1. Prune Your Subscriber List
The Law of Averages says the more people you expose to your business, the more customers you’ll generate. While this is true, it does not make for a good email marketing strategy. Think about how many emails you personally get in a day. Do you open and read every email you get from businesses? Probably not. But I’d venture to guess that you do read emails from the businesses that you’re most loyal to.
For your email marketing campaign to be as efficient as possible, prune your subscriber list to remove those who haven’t opened any of your emails the last few months.
2. Utilize the “From” Name and Subject Line
A recent study shows 47 percent of people open an email based on the subject line alone. Are your subject lines engaging? Will they stand out in an inbox? Think of your subject line like a Title for a blog post. Your main goal is to get the user to keep reading. Using numbered lists and posing a question are two great strategies to try with your subject lines.
Another one of our pro email marketing tips is to make sure your “from” name shows your business affiliation. Users are more likely to trust your emails if they recognize your company name.
3. Only Hit Send When You Have Something Valuable to Share
Today’s digital citizen suffers from email overload. It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking you have to send more emails than your competition to break through the noise. But don’t hit that send button just yet. Ask yourself, if this really something my customers need to know?
One of the most successful pro email marketing tips on this list is only to send emails when you have something valuable to share. Treat your subscribers with respect. Their time is just as valuable as yours.
4. Use Email in All Customer Acquisition Channels
Email isn’t just useful for your direct marketing efforts. Every avenue in which you meet potential customers should involve email acquisition as a call-to-action. Segment your lists based on acquisition channel to keep track of which channels provide the best leads.
5. Make Sure Each Email Serves a Greater Purpose
This pro email marketing tip is really about your marketing plan. Are there clearly defined objectives for your email marketing strategy? Does each email fit into that strategy? Are you seeing returns from each email campaign? Don’t just send emails on a whim. Instead, put thought into every word.
6. Be as Relevant to Your Audience as Possible
A crucial part of having each email serve a purpose is keeping your email marketing efforts audience-focused. What are the main problems of your audience? Which questions are they asking? Your content has a better chance of getting opened and shared if it solves a problem or answers a question. I can’t tell you how many emails I’ve received from businesses that really have nothing to do with the business or why I signed up for their emails in the first place. Don’t be that guy.
7. Optimize for the Long Haul and not Just Individual Campaigns
Don’t make the mistake of treating your subscribers as disposable and replaceable. Instead, make lifetime subscriber value a key metric. Loyal customers can be loyal subscribers. Make sure that your campaigns resonate with customers. Don’t just think about the immediate impact.
8. Test Strategies and Measure Results Consistently
Email marketing is constantly changing. What once worked last year, might not work today. And if you haven’t changed your strategy in a few years, you might want to revisit that ASAP. Your audience evolves as your company evolves. Keeping your finger on the pulse of what your target audience wants comes down to using listening and using measuring tools effectively.
9. Use Preheaders to Increase Subject Line Length
Preheaders, also known as the “Johnson Box,” appear in gray text after the subject line. Optimize this section, so it provides the information users need to be convinced to open your email. Consider a statistic or a thought-provoking question.
10. Leverage Segmentation for a More Personalized Experience
All successful email marketing comes down to segmentation and personalization. According to the IDM State of Digital Personalization Report, 82 percent of marketers have seen an increase in open rates after incorporating personalization strategies.
There are different ways to segment your email list. You could choose to segment your list based on demographics like age and income level, but segmenting based on behaviors is more effective. The better you know your target audience, the more personalized experience you can create.
Personalization is more than just addressing a person by their name. It is personalizing every aspect of the content to their specific needs. You should have no problem implementing personalization if your email marketing strategy is truly audience-focused.
11. Understand the Complexity of Email Rendering
All email clients are not the same. Your email will look different depending on which email client your subscribers are using. Keep this in mind when segmenting your list and creating content.
Pro Email Marketing Tips:
These pro email marketing tips are obviously just the start. I’d be interested to learn what works for your company and what doesn’t. Do you have a tip that we didn’t include? Add it in the comments below.
The original version of this post was first published on The Marketing Scope.
Eric Vidal, an industry expert with over 25 years of marketing and technology experience is passionate about providing insight and education on the latest martech trends and techniques. Eric speaks and writes for various publications like The Marketing Scope and Future Of Work to name a couple. He’s also a Principal Analyst at Futurum Research where he follows and writes about marketing technology. Eric has been a marketing leader for companies of all sizes. He has extensive experience working to achieve measurable business results for organizations like IBM, Cisco, WebEx, Canon USA, West Corp., Dynamic Signal, adidas, SAP and more. Connect with Eric on LinkedIn.
