Email marketing can be an extremely effective way to reach new customers, nurture leads, and increase sales. However, with inbox clutter on the rise, it’s becoming harder than ever to cut through the noise and connect with your audience.
The key is to create targeted, relevant, and engaging email campaigns that provide value to subscribers. But how exactly can you improve your email marketing efforts? Here are some proven tips to make your email campaign more effective:
Focus on the subject line
The subject line is the first thing recipients see when your email lands in their inbox. An compelling subject line can entice opens, while a weak one can cause your email to be ignored. Some best practices for optimizing subject lines include:
- Keep it short, around 40-50 characters max
- Use the recipient’s first name for personalization
- Ask a question to trigger curiosity
- Include power words like “secrets” or “tips”
- Test different subject lines and compare open rates
Personalize the content
Emails with personalized content have higher open and click through rates. You can personalize your emails by:
- Using merge tags to include the recipient’s first name
- Segmenting your list by interests to send targeted content
- Including transactional data such as past purchases or browsing history
- Recommending specific products based on past behaviors
- Triggering behavior-based campaigns when someone takes an action
Highlight benefits and value
Don’t just talk about features and specifications. Clearly explain how your offering solves pain points and improves lives. Communicate the key benefits readers will receive from your product or service.
Use compelling copy and design
Well-written, succinct copy ensures your message gets across. Break up blocks of text with headers, bullets, and images. Limit paragraphs to 1-2 sentences. Use simple language that’s easy to scan. An attractive, mobile-responsive design will also improve engagement.
Include a clear CTA
Every email should have a strong call-to-action that tells the recipient their next step. Place the CTA button above the fold and use action-driven language like “Shop now” or “Start free trial”. Test different CTA placements, colors, and text to determine what works best.
Optimize for mobile
With email reading shifting to mobile, your campaigns must be optimized for small screens. Use a mobile-responsive template, large fonts, and a simple design. Ensure CTA buttons and links are easy to tap on mobile.
Strategies for List Growth
Growing your email list is crucial for reaching more potential customers. Here are some of the top tactics for list building:
Offer lead magnets
Lead magnets like ebooks, coupons, or webinars encourage subscribers to exchange their contact information for something of value. Offer compelling lead magnets in website popups, navigation bars, and blog posts.
Run contests and giveaways
Sweepstakes, contests, and giveaways are a popular way to capture new contacts. Promote your giveaway across channels and require email sign-up for entry.
Partner with influencers
Influencers often have highly engaged audiences who may be interested in your brand. Negotiate promotional deals where influencers share your lead magnets with their following.
Promote on social media
Leverage platforms like Facebook and Twitter to promote your email subscription. Use targeted paid ads as well as organic social posts driving to landing pages.
Advertise on other websites
Consider paid ads, sponsored content, or guest posts on third-party websites. Require visitors to submit their email to access gated content.
Import leads from CRM
Your CRM likely contains contact info for prospects and customers. Import this data to populate your email list with interested contacts. Just remember to honor opt-in preferences.
List Segmentation Tips
Dividing your master email list into segments allows you to target different groups with tailored content. Here are some segmentation best practices:
Demographics
Segment by basic criteria like age, gender, location, income level. Send content aligned to different demographic groups.
Interests
Group subscribers based on preferences like product categories, reading topics, hobbies. Cater content to specific interests.
Past behavior
Create segments based on past email engagement, purchases, site activity. Identify your VIPs and power users.
Customer lifecycle stage
Categorize subscribers as leads, prospects, or customers. Tailor messaging to lifecycle stage, sending promotions to leads and retention offers to customers.
List size
For large lists, break into smaller segments under 500 subscribers. More subscribers means lower deliverability and engagement.
Interaction level
Split into highly engaged, moderately engaged, and non-engaged segments. Interact differently with each.
Buying signals
Group contacts showing purchase intent through behaviors like downloading a brochure, viewing pricing. Follow up promptly.
Design and Delivery Optimization
Mobile responsive templates
With mobile dominating email usage, opt for responsive templates that automatically adapt for smaller screens. Preview on actual devices during creation.
Snippet preview
Test how your email looks in the inbox preview pane. Refine content so the snippet tempts recipients to open.
Spam filter review
Check your email content against spam filters to identify any red flags. Avoid spammy language, enable authentication, use double opt-in.
Email rendering
View your email in different email clients like Gmail and Outlook. Ensure proper formatting across platforms and fix rendering issues.
