Billy Williams
Author Archives: Billy Williams
Billy Williams is a content marketing strategist and digital marketing consultant who has written for Askmen.com, Addicted2Success.com, and Futures Magazine.
Ever since Google introduced Gmail’s Promotion Tab, marketers declared email is dead. This a wild overreaction.
The Promotion Tab’s function is an opportunity to become more successful.
The beauty of Gmail’s Promotion Tab is that it forces the copywriter to get outside of himself. The sales process isn’t about copy formulas and frameworks, but it’s about getting creative. It’s about context and where you fit in it. It’s your customer who fits in that context in relation to your product and/or service.
In the “old” days, email marketing was easy (too easy, in fact). Especially when you factor in all the spam emails pouring into your inbox.
This got so bad that governments stepped in with anti-spam laws. Plus, regulations on how to manage subscribers’ information.
Yet, Google went a step further by filtering marketing messages. This step was to improve the user experience for Gmail.
Enter the Promotion Tab.
Now, unless the subscriber wants to read your message in their inbox, you get moved. As a result, you are out of sight and out of mind as a result.
However, this isn’t all bad news.
Most marketers are unoriginal and lazy (thank goodness). For you, this is good news. Because with a little creativity, you are set to increase your inbox deliverability. Now, you are a welcomed guest instead of an annoying nuisance.
First, understand that the Promotion Tab is to keep out the “door-knockers”. Google engineered it this way to make room for content and offers that the end-user is eager to consume. And, keep out the ignored, unwelcome emails.
To help, here are 4 quirky ways to get your customers’ attention and get your emails opened.
They are:
- Use the “From __” technique.
- Text over HTML.
- Two-step content marketing.
- Controlling the frame (and managing expectations).
The “From _” Technique
If you want to be successful at email marketing you have to get your reader’s attention.
This is easier said than done.
The vast majority of email copy is stale and tends to follow the herd. To get attention, you have to be able to grab your client’s attention and pull them into your narrative.
One way is to stand out from the crowd of emails pouring into their inbox by changing the angle of your message. To do that, you need to pivot by assuming a different point-of-view (POV). Then, communicate from that place to the deep emotional core of your client.
So, when emailing your list, assume the POV from a deep emotional need. An “emotional touchpoint”. Then, label that touchpoint in your email service.
Instead of blasting out emails from Larry’s Gym, you tailor your email message. Your From Sender should read “Your Future 30-inch Waist…Your Achy-Breaky Heart (needs you to exercise!)…Your Future Self That Wants To See Your Kids Grow Up…To Grow Old With Your Spouse…Your Wish To Be Sexy To Your Husband Again…”
This helps you stand apart from the “me too” type of marketing that your competitors are doing. Better, it communicates to the deepest wishes and desires of your prospects.
Text Over HTML
Most commercial offers inside of emails, as well as newsletters, use a lot of banners and graphics. This is appealing on the eyes but, again, it makes you look like everyone else.
Worse, it gets you sent directly to the dreaded “Promotion” tab for any of your customers that use Gmail.
Google’s Gmail is the most popular. It is also the most used email service provider worldwide by consumers. With over 1.8 billion users gives Google more than 43% of the market share for email.
If almost half of your consumer base is using Gmail then you have to get into their inbox and out of the Promotion tab. To help, use text over HTML.
Bottom line: stay away from graphics and banners inside of your email messaging.
Instead, use strong persuasive storytelling that revolves around overcoming objections in advance.
Note: One way you can do this is with case studies as proof of delivering the desired results.
Two-Step Content Marketing
Combining more than one form of content to increase engagement is Two-Step Marketing.
Content that refers to another piece of content increases increased conversion. Think of a time when you read an article on a topic that interested you. If the article referred to a book that expanded on that topic and you ended up buying it. That is a form of Two-Step Content Marketing.
Email marketing yields the greatest ROI than any other form of marketing. Email returns $38 for every $1 invested which makes email a major marketing channel.
That said, video marketing has one of the highest forms of engagement between a consumer and a brand. This becomes even more impactful when you combine both email and video marketing.
I’m a big believer in “results-in-advance” marketing. Frank Kern coined this phrase years ago. Frank encouraged businesses to give the end-user value upfront in the form of results. It was only after he gave value that he felt he had earned the right to ask for a client’s business.
By creating a piece of content that orbits your current offer and gives value upfront.
You then use email to drive traffic to that video where they engage with your content. Then, give the client a taste of results-in-advance to give value upfront. They are then exposed to an offer that expands on the results they experienced.
