5 ways to elevate your emails and nurture your supporters
Email marketing or electronic direct mail (eDM) is a method of customer communications that is often dismissed or avoided,
largely because worst-practice has become the norm.
Because it’s cheap to execute, businesses commonly hit send too often with little regard for customer relevance or value,
relying on the sheer volume of their database to catch a few conversions.
This offers not-for-profits a unique and lucrative opportunity. By taking the time to segment and personalise, to craft and edit,
and to nurture and bring real value to your supporter communications, you can easily riseup from the sea of spam and use
the cost-effectiveness of eDMs to your advantage.
1. Welcome new supporters
Being invited into your customers’ inbox should be viewed as a privilege, not an expectation. At the very least, it warrants an introduction, a thank you, and even a welcome offer. Some might use this opportunity to get to know their new recruit through a few quick questions about who they are, what they want to hear about or why they chose to support.
Whichever you choose, time is of the essence. Straight after they’ve signed up, your readers are primed to hear from you. Think about their journey so far and what types of information would be of most value to them. Take advantage of this opportunity to establish the tone of the relationship with gratitude, optimism and conviction.
2. Encourage sharing
Your new subscribers are likely to have a circle of friends with values similar to their own, which could include donating or supporting a charity of not-for-profit. That’s why for those conscious of their bottom line, the +1 approach can work wonders.
Simply think about how you could motivate your reader to share something about your business with one person they know. Maybe you could offer a discounted event registration if they nudge a friend to join, or you could give them the opportunity to pass on a free ebook to someone in their networks who could benefit.
Build these value-adds into your email journey—such as with an automated follow-up email—so they can happen without a second thought.
3. Tweak your content journey
‘How often should I send an email?’ is one of the first questions to answer, with the second being, ‘What should I write?’.
After your initial welcome email, you should be prepared with a steady, progressive journey of content to nurture your new supporter. Start by introducing them to the cause with a few stories of people whose lives they are changing, dot through a few asks and gently introduce some cross-sell services or opportunities.
Find the frequency balance that feels right for you—keeping in mind you don’t want to turn them off with incessant emails, but don’t want them to forget about you either. The goal is for your audience to know they are appreciated, and feel engaged and connected to your cause.
Crucially, you should review your performance and adjust your strategy accordingly. Which subject lines resulted in the highest open rate? Was there a point where you had a lot of people unsubscribe? How have your early morning emails performed against your evening or weekend ones?
Collate these learnings, ensure each email is on-brand and has a clear call to action, and over time this incremental trial and error will help you to build a reliable and robust customer journey.
4. Write in second person
When you sit down to write an email, think about writing to one person in your target audience. What are they doing right now? Are they reading this email on train on their way into work, or at their desk? Is their mindset focussed on work or the weekend?
Talk to them as ‘you’, and refer to yourself as ‘I’ or ‘we’. Better yet, refer to them by their first name if your data segmenting allows it. You want to open a conversation on the screen, and so you should aim for a friendly, approachable and less formal voice. Even though the email in question might reach hundreds or thousands of people, it’s about building connection with one person at a time.
5. Personalise wherever possible
Your subscribers will vary in many ways. You might look at demographics, things like how old they are or where they live. You might look at psychographics, like what they believe in or why they choose to support you. You might look at loyalty, engagement, donor value—the list of variables goes on.
Thinking about all these factors, it’s clear that the same single message won’t apply to everyone. And that’s why, if you haven’t already, segmenting your audience into groups and tailoring your communications accordingly is the most surefire way to improve your email marketing performance.
Unlike other large-scale communication channels like television, radio or organic social media, email marketing allows you to ‘batch’ your content so that everyone gets the message specifically written for them. It’s individualised content via mass medium.
As a general rule, most NFPs choose to segment their audiences by donor value. The higher-value givers will receive the email that has a higher ask, for example. But it is something that may change with each email campaign. A location-specific event might exclude supporters based on where they live, for example. VIP offers may only go out to the most loyal long-term supporters. A bequest campaign might target to those in an older age bracket.
At Two Heads, we see every email as an opportunity to have a positive interaction, to nurture supporters and to add value. Get in touch if you’re a not-for-profit or SME looking to improve your email marketing strategy and we can discuss how to get started.