign up.
Make e-mailing easier by automating tasks
Another tip is to make e-mailing easier by automating tasks. This can be as simple as adding a drop-down menu to the e-mail that allows you to choose from several options. You can also set up a task to automatically reply to e-mails as soon as they are sent, similar to the auto-reply function of many e-mail accounts.
Automation makes some of the most time-consuming aspects of e-mail marketing easy. For example, it makes it easier to manage your contacts and create lists. You can create a “to do” list for your e-mail campaigns, or perhaps you’d prefer a “not to do” list. What’s more, you can even set up a “thank you for the feedback” box at the bottom of each e-mail that includes a few lines. When you receive feedback, simply click on this box to send yourself a thank-you message. A lot can be done through process automation.
The importance of recipients
If you’ve been running an e-mailing campaign for a while and you’re starting to notice that your list is getting a bit long, maybe it’s time to get creative and find a new target. You can easily add new subscribers to your list by offering a gift.
And if, for some reason, you’re unable to offer a gift, you can always try offering an e-book or white paper. And if you’re still struggling to find new customers after offering gifts, try adding a few extra incentives to your main offer. You can build their trust and interest in your brand.
This gift-giving strategy helps to develop your retention and encourage greater credibility. It’s all about positioning yourself as a specialist in your field. And that’s why gamifying your various newsletters is essential.
Organize competitions
To gamify your newsletters, it’s a good idea to organize competitions to promote your products and services. An example of a contest you can organize with your e-mails is to hide easter eggs in them. For example, a discount code is hidden in the text. It could be a misplaced capital letter that together form the code, or a rebus on an image, etc. Curiosity will make you read the text. However, the gift must be worth the time spent by your target to obtain it.
Gamification tactics for your e-mails
Now that we’ve gone over the basics of gamified e-mail marketing, it’s time to put some of these tactics into action. Here are a few fun things you can do:
- Add a silly GIF to the body of the e-mail for extra impact ;
- Be surprising ;
- Use your social networks to post photos, videos and random updates about your brand ;
- Add a hilarious online game to your e-mail series for a laugh ;
- Use a different color for each section of your e-mail for added impact.
Conclusion
So, gamifying your e-mails can help you grow your audience. It’s important to remain professional, while developing a friendly image. You need to strike a balance between arousing curiosity without losing your image as an expert. Your gamification strategy must be in line with your DNA and your target audience’s receptiveness.
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