There are only 42 days left in 2017. What can you do to make sure you make the most of every one of them? Here are six tips to help you maximize your year-end potential, and have the momentum that can help you jump-start 2018.
1. Get motivated (or not!)
The prospect of needing to make the absolute most of the next few weeks can be a daunting one, because there is so much at stake. We also face more distractions than usual, which makes it even harder to tackle the important stuff.
When you’re not feeling motivated to tackle what you know you need to do, just accept it, suggests psychologist Oliver Burkeman. “Why do you think you need to wait until you ‘feel like’ doing something before you actually start?” he questions. “The issue isn’t that you’re lacking motivation; it’s that you believe you need to feel motivated. You can acknowledge those feelings of procrastination and still get to work.”
Too zen? Here are more tips to help you get the important stuff done.
2. Get personal
Because it such a powerful driver of engagement, personalization is one of our favorite subjects. The stats validate how effective it is: An amazing 86% of consumers say personalization plays a role in their purchasing decisions and 80% of consumers like retailers’ emails to contain recommended products based on previous purchases.
Personalization has moved far beyond simply including the customer name in the subject line or message. Now, we can personalize every aspect of email content to build trust, create brand advocates and supercharge engagement.
For more on the subject, here’s how to use personalization to boost open rates, click-throughs and revenue. And also check out our handy “Ultimate Email Personalization Checklist.”
3. Focus on driving action
Content creators enjoy the thrill of coming up with an original idea or a new way of approaching familiar topic. After all, we want to inform and entertain our readers. Fair enough. But are those the right priorities?
According to the Content Marketing Institute, the purpose of content is to “attract and keep a clearly defined audience — and, in the end, to encourage profitable customer actions.” If we can achieve this while also informing and entertaining readers, that’s a plus. However, getting the audience to take action should always be the main goal.
Need some tips for driving action? We have you covered.
4. Ramp up the engagement factor of your transactional emails
Transactional emails don’t get the respect they deserve. Maybe that’s because things like receipts, back-order notifications, registration requests and the like simply aren’t glamorous.
But the engagement potential of these kinds of emails is tremendous – and shouldn’t be ignored.
“Due to the mission-critical content inside these emails, transactional emails are the most highly engaged emails that businesses send,” reports Campaign Monitor. “In fact, research shows transactional emails have 8x more opens and clicks than any other type of email, and can generate 6x more revenue.”
Want some suggestions for making the most of your transactional emails? Here you go.
5. Leverage color for maximum impact
We all have a favorite color (it turns out that for most people it’s blue) and so, when it comes to using color in our emails, we tend to default to the ones we like rather than considering the effect that specific colors might have on our subscribers. That means we are missing big opportunity.
“When used effectively, color theory can be one of the most powerful tools an email marketer can work with, writes Olivia Della Bueno on the AWeber blog. “After all, the right color choice can help convey the value of your emails. Color can instantly set the mood, evoke emotion and spark a psychological reaction that gets people to take action.”
And that’s why it pays to put a lot of thought into your color choices. Check out this post for more info on this important topic.
6. Hack your time to make the most of it
The time-related pressures on most of us are relentless and unforgiving during this time of year – both on and off the job. The days are getting shorter (at least in terms of daylight) – and they are also feeling shorter, as the end of the year (and all of its associated deadlines) comes ever closer.
Clearly, it pays to know how to make every minute count. That can start by minimizing workplace distractions (yes, you are allowed to turn off your phone) and outsourcing routine and administrative tasks.
Email marketers can focus on making strategic use of automation. Content creators can endeavor to keep their writing as simple and short as possible and, when appropriate, repurposing content in fresh new ways.
Want more time-saving tips? We’ve got them right here.