How to Use Social Media to Write Better Email Content - Social Media Explorer
How to Use Social Media to Write Better Email Content
How to Use Social Media to Write Better Email Content
by

Few things matter more to your email marketing than the content you send. What you write in your emails determines your engagement, conversions, and the overall feeling your brand conveys. Below we’ll look at a few easy ways you can use social media to create better email content and achieve your highest email marketing goals. 

How to fine-tune your email content

Did you know that 47% of people decide to open an email based only on the subject line? This gives you a pretty good idea of how important your email content is – from the first lines your subscribers see to the short copy you use in your call-to-action. 

There are many sources you can rely on to fine-tune your content. 

  • Gathering data directly from your customers to sketch buying personas is a great place to start. 
  • Running surveys on specific topics in your niche is another way to learn more about your subscribers and what they need and want. 
  • Creating A/B testing campaigns can also be revealing and lead you to produce more effective email content. 
  • Keeping a close eye on your email marketing reports gives you useful feedback on what works and what needs adjustments. 

While all these sources provide you with valuable insight, social media can be a gold mine, as well. Listening to your followers is the first step to writing emails they love to open. Let’s see how you do that!

Start with your brand pages

I can hear you saying: this is a no-brainer! But you’d be surprised how often I see brands that don’t even bother to respond to the comments people leave on their pages. First, that makes your company look bad. Then, those comments can inspire your next blog post, infographic, or email newsletter, so consider checking every single one of them. 

There may be topics you haven’t even thought of adding to your content calendar because you find them too banal. However, not all the people in your audience have the same level of education. Some of them may appreciate a certain beginners’ resource. Others may be looking for an answer to a particular dilemma they have. Think about the points your brand will gain once you create that resource and share it in an email. 

Can’t see any topic ideas in the comments section? Start the conversation yourself. Chances are you’ll get a good number of prompts to improve your email content. What’s more, involving your followers in your content creation process shows you care, and that builds loyalty.

What gets the highest engagement?

This is another easy way to tap the potential of your social media following when creating your email content. Take a look at your social reports from the last six months: what kind of posts have generated the highest engagement? Is there a particular topic or angle that got more comments than others? Make a list of those topics and elaborate on them. Think about ways you could turn that content into an email: 

  • could you expand it into a webinar or even just an infographic?
  • or find a fresh perspective to share with your subscribers?

Not everyone who subscribed to your emails follows you on social media, but many times, these two audiences overlap. Even if they don’t, there’s a certain persona that embodies the traits of your prevalent customers. It’s essential to have a clear picture of that persona in mind whenever you write a new email. So, use the insight you get from social media to craft higher-performing emails – and vice versa.  

Study your competitors

This shouldn’t be your main focus, but it deserves a spot on your monthly to-do list. Taking the time to see what your competitors are doing gives you perspective and an opportunity to improve your emails. 

So, apart from getting on their list, spend some time on their social media accounts. What types of posts tend to get traction? What questions do people ask? Can you answer them in a blog post or in one of your emails? Needless to say – but I’m saying it anyway – never copy your competitors. The point of keeping an eye on their activity is to help you place your own content in the right context and answer questions ahead of everyone else. 

A few more tips to gather useful info

Building an in-depth knowledge base about your audience isn’t easy. On the contrary, it can be overwhelming, especially when you have a small team. What do you do first? Where do you start? I hear you. 

The tactics I described above, though, shouldn’t take too much of your time, and you can slowly integrate them into your strategy. In time, they’ll turn into habits and the feedback you get will help you grow your list, brand, and conversions. 

Here are two more tips to perfect your email content:

  • if you can, invest in a tool that gathers social data and gives you a quicker way to understand what’s hot in your niche. Platforms such as BuzzSumo do this for you, and a tool like SEMrush returns comprehensive results on specific keywords. This will not only help you boost SEO if you have a blog but also come up with an array of email topics.
  • Quora is a fantastic resource – consider creating an account and watching the conversations in your industry. Chime in whenever you have something relevant to say. Also, save the most engaging subjects and check that list when you’re out of ideas for your newsletters.

Good engagement fosters even better engagement

How do you feel when you get a good response to an email you send? I know: it makes you happy and motivates you to do even better. What’s great is that the higher your open and click-through rates, the higher your chances to increase your metrics even more. 

Every email sender has a reputation (or sender score). For Internet and email service providers, it’s an indicator of your behavior. Are people ignoring your emails or, even worse, marking them as spam, deleting them, or unsubscribing? That will reflect in your sender reputation – and your deliverability. As a result, many of your messages may be directed to the spam folder. 

Are subscribers opening and clicking through your emails? That contributes to your good reputation: it’s a sign that what you send is relevant and useful, so you’ll earn your place in people’s inboxes. 

As you can see, sending high-quality content is beneficial in more than one way. Good email engagement fosters even better engagement, so no effort is too big when it comes to writing emails to your list.

Speaking of your list: before you send your next newsletter or campaign, double-check your contacts for accuracy. Databases go stale, and a bounce rate that exceeds the industry standard of 2% will affect your reputation. Email verification is an easy process, doesn’t cost a fortune, and supports your inbox placement. After all, what’s the point of writing great emails if no one sees them?

Corina Leslie is the PR Manager for email validation company ZeroBounce, an Inc. 5000 honoree. Most often, you’ll find her on the ZeroBounce blog, where she shares her tips and interviews experts on digital marketing and PR. Find her on LinkedIn and Twitter.

SME Paid Under

About the Author

Full Editorial

VIP Explorer’s Club

Categories

Archives