email marketing

New survey reveals the most annoying phrases used in business emails

Recently, Perkbox Insights conducted a survey to find out what phrases people liked to see in email communication, and which ones rankled. Why does this matter? Well, 73% of respondents said that email was their business communication method of choice!

According to the survey, “Hi” and “Kind regards” are the best ways to start and end an email, while “Hey” and “Best” were among the worst. And weighing in on the ever-present exclamation mark conundrum, 48% think one is okay, while 16% think they should never be used in a work-related email.

Find out some of our own tips about writing great business-related emails, and read the full findings of the email survey here! What do you think of the results?

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5 tips for writing marketing emails that work

business email

In our always-online, always-connected world, the marketing cold call is becoming relegated to history. These days, many of us turn to email or other forms of social messaging to develop new business relationships or seek new partnerships. When done properly, the “cold email” can work wonders in our small business marketing. But, like the cold call, it can also hinder your efforts.

Keep these five marketing email tips in mind before you hit Send:

1) Research the person or company you’re emailing

You’re a clothing designer who’s just found a local influencer that could be perfect to help you promote and review your products on their blog. Great! But before you do anything, make sure you’ve done your research. Who is the best person for you to email – the blogger directly, or a member of their team? Do any of your competitors appear on the site – and if so, how can you set yourself apart? Does this blogger even work with independent designers, or do they focus on bigger names?

2) Don’t start your message with with “Dear sir”

Let’s be honest – it’s the 21st century. Approximately 46% of small-to-medium businesses in Canada have some degree of female ownership – and what about the other non-sir employees who may be the ones reading your email? If you don’t know the name of the person to best address your email to, call the company and ask, or look for a staff directory on their website. Failing that, a generic greeting will do. But don’t irritate your potential partner or client before they even get to the content of your email.

3) Don’t write a generic message

What message appeals to you more:

“Hi. I’m a notebook manufacturer who would love to work with you at www.yourstationeryfriend.com. Please contact me to set up a meeting.”

“Hi Ashley. My name is Lee and I’m a notebook manufacturer. I came across an article you wrote on the Notebook News site, and was very interested to hear about Stationery Friend’s commitment to forming partnerships with manufacturers of animal-shaped notebooks. I’ve been creating elephant-shaped notebooks since 2013, and I would love to schedule a meeting to discuss this more.”

Now, these are just quick examples and not meant to be exhaustive. But you probably would be more drawn to the second email, where the sender has clearly done basic research on you and your company. This is important – a generic fill-in-the-blanks style of email will save time, but it can also put forth the impression that you don’t even really care about who you do business with – anyone will do. Probably not what you intended!

4) Think about your subject line

Try to strike a balance between a spammy, too-good-to-be-true subject line and one that gives no information whatsoever. Remember that this is your first chance to grab the attention of someone who likely sees dozens of emails a day. Read what our GoForth Expert and Fast Company have to say about effective email subject lines.

5) Keep it short and sweet

Your introductory email is not the time to describe how you have always wanted to be a greenhouse architect, or share your business’ origin story – get your foot in the virtual door first. Depending on how “cold” this email is, your recipient might be wary. They might also just scan your email for key words. Keep your eye on the goal and don’t wander too far off track. And don’t bury your lede – ask the relevant question or make the relevant statement as soon as possible. Once you’ve developed an initial connection with someone, then you can go into more detail.

Do you have any email marketing tips that have worked for you?

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These Are the Best Digital Marketing Channels for Small Businesses

Small business owners often don’t know where to start from when it comes to promoting their company, and many marketing-related problems stem from the fact that their budget is usually very limited. However, there are high-converting methods that don’t require costly tactics and huge investments, and that can increase their visibility and help them reach their target audience. Building an online presence is essential for generating qualified leads and growing a customer base.

Start a blog

This simple strategy has numerous benefits and it’s vital for driving traffic to your website. However, if you want this to work, you need to offer high-quality content that will engage your visitors and make them stick around. Research your target audience, find out what their interests and pain points are, and create the content that addresses all these topics in a relevant and helpful way. Basically, your visitors want to learn how to solve some of their problems, read the latest news from the industry, and last but not least, be entertained. A good marketing strategy that will provide your target audience with original, fresh content on a regular basis can be a game-changer for your business. Your blog posts need to be interesting, well-researched, and frequent. The importance of frequency can be corroborated by the latest statistics according to which companies that publish 16 and more blog posts per month get almost 3.5 times more traffic than those that publish between 0-4 blog posts monthly. Guest blogging is another good idea that can increase your visibility and traffic, so make sure to join forces with other fellow bloggers from your niche.

This old-school marketing channel still rocks. Its ROI varies between 3800% and 4400%, which means that for every $1 you invest in your email marketing strategy you’ll earn between $38 and $44, which makes it one of the most profitable digital marketing channels. Besides, the average order value of an email is 17% higher than that of social media. This is evidently one of the most effective and cost-effective channels for digital marketing, which makes it perfect for small business with shoestring budgets, but a word of caution is necessary. As you most probably know, CASL three-year transition period ended on July 1, 2017. This means that businesses operating in Canada will have to obtain express consent for sending all types of commercial electronic messages, including emails, to people living in Canada. The latest and final provisions of this legislation certainly make things more complex for companies, but this by no means marks the end of email marketing in this country. There are steps that have to be taken before trying to contact your target audience by means of an email or text, and all you have to do is make sure that your marketing efforts are compliant with CASL.

Social media

“Pics, or it didn’t happen” is a catchphrase that perfectly illustrates how dependent on social media we have become. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn can actually make it or break it for any business big or small. The impact of social networks is tremendous, and the first thing that your potential customers do when they learn about your company is check it up on social media channels and see how many followers you have, what your existing customers say about you, and whether you publish engaging content. That’s why you need to understand how to harness the power of this incredibly influential digital marketing strategy. Besides regular posting and keeping in touch with your audience, it’s also crucial to understand how to leverage Facebook Ads, and drive more online sales.

Improve your SEO

Search engine optimization is still a mystery to some business owners, which is a great shame since this strategy can help them reach their target audience by boosting their website ranking. It can be costly, but the results make it worthwhile. Bear in mind that SEO won’t work if you observe it as a one-time attempt to boost your rankings. In order for this strategy to be successful, it needs to be persistently and regularly implemented over a period of time. High-quality content and linkbuilding are the most important things that Google takes into consideration when it comes to ranking a website. Studies have also suggested that longer content scores a better ranking, and a point that illustrates this is the stat revealing that the average first-page result on Google has 1,890 words. The first page of Google’s search results gets 92% of all traffic, while the first spot claims a whopping 33% of overall traffic.

Each of these channels will make a big difference for your business, but if you combine them you can expect really amazing results.

Nate Vickery is a marketing consultant and author mostly engaged in researching the latest marketing technology trends and practices applicable to startups and SMBs. He is also the editor at Bizzmark Blog and an author on The Next Web.

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