One of the most challenging things that email marketing managers have to deal with is unsubscribe messages. While the unsubscribe rate cannot be totally eliminated, you can still reduce it.

So, what is a good email unsubscribe rate?

According to the norms, the average unsubscribe rate stands at 0.1%. If your unsubscribe rate is higher than 0.1%, you must consider revisiting your email marketing strategy.

However, the silver lining to the cloud of unsubscribe from emails is that it is better than getting marked as spam.

That said, let’s discuss the positive aspects of unsubscribes.

1. Your sender reputation remains undamaged

Although unsubscribes mean that you have lost a prospective client (perhaps, forever), it does not damage your email sender reputation. As a result, your sales funnel remains intact. An email unsubscribe means that the user is not interested in your products or services. It is, therefore, better that they leave the list rather than staying on the list but not engaging with your emails.  If you want to create emails that not only blow your subscribers’ minds but also are highly engaging, then contact us.

2. You can get to understand why they unsubscribed

When a subscriber clicks on the unsubscribe mail link, you can redirect them to a preference center and request their feedback. This will let you know the reason for unsubscribes and understand their expectations. It is quite likely that you would not receive feedback from everyone who unsubscribes but those who do can share valuable insights with you.

3. Your list will have only qualified prospects

More often than not, subscribers get on your list without any intention to purchase. As bitter as it may sound, not everyone is interested in the products or services you offer. These prospects are not qualified for your services which makes it an impractical approach to make them stay on the list. Therefore, whenever an uninterested customer proceeds with an email opt out, it is actually a blessing in disguise.

4. Unsubscribes allow you to determine the flaws in your email marketing strategy

If you start noticing too many unsubscribes, you should analyze your email marketing strategy and determine whether you are sending too frequent emails. You should check if your emails are relevant for the recipients and their buyer’s journey. Making the necessary changes in your HTML email template will help you reduce the email unsubscribe rate and allow you to create HTML emails that resonate the most with the target audience.

Email Uplers can help you in building emails that not only have a low unsubscribe rate but also bring more conversions.

The Downside of Unsubscribes

Unsubscribes imply that the reader will not engage with any of the future communications which might have a negative impact on sales.

A higher email unsubscribe rate means increased customer attrition and burn out of the list. It can hamper the growth of your business if unsubscribes continue to increase.

In case your unsubscribes exceed the rate of subscription rate, it can lead to considerable drop in the number of conversions which can be a matter of serious concern for marketers.

How to Reduce the Email Unsubscribe Rate

1. Segment the Email List

Segment the subscribers in different groups based on their age, gender, educational qualification, demographics, job position, past purchases, and other parameters that match your industry type and business. So essentially when your subscribers go for an email opt out, they unsubscribe from this list.

By segmenting your email list, you can send out personalized emails that are more relevant for the subscribers. The most effective segmentation criteria are purchase history and demographics. To start with, you can pick two unique segments and go on to build multiple email campaigns with advanced segmentation options.

2. Map the content to match the buyer’s journey

Whenever you get a new subscriber on your list, you can send a welcome email and try to gather more information that would let you understand their preferences. You can use an automation software tool that would allow dynamic segmentation and help you in the creation of better emails based on the stage the buyer is in.

If you want to build an effective email automation workflow, get in touch with us.

3. Inform the subscribers about the alternative communication channels

Despite all your efforts, if the subscriber still chooses to unsubscribe from all emails, he or she should know that you are also active on social media in case they want to stay in touch with you or receive important company updates. Include social sharing buttons in the footer of the unsubscribe page or the preference center so that the subscribers can still have a chance to hear from you.

4. Monitor the load time of your emails

The load time of emails varies based on the email client and device of the users. You should have a fast loading email that will leave a better impact on the reader. Do not add too many images or heavy visual elements to your HTML email template; it can make the email slow to load.

5. Send the emails at a consistent schedule

Receiving emails at a particular time sets the right expectations and works as a powerful brand statement. For instance, I receive an email from Invision App every Wednesday morning at 10 AM in which they share interesting articles related to their industry. This kind of consistency makes me look forward to their emails and learn more about their services.

6. Analyze your email frequency

Determine the right email frequency for your segments. Although it might take several email frequency tests and trial & error method to work it out, you must make sure that you are not sending too many or too few emails.

7. Take the customer feedback seriously

Whenever you get an unsubscribe, ask for the customer’s feedback so that you can modify your email marketing strategy to cut down unsubscribes. Even though the feedback might not bring the recipient back, it will help you shape up the future strategy.

8. Send personalized and exclusive offers

Incentivize your customers with personalized offers they cannot deny. It will not only keep them engaged but also discourage them from unsubscribing.

9. Give the customers an option to adjust their email preferences

Redirect the unsubscribe link to a preference center from where the customers can change their preferences and put the changes into practice as soon as possible.

That said, let’s move on to discuss some of the most interesting unsubscribe email examples to inspire you.

1. Atlas Obscura

Atlas Obscura’s unsubscribe email template is a basic HTML email template that is crisp, to-the-point, professional, and at the same time does a great job of articulating their remorse as well. Remember, the more direct you are in your unsubscriber emails, the more you’ll be appreciated by your subscribers. Even though they will no longer be on your list, they’ll at least part ways on a good note. 

WANT TO SEE HOW PERFECT OUR HTML EMAILS ARE?

Download free sample email templates to see our code quality

DOWNLOAD SAMPLE PACKAGE

2. Bestmade

The reason why this, in our opinion, ranks among the best unsubscribe message examples out there is because of its sheer simplicity. A dutiful acknowledgement of the user’s action followed up by an earnest plea, laced with a healthy dose of humor, to get them to reconsider the same. Full marks for the approach.

3. Readymag

Readymag’s approach to unsubscribe messages is one that we really appreciate and something that is starting to get really popular among brands these days. What’s this said approach, you ask? This: monitoring your subscriber’s engagement levels, identifying the least engaged ones, and asking them whether they want to opt out of your communications. This kind of upfront behavior is generally well-received by customers and ensures that you part ways with them on good terms.

4. HubSpot

HubSpot has an amazing video on the unsubscribe landing page with this message. Another way it stands out is that it points out to the subscribers to keep in touch on social platforms if not the email subscription.

5. Groupon

Groupon’s unsubscribe page generated quite a stir with its funny video that punishes Derrick for his folly of sending an email the subscriber did not like, followed by an immediate closing screen that reads- “That was pretty mean… I hope you are happy. Want to make it up to Derrick? Resubscribe!” Surely a creative marketer’s way,

6. Cuisinart

This unsubscribe template from Cuisinart gives users another option to ponder upon before proceeding to click the unsubscribe button- adjusting their preferences. A big reason why subscribers opt out of brand communications is because they get overwhelmed by their sending frequency. Quite a smart tactic then this by Cuisinart, won’t you agree?

7. Costco

Costco’s opt-out email example showcases a ‘Did you know?’ box on the side containing the links to benefits, security assurance and preferences to the Costco subscription. The use of the words ‘You’re in control!’ makes the subscriber feel that they can still continue with their final decision.

8. Hulu

Hulu’s unsubscribe message in email is earnest, amiable, and extremely polished. They don’t make you guilty about cancelling your subscription but subtly call your attention to the fact that by doing so you might potentially be letting go of “thousands of episodes of TV”. Really makes you think what your weekends would be like without Hulu, doesn’t it?

Image Source

9. Beta List

We’ve said this before and we’ll say it again- if you’re falling short of ideas, turn to pop culture of inspiration. If you’re well versed with your target demographic, using the right pop-culture reference can do wonders for your engagement metrics. And in the case of unsubscribe messages, it might just cause them to have a change of heart. Woody and Buzz Lightyear bidding you goodbye in your inbox is quite the hard sight to behold, isn’t it?

Image Source

10. JETSETTER

JETSETTTER’s unsubscribe page has a neat table containing various email frequencies with a short description about what to expect from each one of them. The unsubscribe email message allows the user to set the preferences according to his or her choice. That increases the likelihood of reducing unsubscribes.

