How to Create Email Campaigns That Get Results (Even If Your Writing Sucks)

Email is a great customer relationship tool that helps build trust, but at the end of the day successful email campaigns get results.

Results are what successful businesses are born and built on.

Your email could have the most convincing copy, amazing design, and perfect layout. If it doesn’t get people to take the desired action then all that creative work was a waste.

But there is a proven formula for creating email campaigns that will always get results.

Right Message + Right Person + Right Time = Successful Email

I know the first thing that came to your mind after reading that, “How do I know what the right message, person, or time is?”

While that’s a very good question, I’m here to tell you that the answer is really not as difficult as you think. You don’t have to be a great copywriting to create successful email campaigns, you have to know how the ingredients of a great email.

Right Message = Relevance

The only type of email you should ever be sending are relevant ones. Relevance leads to response, which in turn leads to results.

Send people email that they actually care about; something that revolves around their interests and caters to their needs, not mindless babble about your company.

Transactional Email is one of the more relevant kinds of emails you could possibly send. A transactional email is a email that you send based off an action that was taken by a prospect or customer.

Amazon sends great transactional email. Here’s an email that I got from them some time ago:

Why is this email great? How is it relevant?

It’s focus on me. (the customer)

I recently added Always Be Testing: The Complete Guide to Google Website Optimizer to my shopping cart but I never followed through with the checkout process. Amazon, recognizing an opportunity to salvage the transaction, sent me an email reminding me that I have this book waiting in my shopping cart.

Not only are the letting me know that they are paying attention to me and understand that my life is busy (which I appreciate), but they are also making it easy for me to finish the purchase (which I also appreciate). This will lead to recovering what could have very easily been a lost sale.

How can you do this?

Next time you send an email to your list, watch to see who clicks through on links and who doesn’t.

From there you have an opportunity to send an email to both the group of people who didn’t click, maybe to remind them that they are missing out like Amazon did with me, or email those who took action and thank them.

Remember, Relevance leads to response.

Right Person = Segmentation

I’d bet good money that at least a good 89% of you reading this don’t segment your list before blasting out emails.

Segmentation is one of the most overlooked aspects of email marketing, but one of the most important.

Email campaigns that are targeted on specific segments usually perform best because they’re more focused on each market. Customers in New York don’t care about a new store opening in San Francisco.

The concept is a simple one. Your target audience consists of a number of different personas, or different types of individuals. All of these people have different wants, needs, and behavioral patterns. Not only that, but they may live is totally different parts of the world.

So from what I just pointed out you could segment based off personal interest, behavior, and location. Now tell me, how many of you actually take all these things into consideration before you press send?

In order for you to get optimal results, you need to make sure you’re sending your email to the right customers.

Segmentation leads to more relevant campaigns.

Next time you’re going to send out a newsletter or some other announcement, make sure you segment your list accordingly. Most email service providers make it really easy to do so don’t sweat it.

If you’re looking for a quality service provider, give Aweber (affiliate link) a try.

Right Time = Timely/Frequency

Sending at the right time is pretty self explanatory, but I want to touch on a few things.

Sending timely email is very important, especially if you are in the media and news industry where everything is time sensitive. The more timely your email, the better the results.

Frequency is also an important part of the right time equation. Email is great for building a relationship with your subscribers, but there’s a thin line between regular emails and being downright spammy.

Check your analytics to see how emails are performing overtime on certain days. Wednesday is said to be the best day to send email, but every list is different.

 What About You?

Are you sending the right message, to the right person, at the right time? Are you sending relevant email?