Tips for connecting with your audience
The digital landscape is unique and amazing in terms of communication abilities. There is a vast world of knowledge and entertainment online that can keep people engaged for hours.
As the usage of this medium increases and more opportunities become available online, it’s important that we as online business professionals help create a more connected, personal and humane environment. This is especially true for online businesses attempting to reach their customers. 
Since email is a trusted method for business communication, I have listed a few tips below on how to humanize your email marketing efforts.
Personalize email – How do you feel when you receive an email that addresses you by a generic name? Customized emails go a long way. Many heavy email users will likely discard an email that isn’t addressed directly to them as they realize the sender does not know them and isn’t trying to create a personal connection.
Stay true to your word – How did you get your audience members to sign up for email updates in the first place? You call them to action by promising something of value, typically content-based. In the case of digital content marketers, they likely offered a free product in exchange for the email address.
Stay true to your word by consistently providing high-quality content to your audience, through daily blog articles and free reports. The moment your content loses quality, the more likely people will be to unsubscribe from your email newsletter.
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Be upfront with details – When companies share only a few details about their email process, how does it typically make you feel? Are you hesitant to sign up for their email updates due to a lack of information? Tell your audience how often they will receive emails from you, and what content may be included in those emails. This will provide them with a better understanding on how your company handles email.
Bring social media into email – Adding social media buttons into your email newsletters is not a revolutionary idea as many publishers have been using this technique since social became popular. However, are your social media buttons being regarded by email recipients? Since email itself isn’t interactive, get the conversation started in email and have it commence on your social network. Persuade email recipients to go to your social networks by offering exclusive content on them – perhaps by asking for a “Like” in exchange for a new free report or podcast.
I recently read an article from Social Email Marketing that touches on these ideas as it likens email to a conversation starter, since it isn’t naturally designed to be a two-way form of communication. Start the conversion in your email, and have it lead back to your blog or social network for a more social experience.
These tips are just a few suggestions to bringing a more personal touch to your email newsletters and email marketing activities. Do you have other strategies for developing connections through email? Please add your suggestions in the comments section below, or join us on our Facebook page to continue this conversation.