Other creative ideas that can be incorporated to design unsubscribe landing pages, are as follows:

1. Blending past behavior with rational reasons to stay back!

Example: A future sneak peek – Larger than life heaven’s preview in email or landing page.

2. Real time personalization on unsubscribe page!

Examples: Sand clock – “Dying in your separation, 8 seconds to bring us back to life” – Resubscribe

You left a time bomb! Tick Tick Tick, It’s dreadful, Save us – 10,9,8….2 Resubscribe and a few seconds later… 1 Blast!!

It is 7.00 AM in Sydney, our email manager hasn’t woke up yet and you are about to spoil his day. Unsubscribe later as he wakes up? No?

3. Showing the loss in humorous way using a funny image.

Example: “No longer want to receive insightful blog updates? Well, you can leave us for sure, but half knowledge is a dangerous thing!

Wrapping Up

Incorporate these simple-to-implement ideas into your businesses’ unsubscribe landing page, to be able to make those priceless subscribers stay!

Signing off with an opt out email example to inspire you:

However, remember that the best unsubscribe email message of confirmation is the one that you don’t send.

If you have any other tips, do let us know in the comments below.

The post Email Unsubscribe Message: Exploring its Nitty Gritties with Examples appeared first on Email Uplers.

Now, there could be multiple reasons why your subscribers are not converting. But, all things being equal, it boils down to just this: You’re failing to persuade your audience to buy from you. Having worked with over 5,000 global agencies across the world, you can take our word for it. After all, doing the right thing isn’t the same as doing it right. 

How about we con a few tricks of persuasion? We’ll explore what goes into making a truly persuasive email template. And of course, we’ll show you a number of examples. Let’s roll the ball! 

Persuasion in Email Marketing 

Persuasion in email marketing works differently than in other forms of communication. Since the primary goal is to persuade people to buy your product or service, email is concerned with persuading the recipient to click through to your website. 

Let’s put it this way: A truly persuasive email is the result of a series of “micro-conversions,” as Kath Pay has identified. 

To that end, here are a few things to bear in mind: 

• The first micro-conversion starts with the subject line. You must get the subscriber to open your email! The subject line includes both it and the pre-header. Space is limited, but attention, more so. Therefore, you must ace the subject line.
  
• As Pay points out, the body of the email is where your skills as a copywriter “go into overdrive.” Persuasion is a mix of excellent copy and intelligent design. We’ll get to it in detail in a while.
  
• Now, once you’ve persuaded the subscriber to click through to your website, your landing page will do the converting now. But your email copy and landing page copy should be markedly different. Pay advises marketers to “spend generous amounts of time” on crafting their landing pages. Never copy one to/from the other. Email and landing pages are as different as poetry and the novel. You’re addressing two different mental states, if not two different audiences. Email recipients are farther from the conversion stage than the landing page visitor. 

Now, that’s the series of “micro-conversions.” It’s all good, in theory. But do brands follow it? Let’s explore a few examples. 

5 Persuasive Email Examples

Let’s look at 5 brands that have mastered the art of persuasion.  

1. dbrand

The hallmarks of conversion-focused copywriting are imagination, storytelling, humor, and subversion. It bewilders you, shocks you, and grips you. It’s daring and quite often so face-palmingly simple. 

Take a very close look at this cart abandonment email from dbrand; read every line of it. The email’s subject line is: “You did it again ”

Source: Inbox

What makes this cart abandonment email so “persuasive?” Here’s what: 

• Intimacy: The subject line “You did it again” has that heartfelt, love-filled disappointment on the part of someone who cares. You don’t expect it from a stranger, it’d be offensive. But here’s someone who you’d be disappointed to disappoint. Now that’s the vibe such a subject line creates. 
  
• Fear-then-relief: The good news-bad news bit is an example of the well-studied fear-then-relief effect. The goal is to scare, then immediately provide relief. (Incidentally, this is how insurance companies persuade you, but it’s most evident at the hustings.)
  
• Bold and brief: The upfrontness of the copy, “just give us your money,” this spitfiery way of talking, all these add up. It’s riveting, makes the reader sit up and notice, and that’s the point. The effect is one of humor obviously, but how often do you see it?
  
• Storytelling: What’s the point of introducing your second cousin, Troy, your mom, and your grandparents? Nothing! And that’s the point, haha. It’s a kind of “useful redundancy.” In this way, the brand re-positions itself as your only problem-solver.
  
• Subversion: Finally, dbrand subverts the way the unsubscribe option is provided. The dig is not lost on the reader.

In terms of design, the dark-color theme, paired with a prominently yellow primary CTA, and good use of white space make this a truly persuasive email template. 

2. Doughp

One of the greatest benefits of being creative is that you can depend on everything and nothing to get the job done. It’s not formulaic as such, though it has its rules and established strategies. Take a look at this persuasive email example from Doughp. It’s an apology email, and the subject line reads: “Yikes! We messed up…”

We almost feel that it’s so well-written it seems like a marketing ploy! But that’s the power of the (well-)written word. 

This is such a good apology that you’d buy in order to forgive than to enjoy a bucket of Doughp. Here’s what stood out to us: 

• The way it ends: What a beautiful way to end the message! The P.S. is so clever. It deliberately places the company in a good light. Because that’s what matters to the customer: The brand, not the occasional goof-ups of its employees. A masterstroke!
  
• The unmissable subject line: Any email that is prefaced by Yikes is hard to miss. It stands out immediately. Your “bad-boy genes” fire, and you want to know how the other party messed up.
  
• The facepalm emoji: Just spot-on, case closed.
  
• The vulnerability component: The human element in the email is what makes it all the more appealing. It shows that Doughp is not out there just to turn a profit. They value what they make. They’re passionate about it, and ergo, vulnerable with respect to it. They really don’t want you to miss out on the experience they are offering. 

When the fast-food joint KFC ran out of chicken, they didn’t chicken out. Instead, they just rearranged their letters. (See below) You might argue that it’s a piece of creative stunt; in fact, one feels persuasion itself is only too glad to put on the stuntman’s rags, but that’s a brawl for another day. 

3. Graza 

In a study on the application of language in advertising, the use of techniques similar to those employed in poetry was highlighted. 

“The utilization of mnemonic devices, including rhyme, rhythm, alliteration and assonance provides a significant advantage due to their mnemotechnical effect. This effect ensures that the recipient of the advertisement retains the information more effectively and can retrieve it at the appropriate time,” state Annye Braca and Pierpaolo Dondio in their paper, Developing persuasive systems for marketing: the interplay of persuasion techniques, customer traits and persuasive message design. 

Take a look at Graza’s persuasive email template. The subject line employs alliteration: “TENNIS, TUNES, TALENTI, TASTY”

Source: Inbox

It’s Graza’s monthly newsletter. Check out what stood out to us:

• The grammar police copped: In another paper, titled Linguistic patterns in advertising messages, author A Teodorescu points out how advertising copy breaks the rules of English grammar with a view to capture attention. Graza’s email also does that. The use of SOOO and Anyways x 2 are two examples here.
  
• Variety of CTAs: Variation is also a much-studied phenomenon in language. Just go back to Graza’s diversely-written CTAs. From Woof Woof to Get Dippin’ to Cheers Mate, these fire up the hippie in us all, don’t they? Much has been said about using action verbs in CTAs. That’s useful, too. And practical.
  
• Positive associations: The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), as conceptualized by Petty and Cacioppo in 1986, attempts to understand how an individual responds to a persuasive message. If the individual is motivated enough to evaluate a message critically, they’re more likely to take the central route. If not, then they take the peripheral route. Graza’s products are meant to evoke automatic responses, so the copy contains a number of positive associations, such as beaches, summer tracks, and the Wimbledon. By associating their products with glamor, pleasure, and just good vibes, Graza is encouraging the reader to take the peripheral route.
  
