Broadcast emails are messages that you can send to all of your subscribers at the same time. Usually they are sent at ‘random’ and without being scheduled or forming part of an email sequence.
They operate independently of any autoresponder and follow up messages that you may be sending. Sending broadcast emails does not affect your autoresponder or follow up messages.
If you’ve got something to say, you want to get that information to as many people as you can with as little expense and fuss as possible. A broadcast email can help you to achieve this, by utilising the contacts you’ve gathered and putting your announcement right in front of a ready-made crowd.
Here’s some information on what good broadcast emails looks like, what you can hope to achieve, and how to craft a broadcast email that has the best chance of converting your time into sales.
What are broadcast emails?
Broadcast emails are ones that have specific information that are sent to a wide group of people. Generally, the content is designed to inform people and promote awareness of your brand.
This isn’t an email specifically crafted for a select group of people – you’re broadcasting your information to as many people as possible.
These emails can be sent as soon as they’re written, or you could schedule them to go out at a later date, depending on what’s happening with your brand.
While this type of email has non-specific content and is sent to a wide group of people, it is different from spam because it’s sent to contacts who have consented to receive communications from your company.
Even so, broadcast emails should be used with care so that your contacts aren’t frustrated or feeling overwhelmed by the communication, which is likely to cause them to unsubscribe.
Types of broadcast emails
There are four broad types of broadcast emails, which are:
Newsletters. A newsletter shares general company information with contacts. The click-through rate is likely to be low unless the contact has specific interest in your company.
Important Updates. From time to time, things will happen within your business that are worth sharing. Sending updates to your whole contact list ensures that the maximum number of people can be made aware.
Digests. This form of broadcast email won’t suit everyone, but it’s a carefully curated informative email, crafted from other information around the web, written around a central theme. A digest gets your customers thinking and establishes you as a thought leader and someone to follow.
Sales and promotions. One of the best ways to let everyone know about a sale or promotion is to put that information right into their inbox.
How to write an effective broadcast emails
The success of your broadcast emails will largely depend on what type it is, the information you choose to include, and the frequency you choose to send it.
The frequency of communication is extremely important – too little, and your customers are likely to become disengaged. However, too frequent communication is even worse – if customers feel overwhelmed by communication or that the content is irrelevant to them they are likely to unsubscribe, meaning you will lose the opportunity to have your brand featured in their inbox.
Newsletters are a great way to personalise your company and have customers interested in the type of brand you have. The key, though, is perceived value. The customer has to have a reason to open the email. You might try to include exclusive updates on products, special offers, or insider information to make your email worth the click.
If you have any major changes, it’s a good time to get a broadcast email out to update your contacts on the latest happenings. You might want to feature a new product, inform your customers that you’ve changed premises, let them know about your policy or terms of service changes – anything that keeps your customer up to date on your business.
A digest should be centered around a theme that you would like to communicate to your contacts. Make sure it’s well researched, insightful, and is properly referenced to give weight to your ideas. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, so make sure you read your customer base correctly if you choose to go with this type of email. When done right, you can have a group of loyal followers who wait eagerly for your next email.
Emails featuring sales and promotions are high-value clicks for customers. They’re expecting to get something out of them, even if it’s only satisfying their curiousity or dreaming about making a purchase. Make sure you help your sale emails hold their value by not sending out too many –holding a sale every other week detracts from the impact.
Collective communication
Broadcast emails target a large group, all at once. If they’re on your list, they’ve signed up to hear more – so take advantage of their interest in your business by giving them high value emails to stay engaged and informed.
Remember to respect your customers’ inbox. If they’re getting too much communication or they don’t feel it’s relevant to them, they’re much more likely to go searching for that unsubscribe button. Controlling the frequency and the quality of the content are the best ways to keep customers clicking.
Conclusion
Broadcast emails are an easy way to inform your subscribers of any updates or promotions within your company on the fly.. Once crafted they are usually sent but they can be scheduled for release in the future
They don’t form part of any routine in your email messaging. You won’t find them in your autoresponder sequence which are pre-written emails sent at set intervals to your subscribers.
Broadcast emails also don’t form part of your daily email sequence either. They are more ‘random’ although they are carefully thought out messages.
Add these emails into your business especially when you’ve got an update or a promotion going on.