Email marketing has become one of the best ways to convert prospects and existing customers into sales. Taking the time to build an email list gives a company the ability to reach an audience whenever they want, and it also provides a lot of data that can be used to analyze performance. There are many things to focus on improving as an email marketing campaign makes headway, from spam complaints, unsubscribe rates, and click-through rates, to open rates. There are also many ways of getting more out of your email marketing campaigns, and the below tips should provide you with an excellent start.
One of the first tips may not have crossed your mind, but it’s a great way to engage someone! Of course, it’s essential to use your judgement when communicating with a new audience and figuring out whether an emojis is appropriate or not is up to you. Whatever the case may be, Entrepreneur brings up a fun idea to spruce up email marketing:
“Emojis are everywhere. They are a fun and effective way to communicate. Look at the last text message conversation on your phone and see how many emojis were used. Your email is going to be surrounded by several more in the inboxes of your recipients. Using emojis in the subject line is a great way to stand out, often pulling a much higher open rate when split-tested against an identical subject line, minus the emojis,” said Aaron Minc, founder of Defamation Removal Law.”
When a person subscribes to a list, not everyone is a “true” subscriber. To keep frauds away and also to make sure new contacts really want to subscribe, Inc. says that implementing a double opt-in will verify a person’s objective to sign up for emails. Having a double opt-in may seem like a lot, but as Peter Roesler, President of Web Marketing Pros argues, a CAPTCHA isn’t always perfect.
“Using double opt-in verification helps to ensure that all emails added to a list are legitimate and verified. When soliciting subscribers, a double opt-in system is the best defense against fraudulent entries. Since the potential subscriber has to click a link in an email to made their subscription final, this method ensures the person has access to the email they're adding and verifies their intent to subscribe.
CAPTCHA isn't perfect and bots will get through at times, so a double opt-in system is like a final defense. It's not just bots. Regular users can at times put someone else's email address into an email system, whether on purpose or by mistake. A double opt-in system only allows for people who truly want their email to be on the list.
A double opt-in system is also important for deliverability. Without a system to verify the intent of new subscribers, marketers could end up sending messages to people who never wanted them in the first place. These people are likely to mark a message as spam rather than ignore it, and that's the worst thing for email marketers. Getting too many messages marked as spam can get a domain blocked entirely from email servers.
Another critical way to improve email marketing is by working on the open rate. According to the Huffington Post, an open rate is an indicator of how much subscribers may actually care about the content they receive. To boost open rates, here is one tactic to implement:
“In an experiment, entrepreneur Neal Taparia found that he could increase his email reach by 54.7 per cent by resending the exact same email to recipients who had not yet opened his original message. Email marketing expert Noah Kagan modified Taparia’s approach by changing his subject line and emailing recipients again one week later, increasing his opens by 30 per cent. While this strategy does not take each email’s open rates into consideration, the results are what matter more. By resending the same email to subscribers who ignored your previous send, you get more people opening your emails without having to create an entirely new message.”
Huffington Post also offers another tip on how to improve open rates, which is by testing delivery times:
“Your customers and prospects are busy people. To increase your open rate, marketing expert Lauren Hall-Stigerts recommends, “Land your email in your recipient’s inbox when they’re looking at it.” Schedule your emails to deliver during times when subscribers actively check their inbox and when there may be less competition from other brands for reader mindshare. Ignore the studies that suggest 10:30 a.m. or 5 p.m. are the best times to send emails: Your readers likely follow a different schedule, so test different delivery times for your next few email sends, then select time slots that consistently lead to higher open rates.”
You should also consider segmenting an email list. If done correctly it should improve your email marketing strategies. In an article on Entrepreneur quotes Elena Eroshkina, CEO of Boston Executive Limo Service on why she thinks segmenting is so crucial to an email marketing campaign:
“Segmenting your email list will help you achieve more favorable open rates and click-through rates. By sending messages to targeted groups within your list, your audience finds your message more relevant, which ultimately provides you with better results. Every list has subscribers who are interested in different types of offers — coupons, news or special events — segmenting allows you to give your subscribers what they want,” said Elena Eroshkina, CEO of Boston Executive Limo Service.”
Everyone likes to feel at home, which is why it’s also vital to make new subscribers feel welcome right from the get-go. Business News Weekly mentions that guiding a customer to purchase from a sales funnel is an important email marketing strategy to implement, as is reminding a new subscriber about your business right after they sign up for emails.
“When you do start using email marketing, don't rely on the automated opt-in messages that your email management software provides. Instead, create an automated series of custom emails that subscribers receive.
A custom email series, also called an autoresponder sequence or sales funnel, helps new subscribers learn more about your business and guides them toward making a purchase. And out of all these emails, the welcome email is the most important.
Sending a welcome email allows you to direct your new subscribers' attention back to your business right after they have signed up for your list, which is when they are mostly interested in what you have to offer. In fact, welcome emails generate, on average, 320 percent more revenue than any other type of promotional email.
These emails should be automated so that they are sent based on when a person signs up for your list. Emails sent in real time see 10 times more interaction from new subscribers than emails sent in bulk.
The best plan for your business is to have an entire sequence of emails that are automatically sent when someone new subscribes. But if you have to pick just one email to customize, make it a welcome email.”
In addition to creating a welcoming email for new subscribers, have you thought about making emails mobile friendly? Not everyone will subscribe to a list on their PC, so that’s why Business.com mentions it’s important to make sure a sign up will also work on a smartphone.
“This may seem obvious, but testing your email campaigns on tiny smartphone screens only takes a second. And, after seeing how your emails look, you can either leave the emails as they are, or make improvements so those on the go can view your emails properly.
After all, if a smartphone user can’t see your emails the right way, you won’t see a high click-through rate with your mobile audience. And since 62 percent of all email opens occur on a mobile device, it’s a good idea to make sure your emails are mobile-friendly.”
As you start getting the hang of perfecting your email marketing, continuing to create more goals should be at the forefront of your mind. Keeping things clear and precise will help subscribers stick around want to learn more about your brand, according to Constant Contact.
Every email must have a goal: Every time you send out an email you should have a goal in mind. Are you trying to drive traffic to your website? Increase event registration for an upcoming fundraiser? Encourage people to fill out an online survey? Make sure you’re communicating with a purpose so you can get your message across to your audience loud and clear.
Your email should reflect your goal: When designing your email, make sure that the content and layout of your message reflects the goal you’re trying to achieve. Keep your email focused on the action you want readers to take. Keep text down to only the essential. If you want to go into detail in your email, prioritize information so that you’re providing a link early on. That way, readers will see the link even if they don’t scroll through the whole message.
Business.com also mentions that it may be in your best interest to only have one call to action in an email. Why is this? It’s best not to ask a subscriber to do too much; it’s better to have them come to you after being earnestly interested in a product.
“You don’t want to ask your subscribers to do too much in each email you send them. This may overwhelm them and cause them to take no action at all. When you send out an email campaign, make the subject line clear, include short, concise copy, and have one call to action for subscribers to perform.”
In closing, get started today and use one of the tips above as an idea on how to improve your email marketing campaign. Give a few a shot and come back to this post to let us know if your audience engagement has improved.
Sources: Huffington Post, Inc., Business.com, Business News Weekly, Entrepreneur, Constant Contact
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