• Excellent design: Not just how to write a persuasive email, but Graza knows how to design one, as well. From custom typeface to toon figures to checkered dividers to rounded buttons to line sketches, here’s an email that surely burned a lot of calories. 

Next, let’s consider the place of humor in email marketing. Humor is a potent persuasion tool. However, it is important to bear in mind that humor as an emotion is something which may only be leveraged against the backdrop of your peculiar brand identity. It presupposes a certain type of brand attitude. You can’t be funny anytime you feel like. Accordingly, let’s consider a brand like Shinesty. Keep reading! 

4. Shinesty

Shinesty has to be one of the funniest brands out there. And they’re proud to flaunt it in their emails. Consider the following example. How can you not be led to buy by such a persuasive email template?

Source: Inbox

Before diving into the “excellencies” of this email, appreciate the fact that it’s not meant for everyone. Shinesty’s audience is of a certain kind. Not everyone responds to such emails. We underscore this since we don’t want you to take what works for this email as a template. 

Now, obviously, many things stood out to us. Here’s some of them:

• Problem-focused subject line: The subject line, which reads “is it a perma-wedgie?” is not just funny but problem-focused. But wedgies can be serious, notwithstanding their association with humor. So, the subject line gets into the heart of the matter. In addition, Shinesty isn’t serious about their email address either. This email’s address reads: cracking.up@shinesty.com.
  
• Customized CTA buttons: CTA copy is widely overlooked by most brands, but Shinesty doesn’t leave anything to chance. We love all the CTAs, not least because they use a first-person POV. And of course, they’re hilarious.
  
• Two-sided messaging: A two-sided message in advertising is one that highlights the negative aspects as well as the positive aspects of a product. In this email, “Am I naked?” illustrates this. The point is, Shinesty’s panties are so comfy that they don’t even seem to touch your skin, so you’d feel like you’re naked. So, being naked and being comfortable are the negative and the positive aspects, respectively. It’s a very well-known technique.
  
• The hilarious footer: Shinesty’s footer is a hoot! It deserves to be quoted in full: “This extremely tasteful, hand crafted, organic, non-gmo, vegan, gluten free email was designed by Car and written by Paige.” Does it get any funnier than this? This is one of the less crass instances of Shinesty’s use of humor. 

We’ll study one last persuasive email example, before moving on to a few expert tips on how to write a persuasive email.

5. L’Oreal Paris

It’s one thing to write persuasively, another to design persuasively. In our last example, we explore what goes into designing a persuasive email template. For that, check out this email from L’Oreal Paris first.

Source: Milled

L’Oreal Paris exudes power, empowerment, and confidence. That’s their brand attitude. Their tagline “Because you’re worth it” was the first tagline to highlight self-confidence in the history of advertising. Does their email design also show this? Let’s find out. 

• One-action-at-a-time strategy: You can only persuade if you let the viewer focus on one thing at a time. An unbusy design keeps the viewer busy. L’Oreal confines their content blocks to one viewport at a time. It almost has an immersive quality to it. Each viewport has just one type of content and just one CTA.
  
• Brand-identified images: Iconic images, A-listers, and a TikTok sensation, these persuade the recipient that they’re worth it. If you’re the right audience, you’d want L’Oreal to feature Kendall Jenner right at the top. The photos are also brilliantly shot; as professional models, the featured icons easily exude confidence and power. In this respect, it’s interesting to point out how persuasion leverages illusory superiority. The term explains itself. You praise to persuade. Advertisers use “authority-based endorsements,” a phenomenon known as the Captainitis effect.
  
• Visual appeal: L’Oreal rules the visual department. From those vignetted dividers to bold typography to Dark themes, the email is an eye candy. The black-and-silver combination is classy.
  
• The TikTok effect: No other social media channel has proven to be so persuasive as TikTok. (Sorry, Zuck!) You just have to drop those two alliterating syllables to get tongues wagging. By leveraging TikTok in their email, L’Oreal has won the battle of persuasion criminally easily. In featuring Kensington Tillo’s, not Kendall’s, favorites, L’Oreal is being real with a vengeance. 

That wraps up the examples part. We’ll leave you with a few expert tips on how to write a persuasive email. 

10 Tips on Creating A Persuasive Email Template

1. Know your tribe: You want to persuade, but persuade who? Do you know your audience well enough to dare to persuade them? The fuel of persuasion is stored in the other party’s tank. So make sure you know your audience like the back of your brand.
   
2. Attract from the get-go: If you want to capture attention, do it quickly. Master the headline. It ought to grip the reader. Don’t rely on words only; leverage emojis, exclamation points, even numbers, why not? Bespoke Post did it with their subject line. 
   
3. Embrace colloquialism: In other words, write informally. Write as you speak. Doesn’t matter whether you’re a hip brand or not. Keep it cool. Save the formal style for the legal bit at the end.
   
4. Be as concise as possible: That’s David Ogilvy’s advice, no one less. You can get there by trying this 15-minute exercise created by Eddie Shleyner, founder of Very Good Copy.
   
5. Embrace persuasive design: Keep it simple, make it appealing, don’t forget visual hierarchy, and leverage white space. For more on persuasive design, read up on the process of persuasion.
   
6. Break up with ChatGPT: We mean it! Do NOT use AI. AI can’t persuade. The best copy is created, not generated.
   
7. Get acquainted with cognitive biases: The human mind is biased as hell. Read up on the different types of biases. Use them. Some of the well-known biases include the cognitive ease bias, the anchoring effect, the Von Restorff effect, the peak-end rule, etc.
   
8. Exploit the Rule of Three: Here’s Pay: “Things in threes have a natural cadence and rhythm. They’re memorable, they flow easily in our minds, and they’re sticky. (See what I did there?)”
   
9. Highlight the benefits: How will the would-be customer benefit from your product/service? Let them know. Apply social proof.
   
10.  Be aware where the customer is: Before hurrying to write an email, consider at what stage the customer is. Are they exploring? Are they ready to buy? Expecting a post-purchase email? Be certain about the funnel, and craft copy accordingly. 

Copy that? Then Let’s Start Persuading Together!

Now you know what goes into making a persuasive email template. We’ll take a cue from our own book, and inform you that we deliver over 3,000 email templates per month. So far, we have successfully persuaded over 5,000 agencies in more than 60 countries. If you want a taste of it, get in touch with our email experts pronto!   

The post Unsellably Yours: How to Write/Create A Persuasive Email Template appeared first on Email Uplers.

Just like your skin acts as the first line of defense for your body, signup forms are the first line of lead generation strategy for your business. Once you can get your signup forms right, you can pave the way for enhancing your business.

To make the task easy for you, we will be sharing how to create a Mailchimp email signup form and signup forms in Campaign Monitor. Let’s start with Mailchimp first.

How to Create A Mailchimp Custom Signup Form

Once you have created your mailing list in Mailchimp, you can customize the Mailchimp signup form according to your branding principles and add exclusive Offers to woo new customers. If it gets too technical for you, just hire Mailchimp email expert from Email Uplers and make your lives easier.

How to Initiate the Process?

First of all, modify your Mailchimp email signup form and the response emails with the help of <Form Builder>, before generating the embedded form code.

You have 5 embedded signup form design options:

1. Classic: It is similar to hosted Mailchimp signup forms

It is useful if you wish to go for a traditional signup form. You can create a signup form in Mailchimp with additional fields or options you wish to add, that includes form title and width, visible and required fields, groups, and other formatting options.

For professionals who use JS on the webpage, it is recommended that they check the box <Disable JavaScript>.

2. Super Slim: Can be used as a sidebar on the website

The Super Slim Mailchimp custom signup form templates come in handy when you wish to have only an email address field in your Mailchimp email signup form. It is easy to customize the title and width of the form too.

3. Horizontal: Pan out as footers

The horizontal form is almost similar to the Super Slim form with minor changes. You can customize the title and figure out whether you need it or not.

4. Naked: No defined styles

The Naked form is just like the Classic form without any CSS or JS. The advantage of these forms is that it gives you more control and flexibility. It is possible to include a form title, change the form width, add or remove form fields and even link to your campaign archive.

