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Email Marketing and the Sales Process: 5 Tips for Better Conversions

Email Marketing Sales Process

Email is not the be all and end all as a marketing tool.

It is only part of the sales funnel. We don’t send our campaign and then wipe our hands of the whole process. No, we email marketers play a vital role in moving people through the sales process, so they either end up at a website buying from you or in a sales person’s inbox as a warm lead.

For that reason, it’s imperative that we maximize every bit of attention we get when in front of a subscriber, prospect or customer. Email marketing can do a lot to nurture people along from email to sale.

You only have a few short seconds to get someone’s attention once you get into the inbox. Make the most of those seconds to turn them into minutes—and maybe sales—with these email marketing tips.

1. Be clear with words.

Do not assume. Anything. In as few words as you can manage, be sure to spell out what you’re offering and why they should want it, whether it’s a new wallpaper or a new whitepaper. Be customer-centric, clearly speaking in terms they understand and using pain points they can relate to. Also be clear about next steps, guiding them to the call to action and nurturing them to act.

2. Be clear with design.

Your email design must be as clear as your email message. Avoid clutter or a design that works against rather than supports your message. Make the design as easy and clear to read as the words, especially any buttons or links. Use the design to guide the recipient to the call to action and to encourage them to click on it.

3. Be strong in language.

Don’t be wishy washy in your words. Use strong language instead. Skip any use of “you might” or “you can” and jump right ahead to “you will.” Also skip the bold type and exclamation points. Instead be confident in your language, so that confidence carries over to the recipient and they feel more comfortable reading your email and possibly clicking your link.

4. Be bold in imagery.

Use images to reinforce your message by portraying the end result the prospect will enjoy if they buy from you. If you’re selling diet pills, show a skinny person. If you’re selling a webinar, show happy attendees. Also make sure images reinforce the branding you’re conveying. Use quality images to promote high-end products, for example, or formal poses if those are appropriate to marketing your business. Make the images tell a story without any words at all. People will “read” those images as surely as they read the email…or it might be the images alone they see, meaning the images are the only story you’ll have to tell!

5. Be seamless in transition.

Make sure the transition from email to landing page is seamless as can be. Any friction at all gives a prospect a reason to stop heading down the path you’d laid out. Avoid friction at all costs! Have a consistent language, message, design and use of images from email to landing page. Make the landing page as clearly related to the email as can be so there’s no break between clicking on the call to action in the email to filling out the form in the web page.

Implement one, some or all of these tips, for incremental improvements that will help your email marketing program become a more valued part of the whole sales process, nurturing people from inbox to Buy button.

Marco Marini
Latest posts by Marco Marini (see all)
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3 Comments

  • by Stephanie Fischbach
    Posted April 26, 2012 10:56 am 0Likes

    Thanks for the tips Marco! I think that one of the most important bits you mentioned were not only the importance of being clear and concise, but also making things easy and “seamless” for your reader. If things become difficult, that “x” button can look mighty tempting.. : )

  • by Andy from Benchmark Email
    Posted April 26, 2012 11:14 am 0Likes

    Great advice, Marco! Last week I polled our design team for tips for a blog post I was writing. One tip I got back was to design around the element you want to feature. He said that if you know what you want the focus of your email to be, design everything around that. It’s hard to not be clear with your design when you do that.

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