Eblast (Email Blast): How to Create High-Impact Email Communications

Cerkl Broadcast Email Blast messaging is designed to optimize email communications. It’s the easiest email creator most people have ever used, and incredibly effective when you need to share information quickly. Email Blasts or eblasts are super simple to build using Broadcast’s drag-and-drop Elements and customizable templates. They are also ideal for campaigns. 

The fact is that as technology develops and improves, our communication choices continue to increase exponentially. The challenge, though, is to choose what works best for each and every situation. This is especially important in the workplace where effective communication is crucial for fostering collaboration and teamwork and ensuring a clear understanding of goals and expectations among employees.

Cerkl Broadcast has the answer in the form of Email Blast or Eblast campaigns. They save you time, provide real-time insights, and whatever devices your employees choose to use, they look great. A major capability an Email Blast offers is the ability to target personalized messages to employees. It’s simple too.

But wait, there’s more. We’re going to show you how and why Broadcast’s Email Blast is the easiest email creator you’ve ever used. 

We are going to start out with a leading question though: Is email really the best form of digital communication for internal communicators? What do you think?

Is Email the Best Form of Digital Communication?

In most cases, the answer to this question is, Yes it is – unless employees are working remotely and don’t have access to email! Even so, it’s not as simple as researchers have discovered. Let’s look at the facts.  

Research Findings 

According to Project.co’s Communication Statistics 2023, “Email is the most widely used way people choose to communicate with their colleagues – but only just! Just under a third (31%) of people say they communicate with their colleagues primarily by email.” 

In the 2023 edition of its definitive State of the Sector report, Gallagher states that of all the broadcast channels used by organizations for internal communications, email is the most widely used, with 94% of respondents confirming this. 

This isn’t surprising. According to PoliteMail’s Internal Email Communications Benchmarks 2023 Edition, email provides the most extensive reach of any corporate communications channel. The report states that corporate internal communications teams send, on average, 79 email broadcasts every month. They can expect 68% of these to reach their chosen audience, while 11% will simply ignore the messages. 

“In other words, expect your email to capture the attention of 55% of your audience, and 82% of the recipients who open it.”

PoliteMail

Additionally, the report states: 

• An average corporate email is about 475 words and only about one in 50 will read it. Of those who do, 52% will only read 70% of it. 
• Of those employees who open email and don’t ignore the message, 19% will skim the content and read less than 30% of it. Only 30% will read more than half of the content.

Forbes Council member, Kent Ingle, president of Southeastern University, acknowledges in a Forbes article that “email is the most preferred form of digital communication.” Furthermore, people tend to prefer email over in-person meetings for internal communications, he says. But, he warns, emails are often misinterpreted in the workplace. So, keep them clear. 

What is an Eblast

So, how can you enhance your emails and improve your internal communications instantly? We suggest you try Broadcast’s Email Blast options. But, what is an Eblast?  

In a nutshell, an Eblast is a dedicated email message created and sent via Cerkl Broadcast. 

The Cerkl Development, Success, and Product teams worked hard to understand how our clients were using our original single email creator, Dedicated Email. We looked at one year of client comments and suggestions and took that feedback back to the drawing board to reimagine how single email messages are sent using Cerkl Broadcast. That’s when Email Blasts were born.

In essence, this is a quick and easy drag-and-drop email builder. With it, Eblasts give you more options to connect your audience to targeted single messages. Just choose the elements you want to add, put your spin on them, and see the progress as you build. No post-send surprises here; just beautiful messages your audience will love. If you can type a Word document, you can use Broadcast’s email blast builder to create a helpful Email Blast. 

And we didn’t stop there. Since then, we have continued to improve the way Eblasts work and what they offer. For example, we’ve added the option for Pulse Surveys and a host of supporting features and capabilities. You can now add images to your email blast, create successful Eblast campaigns, and garner insights along with powerful analytics. 

Why is Eblast Important for Internal Communication

We’ve already highlighted the importance of email per se.

Additionally, The Harris Poll-Grammarly Business 2023 State of Business Communication report states that communicating with others now takes up 72% of the workweek, two hours more than last year. While verbal communication increased, workers who were surveyed said they spend an hour more each week writing to others. While platforms include email, text-based chat, and text messaging, email communication increased by 21% year-on-year.

This highlights the importance of ensuring that every Email Blast has all the elements it needs to be opened, read, and acted on. 

