Email marketing is a conversation starter. It facilitates communication between business and consumers and hopefully drives traffic to your website. Businesses need to find the delicate balance between too much and not enough. Content is important, and so is frequency. Open rates can speak volumes about whether your emails are hitting the sweet spot, but clicks also matter. Buzzfeed has found a way to get email conversions through a marketing strategy that leaves other companies in the cyber dust. Here’s what you can learn from their success.
What Is Buzzfeed?
Aside from living under a rock, there may be few reasons why you haven’t heard of Buzzfeed. In short, they are an American media giant, sending newsworthy content and entertainment across the nation at lightning speed. Masters of communication, they share everything from breaking news to the latest viral cat video. Founded in 2006, they have grown by leap and bounds, becoming an essential news site for people who get their info online and on the go. They cater to a fast-paced audience, and that is likely why they have been able to become email marketing connoisseurs.
What Are Conversions?
Simply put, conversions are an email’s end goal. They happen when consumers interact with an email after they’ve read it. This can happen in the form of clicking a call to action link or signing up for a featured newsletter, etc. Basically, when a consumer follows through on an action precipitated by an email, a conversion is made. Think of it this way: The goal is to convert a reader into a consumer, customer, subscriber, etc. As a result, this sends traffic to your website, generating attention and potential revenue.
How Does BuzzFeed Do It?
Buzzfeed’s email marketing strategy is individualized. This means that it speaks directly to each reader and consumer. That might not sound like an easy task, but the news outlet has mastered it. Through a variety of channels, they target audiences with the information they want to read, thus creating high conversion rates and readers who actually look forward to that next email blast. Here are a few ways they move the masses.
The Breakdown
Instead of sending an identical email to millions of readers, they let consumers select the type of emails they want. This way, people can sign up to receive content that appeals to them. Buzzfeed achieves this by breaking down their information into categories. For example, foodies can sign up to receive the latest recipes and DIYers get all the household hacks for the week. This gets conversions by taking readers to the appropriate content on their website. Once there, they are shown related offers, such as a culinary newsletter subscription to go along with those email recipe blasts.
The Content
What does an email that creates conversions look like? For Buzzfeed, it’s all about brevity, scannability, and teasers. Readers are often in a hurry, and most emails should be reasonably brief. Therefore, ideally, they should feature bold headings that can help people get a quick overview of the message. People are more likely to engage with something that doesn’t seem overwhelming. The conversion happens when you give readers only a portion of the text. This often piques their curiosity and leads them to the website’s landing pages.
Make Your Own Conversions
You can begin attracting more customers and web traffic today. Start by implementing conversion strategies and watch your business grow. Great email marketing begins with writing superior content. There’s no limit to what you can achieve through effective consumer relationships, and that begins with the first email. Whether you’re just starting out or want to see those conversion rates rise, an effective marketing strategy can take your company to the next level.