5. Advanced: Host Your Own Signup Form – Using API.

Just check out your hosted ‘Mailchimp form’ for form action, user ID, list ID, and input name elements from the page source. Merge these details in the form hosted on the website and you’re all set!

The advantage of using this method over other Mailchimp signup form design options is that it allows you to select whether you want to have ‘single opt-in’ or ‘double opt-in’ for your subscribers who fill up this sign up form. With the conventional method, Mailchimp, by default, will apply double opt-in which might reduce the lead conversion up to certain extent. This method helps you decide whether you want a single or double opt-in.

Note: The embedded forms take up the style sheet of your website, so the form may look different in Mailchimp and the website. To make sure that your website design and form are visually in sync, you will have to modify the form code after adding it to your site.

How to Get Embedded Form Code?

Now let’s look at how to create a Mailchimp embed signup form. 

Select “form option” after creating your signup form. Customize the settings and generate the form code that you wish to add to your website.

Steps to get the form code:

1. Go to the Lists page.
2. Click the drop-down menu adjacent to the list and <select Signup forms>.
3. Go to Embedded forms.
4. Select a form type- Classic, Super Slim, Horizontal, or Naked and customize the Form Options.
5. Copy the code from the Copy/paste onto your site field and paste the entire code into the HTML of your website where you wish to see the Mailchimp embed form.

Done! That’s how you create a Mailchimp embed signup form. 

Form Options

In addition to the types of forms, Mailchimp also gives you the option to include reCAPTCHA so that there are no spam signups. By enabling reCAPTCHA, subscribers will have to check a reCAPTCHA box in a pop-up window once they click the link in the confirmation email.

How to Create A Pop-up Form in Mailchimp?

You can’t neglect pop-up forms while learning how to create a form on Mailchimp. So, to create a pop-up form, follow these steps: 

• You need to access the pop-up form builder. For that, click Audience, then select Signup forms.

• Click Create new form, followed by Create pop-up form

• Name your form, then click Audience again, and choose your preferred theme.
  
• Click Begin. 

Now you have successfully created a pop-up form. You can now customize it. 

How To Add Tags to Mailchimp Signup Forms

In this section, we’ll learn how to use WP forms and Mailchimp to add tags to signup forms. To begin with, you need to add WPForms to your WP website. 

Next, go to the WPForms page and select Add New. Enter a name for your form and choose your preferred template as shown below. 

Having chosen your preferred template, you can go on to customize your form. But the next important step is to connect the form to your Mailchimp instance. 

Go to Marketing, then select Mailchimp as shown in the screenshot below. 

Next, go to your Mailchimp account to locate the API key. Click your profile photo on Mailchimp, and select Extras. Choose API keys from the Extras dropdown. 

Generate a new API key, then copy and paste it into WPForms. Click on Add New Connection, and enter a name for your connection with Mailchimp. Click Ok. 

Now, you just need to add Mailchimp tags to your signup form. On the same page, click on the Actions to Perform dropdown, and select Subscribe. 

Next, click on Select Tags, and select how you want to tag your subscribers.

Voila! You have successfully added tags to your Mailchimp signup form. 

How to Add Form to A Third-Party Website?

You have to embed the code under a container/div to get its functionality right.

Check out the preview of the code below.

Mailchimp supports third-party platforms enlisted below:

1. Blogger and Blogspot
2. WordPress
3. Jimdo
4. Weebly
5. Webs
6. Yola

That’s all folks, for Mailchimp!

Moving on to Campaign Monitor now…

How to create signup forms in Campaign Monitor

So we’ve looked at how to create a signup form in Mailchimp. Now, have a look at the steps below to create a signup form in Campaign Monitor.

1. Go to Lists & Subscribers.

2. Select the list for which you are looking for signups.

3. Click <Signup> forms in the right sidebar, on the list page.

4. Select Copy or paste a form to your site on the Signup forms page

5. You can add and remove form fields by checking the box against it. If you wish to reorder the field, you can do so by clicking and dragging the handles.

6. Click on Get the code.

7. Copy and paste the HTML code into your website.

Bingo! You have just “created” a signup form on Campaign Monitor.

Some Additional Actions

1. Add, remove, and reorder form fields

Only the “Name” and “Email” fields will be included in default form. Besides, you can add or remove form fields and even change the order of display. To add custom fields, you only need to select the checkbox next to those fields. To reorder the fields, click and drag the handles.

2. Multiple lists to single signup form

You can even allow people to opt-in to multiple lists at the same time. Say for example, if you have newsletters as well as marketing emails, you can give the subscribers the provision to sign-up on multiple lists according to their preferences.

While using Mailchimp multiple signup forms, keep in mind that the selected lists should all be either confirmed opt-in or single opt-in. Subscribers will receive a single confirmation email even if all the lists are confirmed opt-in.

3. Make signup form fields required

A simple code can set a field as “required” which means that the subscribers will have to compulsorily fill that field.

Here’s the code:

<input id=”fieldiddtyu” name=”cm-f-iddtyu” type=”text” required />

Safari versions older than 10.1 on MacOS and Safari on iOS don’t support this feature. A workaround is to use Hyperform or html5 Forms..

4. Use HTTPS to make the signup form secure

Use the below mentioned code to use HTTPS instead of HTTP.

<form action=”https://accountname.createsend.com/t/i/s/tikpjy/” method=”post” id=”subForm”>

5. Add CAPTCHA to the Mailchimp email signup form

Add CAPTCHA as a verification step to ensure that there are no spambots corrupting your list. All the non-human responses will be eliminated by doing so.

To add CAPTCHA, search for input id=“fieldEmail” in the generated code.

Change the name=“cm-[unique identifier]” to name=“email”.

This successfully adds CAPTCHA to the signup form.

Campaign Monitor also allows you to host your own signup form through an API just like Mailchimp.

Wrapping It Up

Many enterprise ESPs like SFMC, HubSpot, Marketo too support similar logic to get lead form created on your assets and use them to bring all your leads to one platform and trigger emails helping your subscriber get the information they need. 

Wanna try out creating signup forms for your website? Get in touch with us and Email Uplers would be happy to help.

The post How to Create Signup Forms in Mailchimp & Campaign Monitor appeared first on Email Uplers.

Are you taking up a customer-centric approach for your email marketing so as to deliver what subscribers are looking for? If yes, you’re on the right track. The cut-throat competition has made it imperative to live up to the expectations of your subscribers/ customers. In this article, we are going to explain how to create a survey in Mailchimp and how you can embed polls in your email campaigns.

You can stand true to the customer’s expectations by keeping them engaged and asking for their reviews and feedback – that is best done through email marketing.

Table of Content:

• Importance of customer feedback
• How to collect customer feedback through email?
• How to Embed Polls to an Email Campaign?
• How to Add Surveys to an Email Campaign?
• Some Useful Tips for Polls and Surveys
• How to View the Poll Results?

I. Importance of customer feedback

1. To know your customers better

When you embed surveys in a newsletter, you are essentially giving your customer an opportunity to share exactly what they like or dislike about a service/product. The information can be helpful in improving operations and customer satisfaction.

2. To retain and recover customers

If your customer is happy, it is obvious that you are less likely to lose them to a competitor. Customer feedback helps to retain customers, as you can act on the suggestions identified in feedback surveys. If an issue is resolved in the customer’s favor, there is a 70% chance of return.

3. To manage the negative reviews

A negative review online is always a bitter pill to swallow, especially for the service industry. With the MailChimp survey tool, you can provide the customers with direct feedback options, thus reducing the amount of negative feedback on review websites (which can hurt you financially. Direct feedback gives you a chance to solve your customers’ issues, thereby strengthening your relationship with them.

4. To establish a link

If you have run a feedback program for a year or more, it will be possible for you to compare financials to determine whether an enhanced customer experience results in a better business outcome or not. More often than not, it does.

II. How to collect customer feedback through email?

You can collect customer feedback in two different ways in email marketing.

