Anyone marketing online in the late nineties knows it didn't take much at all to get someone on your subscriber list. It took even less for them to stay on your list.
Online marketing was such a novelty; people read just about anything they received.
Fast forward to 2013. Building a list of subscribers takes more effort than ever before. Keeping them on your list is more of a challenge too.
Getting people to open emails is tougher by the day. So much in fact, some people have an open rate of as little as 5%. Even when someone opens an email, there's no guarantee they will read your message to the end.
On the flip side there are some experts who have as high as a 50% open rate. Their subscribers can't wait for their next message to arrive, reading every single word in the message.
So what's the distinction?
Deliverability
The number of emails not reaching their intended destination is staggering. According to Phil Akilade in 2009, 10.5% of emails did not reach the inbox and in the first half of 2011, 19% of email sent did not reach the inbox.
In 2012 the percentage increased.
Imagine if over 20% of your emails are not making it to the intended destination. How much revenue are you losing with this one factor?
No value
Far too many people put little thought into what they write or how the information will benefit their reader. They send garbage information to their end user.
Many think by simply sending something that’s all they need to do. Wrong!
No Unique Perspective
The way we communicate in business has changed; dramatically. What people are desperately seeking is perspective and point of view.
It takes more than simply providing information. Your readers want to know about you and what makes you unique.
On a recent business trip I purposely didn’t check emails in three accounts for over four days. To say I got a huge eye opener when I put time aside for the sole purpose of checking these three accounts is an understatement.
"What a bunch of garbage!" I thought as I went through the accounts.
After scanning the subject line of over 1,000 emails I deleted 95% of the messages without reading "the next great offer that will change my life."
In the few minutes it took me to continually press the delete button it became very clear why most messages are not getting read. In a word, BORING!
There was such similarity with the majority of messages not much stood out.
With several that I did open up it became apparent very quickly that not much thought was put into the body of the message. Most were trying to sell me something.
Granted, emails are used to promote and sell, but if that's all you're doing, you become a commodity rather than a personality.
If you don't infuse your personality into what you do, people will buy solely based on price and nothing else. You’ve positioned yourself as a commodity rather than a personality.
However, if you position your perspective and point of view, people buy you. And they often are willing to pay more.
Your point of view is what you stand for, what you believe, what's important to you. It's also about what you won't stand for.
When’s the last time you thought about your point of view and how you are conveying it?
One of the quickest ways to find out is to ask yourself these questions.
• What irks the hell out of me?
• What won’t I tolerate?
• What gets me excited to jump out of bed every day?
Me, I can't stand wimps. You know the type. People who find every reason why they can't do something rather than looking for reasons as to why they MUST do something.
On the flip side I love working with people who say, “This is what I want to accomplish and I know I will find a way to achieve it.”
As you gain clarity on your point of view you can infuse this energy into everything you do including your blog posts and email messages.
Another important aspect of getting your messages read is to know who you are writing for and to know that not everyone is interested in what you have to say.
The more you know your market (tribe, community, family) the easier it will be to write for them.
In addition, you need to know how to achieve the following:
Increase deliverability
Several posts could be written on this topic alone, but a few simple, nontechnical solutions are subject line, ask recipients to “white list” you and avoid using words that will immediately flag your emails as spam.
Create value
Is the information you send of real value to the end user or are you constantly selling? Granted, you want to make offers but you also have to provide high quality information in the mix.
Focus on creating an experience for your reader that will be highly valuable to them.
Let your readers know you
One of the best ways to get your stuff opened and read is to let people know the real you. Granted, there will be those who don’t want to hear from someone like you and yet, there will be those who will become loyal readers and raving fans specifically because of who you are and what you stand for.
Sure, you can try to blend in and be one among many, but as master copywriter Matthew Goldfarb says, “It’s okay to fit in, but it’s better to STAND out.”
What are you doing to stand out and have your voice be heard? What are you doing to create value?
When you are clear on exactly what the answers to these questions are your tribe will love hearing from you.
Kathleen Gage: Receive Power Profits 101: Must-Dos in Marketing
to Make More Money This Month Than Your Entire Last Year! FREE video http://www.powerupforprofits.com/
Kathleen works with consciously focused speakers, authors, coaches and consultants helping them to build six figure businesses by packaging their knowledge so they can reach more of their market, impact positive change and create multiple streams of revenue.