Do your users trust your emails? Some thoughts from Marketo, plus yours truly, on how to gain that trust.

Think about your inbox. Yes, your ginormous, bloated inbox. There’s a small number of emails in there you actually want to read, and a slightly larger number of emails in there that you have to read. And then there’s the rest. Maybe you’ve got an extra 10 minutes to kill before lunch, and you decide to take on that beast of an inbox with the mighty katana that is your "delete” button. You scroll through your giant glut of emails, deleting many before even reading, but opening a select few. And, amongst those few, you find a couple worth skimming. And maybe, you might click on a link in one of these, and wherever that link takes you might prompt you to do something daring, such as spending a little of your money on a product, or signing up to spend a little of your time on a webinar.

So what defines those emails that you actually choose to read? What makes them stand out over all of the rest? Marketo gave a great webinar recently on email benchmarking (you can check out the Marketo email benchmarking slideshow on Slideshare), and one area that hit home for me was the idea that trust is a big element in making people want to read your emails. So I’ve been pondering different ways to make your users trust your company, and to want to open emails when they get them from you.

Purchased email lists = Boooo

One rather obvious thing – people are burnt on having their emails sold to lists. If you get an email from a company you’ve never heard of, chances are someone sold your email to that company. And, more likely than not, you’re gonna delete that email. So, make sure that everyone on your mailing list has actually opted in to receive your emails. It not only means you’re being honest with your users, it also means they’re receptive to hearing from you. And from that point, all you need to do is give them content they actually want to receive.

Spam, spam, spam and spam

Meaning, don’t spam them with pure unadulterated marketing. Don’t waste their time. If you have a spare two minutes in the middle of a hectic workday to read something, you want to spend that time on something worth reading. "Spray and pray” will only take you so far. So make your headlines eye-catching, make your email copy witty. And when you put together your pitch and call to action, don’t think of it as "selling them something”, think of it as "helping them to meet a need they might not even know they had.”

Get personal, baby

Speaking of witty...don’t be afraid to use a more casual, personal voice in your email copy. Let your "to” name on the email be from you personally, rather than your company. Sign your email with your name. People like getting personal letters, and email is no exception to this.

Here at MCG, we’ve been keep a close eye on our email’s analytics, trying to see what people like reading. And, without fail, people like reading articles about people. We connect with names, faces, the human side of a company. Let that human side show through in your content.

Segmentation is your friend

And here’s where list segmentation comes into play. Figure out what sorts of people make up your email lists, and then figure out how to divide them into smaller groups based on their different interests, job functions, or similar categories. Doing this means you can give each of those groups information relevant to their specific needs. Mix this in with some good old fashioned A/B testing, and you’re well on your way to sending emails that your users feel are meant for them personally.

Hang out with your users on their off days

According to the Marketo webinar, some of the best email open and click rates happen when the send is over the weekend. I certainly check my work email throughout the weekend, and you do too, along with 99.9% of the population. People aren’t as rushed on the weekends, and actually have the time to sit down and read something that they might not look at on a busy weekday.

This might go against popular ideas on when to send your email. However, you can totally use this to your advantage. Since everyone else is sending their emails during the week, your email is a whole lot less likely to get lost in a pile if you send on the weekend. Mind you, if everyone catches on to this, that won’t be the case anymore. I’m just waiting for "Sunday evening” to be the new "Tuesday-Thursday morning” when it comes to optimal email send times. By Sunday evening, your exciting weekend plans have come to an end, and you’re getting a head start on the workweek.

Keep these things in mind when building your emails, and take trust into consideration when coming up with ideas for email marketing. The Marketo webinar presented a range of other ideas relevant to having successful emails as well, so be sure to check out their webinar presentation slides!