For example, on cooking lessons, you would take them through a recipe from start to finish. On getting in shape for busy people, you take them through a quick 10-minute routine. For investing, you show them how to find undervalued stocks with a stock screener. For married couples who want to become more intimate, you show how to deepen an emotional connection. For kids struggling with Algebra, you take them through a learning plan on how to solve word problems.
Copywriting and coach, Chris Laub, uses this tactic with Facebook Groups. He invites aspiring copywriters and freelancers to his group and dazzles them with the broad scope of his experience to fill in the gaps of his audience’s knowledge. Then, he takes them on a journey to the next-level of their success and, eventually, as a student to really raise their game.
In each of these examples, you take one facet of your offer and then share it in video. Only then, do you create value in the customer’s mind as well as getting them engaged with your product or service. It’s at that point you can then ask them if they want to expand on what they’ve learned or experienced.
Once you have taken them through that process it makes conversion easier. Now, they’ve gone from cold lead to a hot prospect.
Controlling The Frame
Controlling the context of communication and the narrative is “frame control”.
In email marketing, you want to present the ideas that support your message. Also, you want to craft the sequence of the message.
By creating the narrative, you create the context you want to present to the reader.
Let’s say you’re a yoga instructor who’s wanting to offer customized classes to middle-aged men. You can start by crafting the subject line and copy as:
Subject line: The back pain you’re not even aware of…
Opening line: Pain. You don’t even know you have it but it’s killing your quality of life.
Body copy: By the time you’re 40 you probably don’t even realize the pain you’re in. But, you can see its toxic effects in your life.
“Pain. You don’t even know you have it but it’s killing your quality of life.
At the end of the day, you’re tired and your energy is gone. You can barely stay awake and want to call it a day. But, you’re kids need help with homework. Your spouse wants to spend time with you but you don’t feel like it. What’s happening.
According to the American Medical Institute, as you get older you’re body. This “tight” feeling in your lower back is the sum total of stress and trauma you’ve experienced in your life.
What they don’t tell you is the negative effects of a lack of flexibility. The toll it takes on your life in the form of pain, lack of mobility, and how it sucks the quality of life from your health.
Worse, it set you up for chronic back pain for the rest of your life. Even worse, you may become so used to the pain that you’re not even aware of it. It may be a constant companion that grows underneath your awareness and you accept it.
What do you think is going to happen 1-, 3-, or 5-years down the road if you allow this to happen? Will you be able to reach your potential at work if you’re weighed down by pain and discomfort? Can you see how it impacts the quality of your life with your family?
Here at Family Yoga, we know the solution and how to improve your quality of life through the practice of yoga.
In fact, we’re so sure we can help you in as little as two weeks that we have a special offer to help you take charge of your health.
Give yourself a commitment of 3 times a week for two weeks and there is no charge. Yup. Totally free.
We are so sure that we can help you shed off that pain and discomfort that we will teach you for free.
Think about it – better energy, no more discomfort, feeling better, putting more “life” in your life.
In two weeks, you’ll be able to take charge of your physical well-being and start the path to true health.
Don’t let Father Time rob you of better mobility and lower the quality of your life.
Get it back with our help.
If at the end of two weeks you don’t think it’s for you then no harm, no foul. You walk away with no obligation (but we’re positive that once you realize how good you feel then you’ll want to come back).
Just hit reply and we’ll set up a call to get you started.
Best,
Family Yoga”
Notice that this email didn’t get into losing weight or getting in shape. It also didn’t get into getting washboard abs or speak to teenage girls.
It had a direct audience (middle-aged men) and to a specific problem (back pain).
It also presented a simple offer (two weeks of free yoga sessions) but asked for a small commitment (free if they attend 3 times a week) so they can reap the benefits. This prequalifies them as serious leads who want to be pain-free who are willing to take action.
This is how frame control works. It presents a focused message to a targeted audience with a specific offer that has clear pain points and an desired end-result.
Wicked Combinations…
These quirky email hacks are a form of pattern interrupt.
Consumers are assaulted with endless marketing messages each day. Like walking through a carnival, carnival barkers shout to get your attention. They work to convince you to try your luck with their product/service.
Reducing your marketing to this level puts you on the same level as your competitors.
In business, it’s always better to be different than run with the crowd.
Your first step is to set yourself apart from the sea of competitors in your market.
These 4 methods will set you apart from the crowd to grab more attention and help you build trust.