Contact normalization
Normalize contact data to reduce bounces. Verify email formats, remove duplicates, standardize names.
Unsubscribe option
Make it easy to unsubscribe and honor opt-out requests immediately. This improves deliverability as ISPs trust you aren’t spamming.
Authentication
Enabling SPF, DKIM, and DMARC email authentication improves deliverability. It proves you aren’t sending spam from a fake domain.
Reconfirmation campaigns
Periodically send reconfirmation campaigns or single opt-in messages. It cleans your list of inactive or bounced contacts.
Email testing
A/B test emails to optimize elements like subject lines, content, layouts, CTAs. Testing improves future campaign performance.
List Hygiene Practices
Maintaining a clean, updated list ensures your emails reach the inbox. Follow these list hygiene best practices:
Remove inactive subscribers
Regularly prune contacts who haven’t opened in 6-12 months. Inactive subscribers lower deliverability.
Eliminate hard bounces
Contacts with repeated hard bounces won’t receive future emails. Remove them from your list.
Suppress unsubscribers
Honor unsubscribe requests right away. Suppress them from future sends to avoid complaints.
Delete spam traps
If you receive bounces from email addresses ending in @example.com, delete these spam traps.
Limit inactive segments
Minimize the number of contacts in stagnant, low performing segments to focus on actually engaged subscribers.
Update contact details
When you receive notice of changed subscriber data, update their info in your list. This avoids inaccuracies.
Merge duplicate contacts
If the same person is listed multiple times under different names or email addresses, merge these duplicates.
Validate new subscribers
When loading new contacts, validate formats and run email verification to catch issues early.
Review subscriber sources
Scrutinize sources providing new contacts. Avoid buying unqualified lists that damage deliverability.
Metrics and Analytics
It’s essential to track email performance through key metrics and analytics. Measure these factors:
Open rate
The percentage of recipients who opened your email. Benchmark to your industry average.
Industry | Average Open Rate |
---|---|
Education | 26.09% |
Beauty & Cosmetics | 17.46% |
Software | 17.31% |
NGO/Non-profits | 15.76% |
Click-through rate
The percentage who clicked links in your email. Aim for at least 2-3%.
Conversion rate
The percentage who completed your desired action like making a purchase. Varies based on business type.
Bounce rate
What percent of emails bounced rather than being delivered. Should be below 2%.
Unsubscribe rate
The share that opted out from your emails. Keep under 0.2% to avoid jeopardizing sender reputation.
Spam reports
How many recipients marked your email as spam. Goal is zero. More than 0.1% risks blacklist.
Email ROI
Compare revenue driven by email campaigns to cost of creation and distribution. Quantify email’s contribution.
List growth
Monitor the number of new subscribers added versus lost on a weekly, monthly, and annual basis.
Engagement by segment
Compare open, click, and unsubscribe rates across different list segments. Identify your ideal targets.
Preferred day/time
Analyze performance by day and hour sent. Find when your audience is most responsive.
Improving Deliverability
Getting your emails reliably delivered to the inbox is crucial. Follow these deliverability tips:
Monitor sender reputation
Use tools to check your domain and IP’s sender reputation. A negative standing leads to blocked emails.
Enable authentication
SPF, DKIM, and DMARC authentication proves your identity as a sender, improving deliverability.
Comply with ESP policies
Study and comply with the policies of major email service providers like Gmail and Outlook. Avoid their spam filters.
Maintain list hygiene
Keep your list cleaned and updated, removing hard bounces, unsubscribes, and spam traps.
Segment for relevancy
Ultra-targeted, behavioral-based segmentation results in more engaged recipients and fewer complaints.
Limit email frequency
Sticking to once a week or less avoidsoverloading recipients’ inboxes and being marked as spam.
Personalize content
Segmenting and personalizing content to subscriber preferences leads to higher engagement and deliverability.
Use double opt-in
Requiring subscribers to confirm sign-up via email reduces complaints and improves brand trust.
Monitor and respond to feedback
Keep close tabs on spam reports and subscriber complaints. Modify your approach as needed.
Conclusion
Creating an effective email marketing campaign takes strategic planning and consistent optimization. Focus on providing subscriber value through relevant content, compelling design, and clear calls to action. Grow your list ethically while keeping it clean and segmented. Analyze performance numbers and user feedback to refine your approach over time. With robust deliverability practices, you can ensure your messages consistently reach the inbox. Applying these email marketing best practices takes work, but the payoff in engagement, revenue, and customer loyalty makes it well worth the effort.