How to Generate Qualified Leads from Marketing Emails

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Email marketing is by far the most successful form of marketing. In fact, email marketing outstrips social media and SEO by a long way. If you do no other type of marketing, stick with emails, as you’ll generate the biggest return on investment.

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In this guide, we are going to help you generate more qualified leads for every marketing email you sent to the people on your list.

What is a Lead?

A lead is someone on your list with an unknown level of interest in anything you have to offer. It could be someone who subscribed to a newsletter in return for an e-book. They know you exist, but you have no idea whether they will buy anything from you again. They are, in sales lingo, unqualified.

The aim of marketing is to turn an unqualified lead into a qualified lead. Qualified leads are far more likely to generate sales for your business.

Lead Scoring

Lead scoring is a system for qualifying sales prospects. You establish their characteristics and assign them points for each action they take. This means you can sort them into different groups, according to how qualified they are. For example, if a subscriber clicks on a CTA in a welcome email, they score points. The pages they visit will determine what action you take next.

Crafting a Marketing Email

It’s not easy to write the perfect marketing email. Big businesses use talented copywriters to craft enticing text and subtle sales messages. If you don’t have a big marketing budget, the onus is on you to nurture leads with highly targeted email content.

First of all, you will need to invest in an email marketing service provider (check this comparative to choose the right one for you) in order to design your emails flawlessly and send bulk campaigns without landing in the spam folder.

Write an enticing subject line – this is the very first thing a person sees. If the subject line holds no interest to the recipient, they aren’t going to bother to read the main body of the email. Instead, they will probably delete or ignore it. Personalize the subject line. Make it targeted and actionable. For example, you could write “Hey Bob! We have a FREE e-Book to help you sell more products!” or “Sign Up for our FREE tax saving webinar!”

Once you have hooked the reader with an enticing subject line, it’s time to write some copy for the main body of the email. Again, this should be personalized. Use the person’s name so they don’t feel like one of many. People are more receptive to emails that talk to them as a person, not a tick box.

Keep your email concise. Don’t write 500 words when you could say the same message in 100 words. Bullet points and short, engaging text is best. Jump right in with your target message and don’t waffle.

Use images and video to break up the text. The human brain comprehends images far faster than text. One image is worth a thousand words in email marketing. Use great images that reinforce the message you are trying to convey. Pay for decent quality stock images or create your own images if you have the skills.

Have a strong Call to Action (CTA) in the body of your email. For example, if you are emailing to let your subscribers know about an event, use actionable words like CLICK HERE or SIGN UP. Be very clear about what you want the reader to do. Ambiguity is a killer.

Lastly, don’t forget to integrate social media buttons into your email. Make it easy for your reader to share the message in your email. Integrate share buttons for the major social networks, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. The more social shares you gain, the more leads you generate.

A Person of Interest

A person of interest is someone who reacts to your email. For example, if a recipient clicks on a link to a sales page, they are interested in the products you are selling. Straightaway, this person becomes a qualified lead and you can funnel them accordingly. This is where lead scoring comes into its own, as it allows you to score leads based on their actions.

Sending Triggered Emails

When leads take specific actions, as described above, use this information to send out triggered emails. eBay does this with aplomb. When we look at an item on eBay but don’t place a bid or buy it now, eBay sends our triggered emails asking us to take a second look. It also suggests other items in the same category we might be interested in. Use the same techniques to turn interested leads into sales.

Using Marketing Automation Software

Marketing automation software does a lot of the hard work for you. You can create and schedule emails in advance, place email subscribers into correspondence streams, and build leads automatically.

Used wisely, email marketing is one of the most powerful lead generation strategies available. Does it work for you? Tell us more!