1. Web-based or Traditional

Many email marketers redirect the subscriber to the respective landing page or Google Forms so that the recipient can hop on to the webpage and fill the Mailchimp survey. This is known as web-based feedback email. Here’s an example by Dairy Queen.

The advantage of using this approach is that you can put in the questions of your choice without stressing over the limitations of the email client or ESP.

However, it adds an extra click for the subscribers who want to share their feedback… and it is quite likely that they skip the step altogether. Generating a response from the subscribers would become a challenge if you cannot convince the visitors to go to the landing page.

Consequently, you would end up missing out on a sizable section of potential subscribers.

According to GetResponse email marketing benchmarks, your average click-through rate can be somewhere between 5-7%. Going by this statistic, the success rate of your email campaign would be merely around 2-3%.

Moreover, proper landing page and ESP integration is of paramount importance if you choose to go by this approach; and it naturally takes more effort and resources to create a dedicated landing page.

Need help with Email Design & Coding?

Avail of our cost-effective custom email template production services.

Download rate card

2. Email-based or Embedded

An email-based feedback email consists of survey questions embedded right there. According to a study, embedded feedback emails enhanced the survey engagement by 210% in comparison to the traditional feedback email.

For instance, take a look at this email by brooklinen.

III. How to Make a Poll Newsletter?

• Go to the Design step of the Campaign Builder.
• Edit the text content block you wish to work upon by clicking on it.
• Use the syntax given below to place the poll merge tag into the editor.

*|POLL:RATING:x|*
<Your Poll Question Here>
*|END:POLL|*

• Click on “Save & Close”.

You’ll be able to determine the orientation of the poll in your campaign by the x value in the merge tag. It can be either H or V. If you want to display the poll horizontally, replace x with H. Replace x with V for vertical placement.

Close each and every *|POLL:RATING:x|* tag with a corresponding *|END:POLL|* to get separate responses.

You won’t be able to change the lowest and highest labels in the simple poll.

The merge tags get converted into a clickable rating scale when the subscriber receives your poll campaign, as shown below.

You’ll be able to view the total votes that each option received, its percentage, and the last vote that was recorded in that poll. By using the poll merge tag, you can check how many subscribers voted for each of the numbers 1-10. To see which subscriber clicked on which number, go to the response numbers in the Option column.

Check out the below image:

Points to Remember

• When you use a poll merge tag, it redirects the subscribers to the survey landing page on answering every poll question. If you’ve added multiple poll questions, subscribers will need to come back to the email to answer the next question.
• Polls will work even if you haven’t enabled click tracking.

Applications of Polls in Email

Now that you know how to make a poll newsletter, here are some of its applications:

• Determine the likeliness of customers to recommend your product or service.
• Gauge the level of your customer service.
• Ascertain whether your customers are satisfied with your offerings.
• Ask for feedback about the quality of content in your resources.
• After a product delivery, eCommerce websites can get feedback on the product quality and delivery, gathering valuable insights about their overall checkout experience.
• Companies can ask for feedback about a newly launched product.
• Travel, food, hotel, and retail industries can make use of polls in emails to solicit feedback about their services, products, and amenities.
• The automobile industry can determine how efficient its manufacturing and maintenance programs are with the help of a MailChimp survey in email.

IV. How to Add Surveys to an Email Campaign?

• Go to the Design step of the Campaign Builder.
• Edit the text content block to create the email survey template.
• Place your survey question into the editor.
• After the survey question, add the *|SURVEY:|* merge tag into the editor. Type in the survey response after the colon.

Make sure you use a separate *|SURVEY:|* merge tag for each and every response.

Let’s take an example:

Q. What do you prefer as a beverage?

*|SURVEY: Tea|*
*|SURVEY: Coffee|*
*|SURVEY: None of these|*
*|SURVEY: Both of these|*Click on “Save & Close”.

• Click on “Save & Close”

The merge tags get converted into a survey question when the subscriber receives your survey campaign.

This is how it’ll appear:

The survey results will appear as below:

Points to Remember

• Your subscribers can vote only once.
• You can add only one survey in a single campaign. The system will link every response option you add to the first question, as it can’t discern the *|SURVEY:Response|* tags in the campaign. Subscribers will see every question but only be able to answer one.
• Make sure each of your survey responses is unique. For example, don’t include *|SURVEY:None of these|* more than once in the same campaign.
• Survey merge tags take up the link style for the campaign section they’re added to. Even when you style the links separately, you should preview and test the campaign without fail so that the changes you made are in sync with the back-end code for the survey merge tags.

Applications of Surveys in Email

• Get information on customer behavior.
• Know their interests and preferences.
• You can identify buyer personas through surveys.
• Employees can ask employers about their opinion on the latest services introduced.
• Ecommerce industry can take the help of surveys in emails to understand what kind of products customers like and leverage the information mined to personalize their emails.
• Companies operating in the travel industry can send out surveys in emails to understand which time of the year their subscribers deem the fittest for going on a vacation.
• Players in the education industry can send a survey to their students and act on the insights provided to enhance their course modules and teaching methods.
• Surveys are invaluable for the electronics industry to identify the diverse buyer persona that interacts with them and send them customized product recommendations accordingly.

V. Some Useful Tips for Polls and Surveys

• ONLY subscribers on your list can vote in the poll or survey. Mailchimp’s system can’t record the responses received through a forwarded email.
• Mailchimp can record the results only if the recipient responds to the poll or survey from their email inbox. Subscribers can’t respond to the poll or survey if they visit the campaign archive page.

Once the subscriber votes on a question, they are redirected to a “Thanks for voting” message.
If the subscriber tries to vote again, they will be brought to the message “Sorry, you can only vote once per poll”.
You can edit these messages from the “Translate it” tab for the survey landing page.

VI. How to View the Poll Results?

Mailchimp’s system stores the captured responses in the campaign report whenever a poll or survey campaign is emailed to your list.

• Go to the Reports page.
• Click on the View Report button for that campaign.
• Go to Analytics360.
• Scroll down to the Poll Results section on the page.

All the information regarding the poll question- votes cast, pending votes, last vote cast and a table with all results- is displayed under Poll Results.

Creating Segments According to Results

You can segment your list on the basis of responses received on a poll or the specific responses received in a survey. Whether the subscriber has responded to the poll or survey can also be a parameter to segment the list.

Wrapping It Up

Despite the slight limitations of using polls and MailChimp surveys in emails, it’s a convenient and cost-effective method to understand how your products and services are being perceived by your customer. Ask the right questions through polls and surveys to discover the right direction toward business growth.

Are you ready to use polls and embed surveys in newsletters? You can add polls in Mailchimp Templates to boost ROI.

Let me rephrase that.

How likely are you to recommend the usage of polls and surveys in email for your business?

Share your thoughts in the comment box below.

Helpful FAQs

Q) When to plan a poll or survey email? How long does the planning to execution process take?

A) The objective of email surveys and polls is to get into your readers’ opinions. In the service industry, usually, brands roll out their surveys at-least once in a month. This helps organizations to work upon the feedback received from a monthly survey email. 

Other than that, a poll can be planned on an event that might have taken place around your business recently. For instance, if you have updated your website design, you may politely ask your subscribers about the feedback of the new changes. Similarly, a mailchimp survey can help you better understand the taste of your audience’s preferences. You can also use it to compare your old and new services efficiently.

Q) I received low audience interaction using Mailchimp survey tool and polls. What might have gone wrong with my email campaign?

A) There are a number of things that might go wrong resulting in low audience participation. However, to quickly summarize the causes, we can assume the following reasons:

• Low readers engagement could be due to a festival or holiday season
• Your email got lost in the inbox
• Your email went into spam folder
• Email subject line failed to engage the reader
• Email content wasn’t compelling enough to engage the user in taking action
• Your emails have rendering problems across email clients and are probably not responsive

Q) Should we hire a freelancer or a dedicated resource for handling our Mailchimp email campaigns?

