You’ve just secured a wealth of fresh leads at last week’s trade show. That’s fantastic news! Now, what are you going to do with all that golden information?

Well, hopefully, there’s a little bit left in your trade show budget that you can allocate toward lead development. And one of the best ways to tackle that next hurdle is with a smart e-mail marketing campaign.

We’ve gathered ten e-mail marketing tips that will help you design a concise, beautiful, and engaging e-mail campaign that will allow you to maximize all those new trade show leads. Let’s start at the beginning, with a well-defined message.

1. Decide On Your Central Message

Before you even sit down to draft a witty and engaging e-mail, consider your central message. What, exactly, do you want your clients to take away from your message? This will set you up for a short, colorful, and engaging message that your clients are more likely to stop and read.

2. Try On a Few Different Subject Lines

Raise your hand if you judge an e-mail by its subject line. (We all should be raising our hands.) It needs to be short and to the point. Think about your trade show booth rental. It’s all about a simplistic space that manages to have the magnetism to draw a crowd. The same holds true for your subject line.

3. Get Personal

Do you remember being told not to start a job application with, “To Whom It May Concern?” It’s too impersonal. Rather, career counselors would tell you to take the time to personalize all our messages with a direct contact and send a sincere note. Well, the same goes for e-mail marketing campaigns.

…We know what you’re thinking. How could you possibly personalize a message to each and every one of your leads? Simple! Download an e-mail marketing program that will streamline all your contacts, memorize their likes, and prepare a personalized message that you can tailor and send off (witty subject line intact).

4. Start Designing

Now it’s time to start thinking about the design and layout. Because, of course, you’re not going to send a bland, white e-mail. We probably won’t surprise you when we insist on a clean and simple aesthetic. You’ll want to create a consistent design theme and unify it with some meaningful colors.

Have you ever looked into color psychology? …How orange represents excitement, and red and yellow can conjure up feelings of hunger? It’s true; there’s a whole science behind it. Take a quick read through the meanings behind various colors before you embark on your pathway to design.

5. Vary Your Texts

Did you know that our favorite blogs are deliberately structured with a series of headers throughout? They’re rarely one long series of paragraphs. Chopping up huge blocks of text makes reading (or scanning) easier.

The same principle should be applied to your e-mails. Insert a header or two; vary the text where it works; and pay attention to your text against your design template and color scheme.

6. Start Linking

Of course, the goal of your e-mail is to lure in new customers who can benefit from your products. As such, you want to include a few pertinent links in your e-mail message.

Don’t overdo it here, as customers will be able to sniff out your eagerness. Just take them directly to an appropriate product page or even a landing page containing information about something new and exciting.

7. Don’t Forget About the Mobile World

Truth be told, if anyone opens up your e-mail, they’re likely doing it on their mobile device. Just like web pages need to be optimized for mobile devices, so do our carefully designed e-mails.

In fact, nearly 60% of us are going to open that next e-mail on our cell phones. So, it’s important to make sure your message displays beautifully within those few, precious inches.

8. Include an Image or Video

Think about your Twitter feed. Or, consider the fact that the whole world is gravitating toward Instagram, chock full of images and videos. People love a quick concise image or infographic. Who has time to read lengthy bunches of text, even in an e-mail?

See how much of your central message can be encapsulated in an image or video and let that weight heavily in the balance. Web design has become so easy these days that any one of us can create a quick image or infographic for free in apps like Canva. It might be just the thing that sticks out in your newest customer’s eyes.

9. Toss In a Testimonial

If your latest e-mail is regarding a new product or service, sneak in a testimonial or two at the end. Don’t overdo it, as they start to lose their potency the more you tack on.

But, let your “fans” read a line or two about someone else who took tremendous joy in your product or service. We all live our lives based on reviews – hello Amazon – so why not include one in your e-mail?

10. Make An Offering

Offer something instant and tangible. Perhaps it’s a discount code. Perhaps it’s an invitation to a useful webinar. Or, it may just be something as simple as a “click here” link at the end of the message.

Just be sure to close out with some type of call to action that’s going to encourage your customers to come one step closer to knocking on your front door.

E-mail Marketing Isn’t Dead

Sure, we need to be placing a lot of focus on social media marketing and event planning. But, that doesn’t mean e-mail marketing is dead in the water. Seasoned customers are always going to remain interested in your latest and greatest and it’s not a bad way to land new leads, either.

Just remember it’s not an endeavor you want to embark upon lightly. Take some time to artfully craft a meaningful message, albeit short and to the point.

And when it’s time to go on out there and kill it with your trade show game, we hope you’ll let us help you design a booth no one can resist.