Jeanne Jennings: Email Should Be Part of Your Strategy Social PR Secrets by Lisa Buyer

“Email is dead.” “Email is making a comeback.” Chances are, you’ve heard both of these statements in the past few years. The truth is, email has always been a crucial part of any PR and marketing strategy. In this episode, learn all there is to know about using email for your business, agency, or clients from Email Optimization Shop’s Jeanne Jennings.
In this episode of the Social PR Secrets Podcast, host Lisa Buyer chats with Jeanne Jennings, CEO of Email Optimization Shop and General Manager of Only Influencers to discuss everything email-related. Jeanne is a recognized expert in the email marketing industry and a consultant who helps organizations make their email marketing efforts more effective and more profitable. So what are the current email marketing trends? Should you use emojis in your subject line? How many pictures should you include in an email? Look no further to find out!
Latest Trends in E-mail Marketing
Why has email always been such a reliable source of revenue? The answer is simple. It’s cheap and effective. But, Jeanne says, if you start putting resources behind your email efforts, it will become an incredibly profitable marketing method.  But what are the latest trends?
Jeanne recommends taking advantage of automation tools. Create trigger emails based on the behavior of the people on your list. For example, create browser reminder emails for potential customers who visited your website but didn’t make a purchase. Sending them an email could be the push they need to buy something. Or set up reminder emails sent to people who added something in their cart but left the website without buying it.
It’s All About Your Website
When it comes to emails, the key is to make sure people want to get updates from you in their inbox. As such, you should always allow people to opt-in for newsletters and all other emails. The best way to do this is within your website, following these 3 rules:
#1. Include a value proposition, offer people something so they feel like they will gain from being added to your email list.
#2. Add your call to action above the fold on your website, not in the footer. The sign-up box should appear on every page, either on the right column or at the very top, next to your logo.
#3. Experiment with popups. While popups can be annoying for us marketing pros, they yield incredible results. Jeanne recommends including them on the second or third page so that website visitors can get to know your business before opting in. 
Email Newsletters 101
Jeanne recommends sending a newsletter out at least once a month. However, make sure it’s not all about your company updates but rather provides real value to your subscribers. Jeanne also advises against dividing your newsletter into types of medium. Instead, make sure your categories focus on the types of messages.
Visually, your mission will determine how many images you should include. If you’re a retailer, visuals will drive your newsletter. If working for a B2B or PR agency, your message is your copy. The visuals will need to support the copy and en