No matter what industry you work in, email marketing should be a crucial part of your marketing strategy. It allows you to build a personal connection with your potential customers and also incites them to take action such as signing up to try your services for free, downloading your lead magnet or purchasing your product. It also enables you to add value to the relationship you have.
Given the nature of the accounting world, email marketing for accounting firms is explicitly a complicated task that requires continuous brainstorming, testing and monitoring. Here are some actionable email marketing tips that you can follow, whether you are an email novice or a market expert.
A. Email subject line
1. Test every subject line before delivery
Testing out email subject lines before delivering your emails is always a wise option. A good subject line is the difference between an email being opened or deleted. There are several tools out there to help you do this, including the free Email Subject Line Tester by CoSchedule that enable you to optimise subject lines based on how they score.
2. Use an actual person’s name in the subject line.
Receiving an email from an actual person feels friendlier and more personal than just having a brand name in the sender box. While this works automatically for independent contractors, even accounting firms can use this technique by adding the name of the best point of contact should the recipient get back with questions.
3. Use personalisation
Include the recipient’s name in the email to make them feel more valued and less like a number. You can also make references to previous conversations with them in the email content to maintain continuity of the discussion.
4. Use power words
Power words are those that have been tested and found to incite recipients to take action. Use this cheat sheet which we have created, keeping in mind what works best in email marketing for accountants, and include the right words wherever apt in your email text.
5. A/B test your subject lines
Testing your email subject lines is the best way to gauge how they will work. A/B testing is the most commonly used technique for this.
Email service providers such as MailChimp, Active Campaign and Campaign Monitor have help documents to guide you through split testing your subject lines. TLBM’s email marketing services for accounting firms also include support for A/B testing.
6. Experiment with emojis
For a quirky touch to your subject line that can encourage more recipients to open your emails, use appropriate emojis such as those on GetEmoji.com to convey emotions. Email marketers at TLBM can help you pick the most high-performing emojis for your email campaigns.
B. Email Copywriting Tips
7. Keep the email brief
Make sure that every component of your email is no longer than it needs to be. Ideally, your sentences should be no longer than 25 words, and your content should take up no more than three paragraphs. Also, ensure that every word and sentence gets straight to the point.
8. Include a single CTA in multiple locations
Having a clear call-to-action (CTA) is a classic email marketing device. However, an excellent way to increase conversions through that CTA is to include it in multiple locations throughout the email. For instance, the email below features the CTA in the subject line, the body copy and the final CTA button. This increases the chance that a recipient who is merely skimming through the email will notice at least one of the CTAs and click on it.
9. Offer something valuable in each email
Before sending anything out, think from a consumer perspective and check whether the email offers some tangible value, be it educational or entertaining or promoting high-quality eBooks that your potential customers would want to buy. Check whether any additional copy could make the email more valuable, such as a postscript or an extra graphic.
10. Put the readers’ needs first
Your email copy should always address a specific customer question or problem and show your recipients how you can resolve it. Emails that merely involve a company talking about itself are unlikely to do well. Email marketing for accounting firms is successful when the needs of the readers are put first. Period.
11. Sell benefits instead of features
Rather than highlighting your services, focus on how you can meet the potential customer’s needs. For instance, the following email from Neil Patel does not hard-sell his upcoming webinar. Instead, he starts the email by asking a question, highlighting a consumer pain-point. The email copy is written in simple language and cuts to the chase.
12. Develop a distinctive brand voice for yourself
Most consumers are inundated with sales emails every day. To stand out from the crowd, you need to develop a unique brand voice for yourself. See whether you want to be passionate, quirky, authentic or irreverent, depending on the kind of message you want to get across and the kind of accounting services you want to be known for.
C. General Email Marketing Tips
13. Make unsubscribing easy
While you will naturally want to keep all of your leads on your email list for as long as possible, one good way to improve customer loyalty is by making it easy for them to unsubscribe. For those wanting to make email marketing for accounting firms a success – make unsubscribing easy.
It may happen that they do not want to receive your emails anymore – in that case, if they find it hard to unsubscribe, they may be turned off entirely and switch to a competitor. An easy unsubscribe option can go a long way to maintain positive brand sentiment.
14. Choose the best dates and times to send your emails
A TLBM research shows that the best day to send out an email is Tuesday, followed by Thursday if you want to send out two emails a week.
When it comes to weekdays, some of the best times to send emails and be sure of them being opened is between 1-2 PM (because it is a typical lunch hour) and 10-11 PM (as people often check their email before going to bed).
Similarly, on weekends, anytime post 7 PM on Sundays seem to work best as a lot of professionals open their laptops to prepare for the coming work week.
15. Use a calendar to schedule your emails
Automated email marketing services are the best! Let us explain to you how: A successful email marketing campaign calls for consistency, which requires you to plan emails out in advance. Email calendars are the perfect solution in this regard. Therefore, maintain a spreadsheet with your schedule for the next week or month, or use one of the many free scheduling tools such as MailChimp, EmailOctopus and MailKitchen
to automate. All email marketing service providers emphasise on creating an email calendar.
16. Create different email list segments
The same set of emails may not appeal to all of your potential customers. Instead, segregate your emailing list based on different interests and areas of work and send them emails tailored to those interests so that your recipients find something of relevance in them.
D. Email List Building Tips
17. Provide useful gated content upgrades
Gated content upgrades are free pieces of content that your recipients can download after filling up an opt-in email form. Get a developer to configure these forms on your website and provide valuable content upgrades such as free templates, ebooks, reports or slide presentations related to the accounting industry.
18. Include a sign-up link in your personal emails
An excellent way to get more subscribers is by adding a link to sign up to your company newsletter in the personal emails that you send out.
19. Add exit intent pop-ups
If your potential customers have spent some time browsing through your website, an excellent way to get them to sign up for your emails is by adding an exit intent pop-up. These show up when they start to move their cursor with an intent to move away from the website. Tools such as OptinMonster are ideal for this.
20. Add a CTA and sign-up link to your website footer
Work with your developer to add an email sign-up CTA button to your website or blog homepage. In addition, add an email sign-up link to your footer to attract potential customers who have scrolled to the bottom of the page.
Email marketing for accounting firms like yours can be a fun activity provided there is space for creativity. No one has ever aced email marketing on their first attempt. So, give time to the email medium for it to start showcasing results for you – whether it is to generate leads, increase lead magnet downloads or boost website traffic.
And if you are looking for email marketing consulting services for your business, you can always bank on us. Schedule a free consultation with us by emailing us at contact@thinklittlebig.com. Speak soon!