Mass Personalization

In the context of emails, mass personalization refers to the practice of sending out a large volume of emails while tailoring the content to make it more relevant and personalized for each recipient. This approach involves leveraging data and segmentation techniques to customize certain elements of the email. These include the recipient’s name, preferences, or past interactions with the sender. 

Mass personalization aims to create a more individualized and engaging experience for recipients within the constraints of mass email distribution, improving the chances of resonating with diverse audience segments.

It stands to reason that to achieve effective mass personalization you will need email software that negates the need to do this manually. 

Gallagher’s State of the Sector report reveals that the ability of organizations to offer personalized internal communications is incredibly limited. This, it states, includes addressing employees by name (50%) and sending communications that are specific to employee age or a life event (48%).

Broadcast’s Eblast software is the answer to mass personalization.

Company Strategy and Goals

Email campaigns can align with company strategy by tailoring content to meet business objectives, such as increasing sales or enhancing customer loyalty. Strategic segmentation ensures personalized messaging for different audience groups, contributing to goal-driven outcomes. 

Consistent branding across campaigns reinforces the company’s identity and values. Integration with the customer journey supports overarching business strategies, from awareness to retention. Data-driven analysis of email metrics informs decision-making, allowing for continuous refinement of strategies. 

Adaptable Email Blast campaigns can help companies stay responsive to market changes while ensuring compliance with ethical and legal considerations.

How to Build an Effective Email Blast

When you begin to create a new email blast, you will be shown three ways to get started.

1. Build from scratch
   All you need to do is click or drag an Element and start creating exactly what you need. You can add as many Elements as you please.
2. Use a template
   Every Email Blast comes loaded with seven templates that you can customize for your message. You can also add to your template library by choosing the “Save as Template” option in the creator. Or you can convert messages that have been sent into templates.
3. Upload HTML
   You can also upload an HTML file. Just be aware that you will not be able to use any Elements once you choose this option. 

Elements of Successful Email Blasts

We have referred to a number of important elements of emails several times in this post. Recognizing their importance, Cerkl developed invaluable Elements that are designed for use in every Email Blast you create. 

When you start creating your first Email Blast you will discover that your Elements pane is your key to Blasts’ ease of usability. Before we designed Eblasts, we analyzed thousands of messages to identify the tools you would need to make your organization’s message heard. This is the result.

Adding Elements Step-by-Step

Here’s what you need to do, starting with the text.

Text

We opened up the possibilities for formatting your message text. You can pick font face, and size, as well as the layout and background color. 

Images

Then we decided to give you more options for using images in your emails. Any image in your message can now link to a website, email address, or phone number.

The image + text Element helps your text and image stay in place, no matter the screen size. 

Videos

You can pull in a video from any source. If you are using Vimeo or YouTube, we will automatically pull the thumbnail for the video and place a play button to encourage video clicks. 

Buttons

Create and link buttons in the color, font, and size of your choice. Just like images, these can link to a website, email address, or phone number. 

Dividers

The divider Element can add some design pizzazz or some horizontal breathing room between blocks.

Social Links

Place your social links where you want with Broadcast Blasts. Using Controls, you can format your footer as you see fit.

Signatures

Give a message a personal touch with this helpful Element. You can add a valediction, name, and position, as well as upload a signature file. 

Surveys

If you want to add a Pulse Survey, you don’t even have to leave the page. Just drag and drop it where you want it to appear within the Email Blast, and customize the content to fit your needs.

Element Options

While you can add all Elements via a drag-and-drop, a simple click will append them to the bottom of your message. 

But stacking Elements isn’t your only option. An Email Blast allows you to split each row of your message into 1, 2, 3, or 4 columns. Just drag your second Element to the right or left, and watch your storytelling possibilities multiply.

Best Practices & Features for Crafting an Email Blast

Here are some of the best practices you can use to master Broadcast Email Blasts. We start with the basics and include some really exciting new options. 

Sending Info

Eblasts show you in real-time what your message will look like and who you are sending it to. Once you are finished creating your masterpiece, you head to the Sending Info section to input your all-important subject line, send-from details, and then target your audience.

You can still target your message to certain segments and categories. As you change options, Blasts will show you the changes to your audience size in real-time. You can easily choose who receives your message based on segment, location, or interests. 