 A) Working with freelancers and dedicated resources can be both productive and challenging depending upon the project requirements, available budget, and business understanding. Whatever sources you choose, make sure it is legally documented and accountability for the resource is owned. 

Hiring a dedicated resource for your email campaigns can offer you multiple benefits. Read more. 

Q) Can you help me find budget-friendly Mailchimp template production services?

A) Sure, at Email Uplers we offer email template productions services at an affordable price. For instance:

• PSD to Email conversion starts at $59
• Custom Design and Email Coding starts at $159
• Email Template Audit starts at $499

Want more details on pricing? Visit our email marketing pricing page. 

The post How to Create A Survey in Mailchimp: Boost Your Email Campaign ROI appeared first on Email Uplers.

Your welcome email represents the first communication with the subscriber. Here’s how you can nail it…

Recently, I was looking to buy a business card online when I came across the website Moo. I was greeted by a popup when I was just scrolling through the home page and trying to understand their offerings. 

I entered my email address and received a welcome email in my inbox instantly after I confirmed the subscription.  

After receiving this email, I was keen to buy from them — firstly because I loved the products and secondly because of the discount offer. 

That’s the power of a well-designed welcome email newsletter campaign. It will make people take action. If you do it right, that is. That’s what we’ll talk about in this post. Let’s roll!

Welcome Series Emails: Brand-by-Brand Study

Let’s take a look at some examples of welcome series emails. See how every brand has taken a different approach as per their business type and industry. 

1. Topshop

Topshop has sent out four emails to welcome the subscribers and present their products. 

In the first email, they have sent a warm welcome with a first-time discount. 

The second email introduces the brand to the subscribers along with their USPs and an animated preview of their store. 

In the third email, they have let the subscribers know about their social media presence across different platforms like Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest, and TopShop Blog.

Through the last email of the series, they have introduced their products and influencer collaborations.   

2. Office

Office schedules three emails in their welcome series automation workflow. The first email simply welcomes the subscriber and shares their USPs.   

The second email goes a step further and showcases their popular products to the new subscribers. 

In the last email, they cleverly asked the subscribers for their birthday so that they can send out a birthday gift email to them. 

3. Birchbox

Birchbox includes three emails in their welcome series. The first email invites the new users to purchase their subscription box at a discounted price. 

The second email explains to the users how they can sign up for their subscription box and earn loyalty points. 

The third email helps the subscribers to know more about the brand and the products that they have. 

4. Sur La Table

In the first email of the welcome series, Sur La Table has promoted their 15% off for the new user and talked all about their cooking classes, their online store, perks they have, and the link to find the nearest store. 

The second email talks about their journey and mission statement. 

On clicking through the CTA, the subscribers will be redirected to a relevant landing page that elaborates on their story. 

This goes to show that a landing page is also an important part of your email marketing strategy.  

5. Reebok

Reebok sends out a series of three welcome emails wherein the first email welcomes the subscriber with 15% off coupon code and 40% at Reebok Factory Outlet.

The second email asks the users to set their preferences so that they can send out relevant emails. Also, they remind the new subscribers about the offer they shared in the previous email. 

In the third email, they have gone a bit more specific and sent out product recommendations that might interest the subscriber. They have also highlighted their loyalty program to encourage the recipient to convert. 

Sending out a series of welcome emails is a lot like treating your guests with warm hospitality. After inviting the guests inside your house, you ‘converse’ with them and offer them cookies, cold coffee, or ice cream. That’s exactly how you leave a good impression on your new guests (subscribers). 

Note that this does not go to show that you must bombard your customers with welcome emails one after another. 

As an alternative, you can also send out a single welcome email and wait for the subscriber to take action. If they do not buy from you, send them another email that talks about your USPs and incentivize them. Use a persuasive tone that would convince them to convert and make the purchase. 

Let’s now move on to some more welcome series email best practices that you must remember while sending out welcome emails. 

20 Email Welcome Series Best Practices

1. Send a welcome email as soon as the user subscribes

74.4% of subscribers expect a welcome email as soon as they sign up. Therefore, you must send a welcome email immediately after they complete the subscription process. Besides, 45% of the first-time purchases by new subscribers are noticed within 24 hours of sign-up. 

The odds are that the subscriber is still online and stalking your website or social media handles to learn more about you. Sending a welcome email at this time will help to attract the subscriber further in the funnel. 

I registered on Brooks Brothers in the morning 10:50 AM and received the welcome email at 10:52 AM while I was still on their website browsing for the products I wanted to buy. The products they had highlighted in the email tempted me and made me even more interested in buying from them. 

2.Craft a catchy subject line

Your subject line is much like your body language and etiquettes. Just like your personality decides whether someone would want to talk to you, your subject line decides whether your subscriber will open your email or want to hear from you again. Bearing this in mind, you must pay special attention to your subject line. Make it as engaging as possible for the reader so that you can ensure a higher open rate.

Here are some subject line inspirations for your welcome email. 

Each brand has greeted their new subscriber in a different way based on their niche and business type. While Travelocity has used a simple subject line saying “Welcome to Travelocity”, kate spade has tried to attract the user by using the word ‘gift’ and emphasizing 10% off. Moo and Wistia have used a party emoji as an expression of gratitude and celebration. Go Outdoors has expressed their pleasure to onboard the new subscriber with the subject line “It’s nice to meet you”. 

If you are looking for an email marketing specialist to design such emails for you, Email Uplers can help.

3. Personalize your welcome emails

Although your welcome email is automated, it need not look like one. Needless to say, you must use first-name personalization in your welcome emails; that’s a best practice. However, we have advanced to a world where first-name personalization would not suffice. You have to go a step ahead and send out a welcome email that gives the feeling that it has been exclusively created for the recipient. 

To do so, you can use tools like Convertkit that allow you to set conditional tags with the help of an “If-else” statement. As a result, you will be able to create relevant emails that are more valuable for the user. 

For example: If a subscriber has signed up on your ecommerce website and expressed their interest in home decor items only, you must send out a welcome email that talks more about those products rather than apparels or anything else.  

4. Express gratitude to the subscriber

Say “thank you” to your subscriber for choosing you. The competition in the marketplace is so intense that you must be grateful to the subscriber that he or she singled out your brand to subscribe. Let them know that you are happy to have them on your subscriber list. 

Take a look at this welcome email by Wistia that expresses their excitement and shares tips to get started. 

5. Set the right expectations

Through the welcome email, you can inform the subscribers about the future communications and what they will get from your emails. Let them know how often you will be sending the emails — whether you intend to send weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly emails. 

Additionally, allow your subscribers to choose for themselves how frequently they want to hear from you. Also, make sure that you stand true to these expectations. This means that if your subscriber has set the frequency to once in a month, do not send them emails every week. Just like your friends or spouse would expect you to stand by your word, your subscribers do too. Do not forget that there is a human on the other side of the screen and they like to be treated well. 

Here’s a welcome email template by The Sports Car Digest. See how they have set the expectations right at the outset and let the subscribers know what the future communications will be about. 

6. Let the subscriber know who you are 

More often than not, your subscribers will not know much about your brand except the name and some of the products or services you deal with. Start off your relationship with the newest subscribers by introducing your brand. Welcome email furnishes the best platform to let the users know about yourself and how you can make their lives easier. An engaging introduction will strike the right chord and inculcate trust in the subscribers’ minds. They will, then, be more open to purchasing from you or trying out your products or services. 

Mack Weldon does a great job at explaining all about themselves with a catchy headline: “YOU DON’T HAVE TO READ THIS”.  The subscribers will surely have a smile on their face after reading the email and who knows, they might even make a purchase.

7. Tell your subscribers a story

As an extension of your introduction, you can share your story with the subscribers. When the subscriber just signs up, they are curious to know more about how you started and how things rolled by. Take this opportunity to bring them down the memory lane and tap on their emotional instinct.

