10 Tips to Step up Your Automated Email Marketing

It’s no secret that email marketing should be part of every marketing strategy. But it’s more than the one-off emails and newsletters. You should use automated email marketing campaigns too. Why? It’s simple, automated campaigns deliver better results.

Getting started with automated emails is easy. You just need to program it to send emails to customers based on certain criteria and add the content. This is a much more effective method than the ‘spray and pray’ campaigns that were sent to a long list of people without segmentation. Are you already using automated email marketing campaigns? Let’s take a look at a few tips that can take you to the next level.

How Automated Email Works

Have you ever signed up to receive emails for a discount on a website? You entered your email and then instantly got a 10 percent off coupon in your inbox. This is automated email at in its simplest form.

Think of all the different automated emails you could send. Welcome emails, discounts based on search history, discounts if they abandoned their shopping cart, and birthday promotions are just a few that come to mind. Just set up your defined criteria and your email will automatically send without additional effort. Marketers taking advantage of these programs have seen conversion rates as high as 50 percent.

10 Tips to Step-up Your Email Marketing Automation Game

If you’re an email marketing pro or even if you’re just starting out, we have some tips that can help you get the most out of your automated email marketing campaigns.

Let’s start with the basics:

1. Testing
   A/B testing is the best way to test two criteria against each other. What subject line boosts open rates? What time of day is best? What CTA is more successful? Determining all of this is crucial for success.
2. Updating Preference Center
   Have you ever given out your email only to receive 3-4 emails daily?! It’s exhausting and I’m sure you’ve hit unsubscribe. Don’t lose customers this way. Instead, give your customers the complete control on how many emails they want to receive along with category. That’s key for customer retention.
3. Optimize for Mobile Devices
   Did you know 60 percent of emails are opened on mobile devices. Make your emails optimized for every type of mobile device that readers use.
4. Email Opt-in
   Always, always, always ask customers to opt-in to email lists. We all know how annoying it is to get on a list that you didn’t want to be on in the first place.
5. Evaluate Performance
   Evaluate your performance and make ongoing optimizations regularly. Don’t deliver content blindly, track metrics to get a holistic view.
6. Clean and Update Lists
   Data expires quickly. It’s critical that you consistently clean and update your subscriber list. What good is your email database if the information is incorrect?
   Once you’ve mastered the basics it’s time to take things up a notch.
7. Create Personalized Content
   “Don’t waste a sentence saying nothing,” says Nichole Carter, Digital marketing consultant at Premium Jackets.
   This is where a clean database comes in handy. Track demographics, industry, designations, personal backgrounds, etc. this will help you to personalize your content correctly and efficiently. Identify unobtrusive ways to create tailored emails to grab your customer’s attention and create loyalty.
8. Use Predictive Marketing Techniques
   Once you’ve collected enough data on customers, use machine learning programs to determine what a potential customer looks like. You can identify potential behaviors based on data and target potential customers who might be on the fence about making a purchase, upsell to existing customers, and overall determine better messaging for customers.
9. Study the Data
   Review your data every month to make sure you are meeting your goals and your performance is on track. Every company has its own definition of growth. As you achieve new goals, create new ones to keep growing.
10. Maintain the Pace
    Email marketing is an art of storytelling, and it only works by keeping the pace. Have the discipline to maintain clean lists, create fresh content, and maybe even take risks to improve your results.

These automated email marketing tips will get you started on your road to becoming an email marketing pro. Is there a tip that we left off the list that you think should be included? Let us know in the comments!