Schedule or Send an Email Blast

No matter if your message is for today, or two weeks from now, Blasts has you covered. You can set a schedule, choose to send now, or save what you made as a template so other Cerkl admins can access your creation. 

Preview & Sample

Before you send, it’s a good idea to get a look at how your message will appear in your recipient’s mailbox. The preview shows you the desktop and mobile preview of your message. 

If you want to check how it will appear for your internal users, be sure to send a sample. 

Controls

We know how hard it is to manage a brand, so we developed organization and message-level settings to help your fellow content creators stay consistent.

Image Gallery

Broadcast’s Image Gallery allows you and your team to upload and share images for use in Blasts. Once an image is uploaded, the entire team is able to use it, improving brand consistency and reducing redundancy. You can find images easily in several ways:

• Search by image name or alt text.
• Sort by the date uploaded, name alphabetically or last used.
• Filter by which team member uploaded the image. Your name will always appear first in the filter list, so it’s easy to find your own images.

Retargeting

A recent product update is Blast Retargeting. It’s easy for an email to get lost or forgotten in a cluttered inbox. Retargeting a Blast is a great way to increase engagement and give gentle reminders to the part of your audience that missed the first email. 

Once you have elected to retarget an Email Blast, you can select the date and time to resend the blast within 180 days. You can also select the desired level of engagement needed by your audience, whether it’s opens, clicks, or either. You can use retargeting to increase awareness, drive action, collect feedback, make data-driven decisions, and much more. 

Eblasts’ Internal Communication Campaigns

Campaigns are a great way to group related communications for scheduling and reporting on the communication initiative’s success. You can group communications by audience attributes, topic, or by individual recipient. Internal communicators can compare all metrics and analytics, or filter out any that aren’t relevant. This enables them to identify successful and unsuccessful strategies, accelerate learnings, and make data-driven decisions to improve future communications. 

Best Eblast Subject Lines

PoliteMail’s internal communications benchmarks highlight the primary factors that impact readership. These are relevant subject lines and preview content along with layout and design formatting, writing, and images, as well as message length and timing of delivery. Here are a few examples of good subject lines:

• Breaking News: Exciting updates about company initiatives!
• Your Voice Matters: Join the conversation in our internal forum
• Unlocking Success Together: New strategies and goals revealed
• Don’t Miss Out: Important announcements and team highlights
• Upcoming Changes: What you need to know for a seamless transition
• Celebrating Wins and Milestones: A weekly roundup for the team

Evaluating Eblast Success: Tracking and Analysis

When you set up an Email Blast campaign it makes 100% sense to measure and evaluate its success. But according to the Gallagher report, only 63% of organizations bother to measure email reach. Additionally, 43% are still lacking appropriate metrics, and 39% lack tools to collate or analyze the data afterwards.

Contact Monkey’s Internal Email Benchmark Report 2023 shows that 64% of internal communicators rely on click-through rates (CTR) to determine the success of their internal comms efforts. It also shows that the average click rate for internal communications across a variety of industries was 7%. While that may sound low, a click-through rate of 6-7% is considered a good CTR for internal communications. 

Something to consider is that when you use Broadcast Pulse Surveys, when employees respond, feedback is automatically recorded in Broadcast Blast Analytics as a shareable, easy-to-understand data visualization. Recording and reporting on your audience sentiments has never been easier. 

How Cerkl can Improve your Email Reach

Implementation of Cerkl Broadcast is simple and effective. You don’t need codes and you don’t need maintenance. It was designed specifically for internal communicators and those involved in sharing information in any sized company. The Broadcast platform comprises a centralized hub and provides omnichannel capability. While it offers many features, a key capability is the Email Blast which can be used for campaigns or one-off dedicated email messages. Benefits include the ability to personalize messages, segment your audience, and analyze your strategies and their effectiveness.

Above all else, Broadcast will enable you to increase employee engagement and productivity. One way that an Email Blast or campaign can improve global engagement is by increasing the email click-through rate (CTR). 

Standard Textile, a manufacturer and global distributor of multiple-use textiles reached out to Cerkl to help increase email CTR. With more than 4,000 associates scattered throughout the world, including North America, the Far East, the Middle East, and Europe, they needed to increase employee engagement without creating silos.

The result was an open rate of 100% and a CTR of 71% … and one delighted client!  

What’s Next?

Broadcast, together with its highly successful Email Blast approach can do the same for you. Interested? Then schedule a chat today.  

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