Make your story interesting to read for the subscribers. Many brands send out heartwarming stories in the welcome email about how they started from a small room and then expanded their foothold across the world. Such stories carry a huge potential to get subscribers to convert as they give them the feeling that you are ordinary people just like them.   

Charity: Water has sent out a touching message in the form of a story. The video thumbnail in the hero image makes the email more engaging for the reader. It will increase the click-through rate as more people will be interested in ‘seeing’ the story. 

8. Add a pinch of humor to your welcome emails

By sharing your brand story, you add a flavor of emotion to your welcome emails. Similarly, sprinkle some humor to make your welcome emails fun to read rather than the same old “welcome” and “thank you” messages. Being able to make your subscribers smile goes a long way in establishing a stronger rapport with them and encouraging them to convert. 

However, do not go overboard with sarcastic or slapstick humor that would offend the subscriber. In case humor does not go well with your brand, you might as well avoid being funny. Do not add humor in emails just for the sake of it.

Phrasee is one of the best examples of brands using humor in their communications. While their welcome email is pretty straightforward and talks about what’s in store for the subscribers, it has used few expressions of humor to keep the subscribers engaged.

9. Incentivize Your Welcome Emails

Your customers love receiving gifts and incentives. The same goes for your new subscribers. As a welcome gift, you can offer them a discount coupon code or free trial of your product or an insightful resource that would be relevant for them. If you have promised a freebie in the signup form, keep that promise and deliver it in the welcome email. 

In addition, you can also provide links to useful blog posts and how-to guides, FAQs, and explainer videos. Even if you do not have these resources on your website, you can always curate the best of such resources and share them with the reader. Some brands also employ referral marketing strategies and offer additional discounts to people who help them acquire new customers.  

Sur La Table sends out a simple, yet impressive welcome email incentivizing the subscriber with a coupon code for $15 off. On scrolling further down, they have shared the link to their store, details about their cooking classes, and other perks they offer. 

10. Share social proof

Your subscribers trust other users more than they believe the claims of a brand. Therefore, make it a point to share customer reviews and testimonials from people who have already availed your services and tried them out. Such positive feedback will build the subscriber’s confidence and relieve them of any apprehension before buying. Since your welcome email is the first touchpoint, sharing the testimonials therein will increase the likelihood of your subscriber reading it.  

See how Google Primer has shared a testimonial to instill a sense of trust in the subscriber’s mind and prompt conversions. 

11. Highlight the alternative channels for communication

There will be times when the users will engage with your welcome email and a few emails following that, but later end up being inactive. So, it is a good idea to let the subscribers know about your alternative communication channels. You can include your social sharing links, your customer support email address, as well as the location of your physical address. 

See how Moo has promoted their Instagram hashtag to build visibility and establish their active social media presence. 

They have also shared Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, and LinkedIn links apart from that. 

12. Ask your subscriber to whitelist you

Whitelisting is one of the most important things when it comes to effective email marketing. Ask your subscribers to add your email address to their address book so that your emails do not land in the spam folder or promotions tab. This process is known as whitelisting. It will help you to improve your email deliverability by ensuring that all your future emails reach the subscriber’s inbox. 

Here’s an example by Scott’s Cheap Flights that requests the user to whitelist their email address. 

13. Inform the user about the next action

Your user will want to know “What’s next”. Do not leave them hanging with just a welcome message. Tell them about the next action they can take. It can either be signing up for their free trial or downloading a whitepaper or simply checking out the products on your eCommerce store. Whatever it may be, highlight it in the welcome email. Without knowing what to do next, your subscribers will not take any action. Therefore, you must direct them to the next course of action.  

For this, include an actionable CTA in the email that is clearly visible. It must be in contrast with the remaining email design so that it immediately catches the recipient’s attention. 

Go Outdoors has welcomed the new subscriber and redirected them to “start their adventure”, right in the first fold. As the users scroll through the email, they have enlightened them about the perks of joining the email list. 

14. Showcase the range of your products or services

Use your welcome email to flaunt off the products and services that you deal with. Tell the subscribers about your best-selling products and hottest deals. In case you have an ongoing sale, let them know about it. These offers will entice the user to go to your website and check out the products or services. 

You can use static and animated images to draw the subscriber’s attention and convince them to make the purchase. 

Have a look at this welcome email by Brooks Brothers in which they have displayed all the awesome products for men, women, and kids. The last part of the email encourages people to get social and interact with them through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube. 

15. Make the emails visually rich

Talking about images brings us to this point. Include visuals to make your emails appealing. According to the message you wish to convey, you can add images, GIFs, and embedded explainer videos in your welcome emails to make it more aesthetic. For instance: If you are from the B2B sector, you can include a video in your welcome email explaining the usage of your product. 

On the other hand, eCommerce stores can take help of GIFs to showcase their products to the subscribers. 

Marketers who want to stand out can go a step further and include animated illustrations or 3D images in the welcome email. It will make your subscribers look forward to your future emails. 

If you are looking for some inspiration on how to add GIFs and make your emails more attractive, here’s an example from allbirds. 

16. Use the Email Body Wisely

Many marketers try to stuff every detail in their first welcome email. That’s the worst thing you can do. It will make your email too cluttered and confusing for the reader. There will be too many things to distract the user and ultimately, the subscriber will simply close the email. To make sure this is not the fate of your welcome email, you must use your email space tactfully. 

Make it more readable by breaking the text into smaller chunks. Use bullet points or the 1-2-3 formula that will make the email easily understandable. 

Medium has perfectly used the 1-2-3 formula in their welcome email to describe their features. They have added simple icons to make it easily readable. 

17. Always follow the brand guidelines

You must always follow the brand guidelines and this applies to every marketing communication, including your welcome emails. Whether it is the colors, the font face, or the logo, make sure every element is aligned with the branding guidelines laid out by you. 

If you do not follow this practice, your subscribers will not be able to relate to your brand. Ultimately, this will hamper the brand recall. 

Here’s how McDonald’s maintains a consistent design layout throughout their emails. 

18. Prompt your user to ‘reply’ and get in touch with you

Ask your subscribers a question in the welcome email and encourage them to hit ‘reply’. Brands have started implementing this trick and subscribers are actually quite open to getting in touch with the brands and responding. Communication is the key to effective marketing. Rather than sending your email as a ‘monologue’ welcoming the subscriber, make it interactive by presenting it as a dialogue like Sleeknote does. 

19. Give them an option to leave 

Letting your subscribers go is not a very pleasant thing, but it is better to allow them to leave rather than having a disinterested subscriber in your email list. Always include an Unsubscribe link in all your emails; welcome email is not an exception. 

There are some marketers who believe that why would you ask someone to leave even though they have just joined your email list. That’s not a good idea. Nevertheless, according to anti-spam guidelines, you must always include an unsubscribe link in the email footer. 

As another option, you can add a link to your preference center and ask your subscribers to set their preferences instead of unsubscribing from all emails at once. Take a look at this email footer by Go Outdoors. They have not only included the Unsubscribe link but also allowed the subscribers to update their preferences. 

20. Keep optimizing your emails

Monitor the performance of your welcome emails and see if you are getting the open rate, click-through rate, and conversion rate as desired. If not, optimize the emails for better results. 

A few months back when I signed up for Wistia for my personal use, I received this welcome email. 

Recently, when I joined them with my official email address, their welcome email had changed. 

That’s how brands must keep innovating and looking for better ways to engage their subscribers. 

You can even carry out A/B testing and test different variations of your welcome email subject line, copy, design layout, CTA copy, and its placement. Then, you can send out the winning version to your future subscribers. 

Bonus tips: 

1. Always test your welcome emails and the automation workflow to see that the right people are receiving the emails.  
2. Do not send your welcome emails (or any type of emails) with a no-reply email address. Keep the sender name familiar so that the user can instantly recollect the brand. 
3. While introducing yourself in the welcome email, add a picture of your team or workplace. It will build a personal connection with the reader and make them feel like they know you.  

Wrap-up

Whether you want to foster trust with your new subscribers, build your brand, or bring in a higher ROI, welcome emails set the foundation for all this and more. 

