The Viral Email
Consumers still prefer to use email to refer others, according to SocialTwist’s recent study, The Connected Consumer report, which analysed online referral mechanisms.
When we hear the term “going viral”, we tend to think of social media and video. However, another powerful share is the discreet email forward button. We go as far as suggesting that this forward button is possibly more powerful than a like, favourite or retweet. Social media connections tend to be a broad network of casual relationships who are demographically and psychographically quite different from the referrer. Although social referrals typically reach more people, email referrals are more powerful because of their 1-to-1 or 1-to-few nature. Email referrals are more personal, more trusted and therefore more likely to result in conversions.
Forwards are a powerful indication of the overall health of your email program, because they are a sign that you are providing your subscribers with the content they desire. In this article we pinpoint proven effective tactics for making your email go viral.
Make your email go viral
1. Small Audiences
Build smaller, niche audiences around narrow interests. This allows the businesses that serve these audiences to tailor their email content so that it’s highly relevant to them.
2. Highly relevant content
Always aspire to send something that’s worth telling someone else about. Remarkable content will motivate your customers to reach others – something they naturally do.
3. Personalisation
Make it personal! Significant personalisation—not just a first-name merge— drastically impacts forward rates, according to the 2015 Litmus Viral Email Report.
4. Share Call to Action
SWYN (share with your network) call to actions are more likely to be forwarded. If you get your email content right, recipients will be very happy to share with their friends. All you need to do is prompt this action.
5. Be Remarkable
Common reasons to forward an email to colleagues, friends and family is because of a promotion. However, promotions are the staples of email marketing and so subscribers are only driven to forward those that are truly remarkable.
When subscribers forward your emails, they expand reach, boost email engagement metrics and increase conversions, which is good for your company’s bottom line. While it’s true that social sharing excels at expanding reach, email forwards excel at driving additional conversion. Plan your email content calendar so that you’re sending impactful emails that go viral.