Applying the tips shared here will surely give you an edge over your competitors. In case you still need more inspiration beyond the examples shared here, or assistance to design your welcome email campaign, just get in touch with us. 

We can even audit your existing strategy and help you revamp your welcome campaigns as per the industry trends and best practices. 

The post The Ultimate Guide to Create Welcome Email Newsletters appeared first on Email Uplers.

During the Holidays, business owners will be able to compensate for the lost revenue in the previous quarters. So, to make your Holiday season really happy and lucrative, we are here with a detailed guide on how to create a flawless Holiday email template for clients from any sector. 

The first step to any successful marketing strategy is a solid plan. 

Let’s start our odyssey with how to create an effective email marketing schedule. 

1. Plan in advance

As clichéd as this sounds, you must always start thinking about your 

 well in advance so that you have sufficient time for execution. 

After all, well begun is half done. 

So the first tenet of a holiday email marketing guide is: Plan in advance. 

Remember that your subscribers will be bombarded with numerous marketing emails throughout the Holiday season. To make sure you get results, your emails must stand out and reach them at the right time with the right (relevant) message. Too many emails are likely to wear your customers down and your email should not be one of them. It should bring freshness to the inbox while generating Holiday vibes. 

Furthermore, you must think about the resource crunch during the Holiday season. To make sure that the lack of resources does not lead to unhandy email campaigns, you must start planning for the Holiday marketing right from the start of September. 

2. Segment your subscribers to send hyper-personalized emails

Make different lists based on age, sex, geographic location, demographics, and past purchases so that you can target the subscribers with offers that they can most relate to. For example: If you are sending out a Holiday email to your female subscribers, consider sending them offers on party wear or a gift guide to help them find the right present for their loved ones. 

For marketers of SaaS companies, you can check the past interaction of the subscribers and promote offers related to the services they have shown maximum interest in.

Another advantage of segmentation is that it allows you to send inclusive Holiday email templates according to the cultural practices of the subscribers. As an illustration, consider the subscribers from the U.K. and the U.S. 

While most of the subscribers in the U.S. will look forward to Christmas (a festival of Christian), a significant number of subscribers in the U.K. celebrate Hanukkah (a Jewish festival). You must respect such cultural and religious differences and optimize your holiday email ideas accordingly. 

3. A/B test and always have a contingency plan in place

You must always A/B test your Holiday email campaigns and see what works the best for you. It is advisable to promote the “Christmas in July” sale and see how customers are responding to it. Based on these results, you can plan your Holiday email campaigns in the last quarter of the year. Test the holiday subject lines, preheader text, emojis, kind of offers, personalization, email layout, visuals used, and CTA placement. Track the email performance metrics to get an idea of what kind of emails resonate the most with your customers. 

Also, have a contingency plan in place to cope up with any inadvertent occurrence. Besides, keep an apology email ready in case there’s any technical glitch on your website or you end up sending the wrong email to your subscribers. 

These three aspects form the basis of any Holiday email marketing guide. 

4.  Pay attention to your email subject lines

Holidays call for some special treatment for your email marketing campaigns. It is not about highlighting “business as usual” or mediocre offers. Your subject lines must be able to draw the subscriber’s attention and prompt them to open the email. You can even use Holiday-specific emojis like Christmas tree, Santa Claus, gift, or party emoticon. 

You can even ask a question through your email subject line to pique the subscriber’s curiosity and put the answer in your email copy. 

For instance: Draft a subject line that says “Looking for last-minute Holiday gifts for your loved ones?” and promote a same-day delivery offer with free shipping on select gifts in the email. 

Your subject lines must have power words like discounts, savings, hot deals, and no delivery charge to entice the subscriber to open the email. You can even create a sense of urgency by using words like limited time offer, order now, and last 24 hours only. Apart from these, you can have subject lines that reflect gratitude and make the subscribers feel special. Holidays are a good time to get creative, so think of some interesting puns that would take your subject lines to the next level. For example: You can use the subject line: “BOO-tiful costumes for your kids” to promote kidswear for Halloween. 

Last but not the least, personalize your subject lines to impart an exclusive experience to the subscribers.  

5. Let your email copy exude Holiday vibes

Write an email copy that perfectly matches the mood of the Holidays. Use relevant words like “trick” and “treat” for Halloween, “Thank you” for Thanksgiving Day, and “Santa” and “reindeer” for Christmas. Do not have too long copies that would leave the subscribers bored. Just write a short, engaging copy that can drive your subscribers to make a purchase.

6. Use visuals that support your copy and the kind of offers you are promoting

The holiday season is that time of the year when you can experiment with different types of visuals. You can think out of the box and use GIFs, cinemagraphs, and videos in your Holiday emails to get ahead in the competition and bring something unique to the subscriber’s inbox. 

7. Incentivize your subscribers for their actions

Whether your subscribers make a purchase from you or refer a friend to your business, you can incentivize them with a gift. You can have a point-system that allots points for every purchase that the subscriber makes. They can redeem these points for the next purchase. Furthermore, you can execute a referral marketing strategy to encourage more people to spread the word and acquire new customers. 

8. Try to get user-generated content through your emails

User-generated content is your best shot if you’re running out of holiday email ideas.

Use Holiday email templates to inspire people to talk about you on their social media handles and boost your visibility. You can promote Holiday-related hashtags that match your offerings and organize a free giveaway contest for people who post on social media and tag you. This is like killing two birds with one stone. It will not only get people to take action but also build your online presence. In turn, it will amp up your conversions. 

9. Do not forget to send last-minute deals

Many of your subscribers will be looking for last-minute deals and offers that would cater to their Holiday needs. For such subscribers, you must send out last-minute deals and gift guides. It will prompt people to make instant purchases and contribute to your business growth. 

10. Keep in mind the latest email design trends

Your subscribers are looking for something new in their emails and therefore, you must take into consideration the latest trends during this year. 

Some of these trends are:

1. Bold typography
2. Pastel colors
3. Monochrome layout
4. Dark mode compatibility
5. 3D images
6. Animated illustrations

11. Send out post-holiday offers

Any useful holiday email marketing guide must include the post-holiday period. 

Once the Holidays are over, do not wrap up your marketing efforts. Send out some deals after the Holidays to encourage people to avail the reward points or use the gift cards they received during the season. This will get you some more sales for the first quarter of the next year. 

12. Include interactivity in your Holiday email templates

Besides animations and videos, you can make your emails more visually aesthetic by adding interactivity like menus, accordions, sliders, carousels, and hover effects. It will help your emails stand out from the crowd and at the same time, get you more conversions. 

If you’re creating a holiday email template for clients, do consult with the stakeholders and present your interactive mockups first. 

13. Keep your CTAs actionable and clearly visible

One of the most important elements of your emails is the CTA as it is the final checkpoint before email conversions. You must have actionable CTAs and place them in such a way in the holiday email template that they are clearly visible to the subscriber. Another tip to get maximum people to take action is to draft innovative CTAs that are beyond “Buy now” and “Shop now”.

14. Design landing pages that match the email content

Your landing page must perfectly complement the email copy and visuals. Stop Aging Now has set a great example of the email and landing page duo. 

After you click on the email CTA, you will be redirected to a landing page that allows you to carve a pumpkin with a knife (mouse cursor) and avail the offer it reveals. 

It is a wonderful way of gamifying the experience and getting people to convert. 

Wrapping Up

Emails have the power to get people to take action immediately if done right… and that’s exactly what you want during the Holidays. So, just follow these tips, have an enticing CTA button, and achieve your Holiday business goals. Remember that your subscribers are as occupied as you during the last three months of the year. Therefore, your email must deliver value and compel them to take action.

If you are unable to get the ball rolling and create beautifully designed and perfectly coded email templates or need help with setting up your Holiday email campaigns, LET US HELP…

We would love to understand your needs and create an impeccable holiday email template for clients. 

The post Your Concise Guide to Holiday Email Ideas appeared first on Email Uplers.