Email marketing software can be a powerful tool for small businesses. Drive traffic to your website, increase sales, build brand loyalty, and more. Also, making the most of the available tools makes this software even more powerful.
Of course, each email marketing software provider offers its own platform, but they all offer similar basic features that can be more or less useful to your business. How much you spend is up to you.
Many email marketers believe they are getting the most out of their email marketing software. They design beautiful and engaging emails, provide valuable content, and see satisfying results. However, the results can be less than acceptable, and small business email marketers are often unaware of this.
3 questions to ask yourself about email marketing
If your small business is running email marketing campaigns through a software provider and you're not sure if you're getting the most out of your investment, consider the following questions.
These three questions will help you discover new ways to get the most out of your email marketing software, and hopefully improve your email marketing results.
1. Are you analyzing your data?
In this age of “big data,” most email marketing software providers offer at least some form of numerical feedback. When you send an email, you typically know who opened the email, who clicked on it, what they clicked on, who opted out, who marked the email as spam, and who forwarded your email. Get data about what you did. Every time you send a mass email, a treasure trove of information about your subscribers is generated.
Even though this valuable data is available, small businesses often ignore its potential. When you send an email and see the results, you might think you're taking advantage of the software's data reporting capabilities. In fact, if you're dealing with this much data, you're only touching the tip of the iceberg.
Email marketing data is most valuable when you use it to learn about your subscribers and adjust your strategy according to your conclusions. For example, you can track the content topics that generate the most clicks and use those topics more often.
Depending on your software provider, this tactic may require a learning curve and take time to initially implement. But once you find what your subscribers really like, your email marketing campaigns will never be the same.
2. Are social shares integrated into marketing emails?
There are two important ways to integrate social media into your marketing emails. One is pretty standard, with each email containing a link to the company's social profiles. If you haven't done this yet, start now.
The second tactic doesn't always get the credit it deserves. That tactic is social sharing. When it comes to marketing emails, leveraging social sharing means giving your subscribers an easy and instant way to post email content to their social networks. You can allow the recipient to share specific parts of the email (like pinning a photo to her Pinterest) or the entire email (or both). Both are convenient.
Social sharing takes little time to implement into your email marketing campaigns, making it one of the software tools that small businesses can't afford not to take advantage of. According to BlueHornet research:
“37% of consumers share emails to social networks.”
Additionally, GetResponse research found that emails with social sharing buttons have a 158% higher click-through rate than emails without buttons.
3. Are you doing A/B testing?
The more you test and adjust different email components, the more your campaign will resonate with your customers. A single version of an email blast already generates useful data, but A/B testing your email with multiple versions can generate actionable data more accurately.
Unfortunately, some major email marketing providers don't make A/B testing easy. For example, Constant Contact has not yet integrated any type of automated A/B testing tools into their software into his platform, allowing users to create completely separate email and subscriber lists to run tests. need to do it.
If your small business uses this type of email marketing software, testing may seem like a burden, but it definitely helps if you have the time.
Fortunately, there are email platforms that have built-in split testing tools. For example, GetResponse offers an integrated A/B testing tool that allows users to compose an email, select elements to test with two versions, and automatically send both versions to a custom percentage of the email list. Masu.
Both versions of the email can be set to gradually reach the ratio of your choice (i.e. 50/50). Then, when the results are returned, the software automatically determines which version performs better and sends that version to the rest of the recipients on your list.
Running simple A/B tests like this with your email marketing software will help you continually optimize your emails and improve your results. Optimize subject lines, greetings, font colors, button colors, content organization, and more.
By leveraging these three neglected email marketing tools (or just one), small businesses can increase the ROI of their software investments and improve their overall marketing strategy. What you learn from email marketing can also be useful for other marketing channels.
Be more efficient with email automation
Automating your email campaigns can greatly improve efficiency and consistency. Automation tools allow you to schedule emails, set up drip campaigns, and trigger emails based on specific customer actions. This approach ensures timely engagement with your audience and fosters better relationships while saving valuable time and resources.
Leverage advanced segmentation for targeted campaigns
Advanced segmentation goes beyond basic demographics and focuses on user behavior, purchase history, and engagement levels. Use this deep segmentation to tailor your messages to specific audience groups, increasing their relevance and impact. Advanced segmentation allows you to deliver content that resonates with each segment, increasing the effectiveness of your campaigns.
Integrating email marketing with other digital channels
To get the most out of your email marketing efforts, integrate your email marketing efforts with other digital marketing channels such as social media, your website, and online advertising. This creates a consistent omnichannel customer experience. Integrations also enable data sharing across platforms, providing richer insights into customer behavior and preferences.
Enhance your email design for a better user experience
Invest time to improve your email design. This includes optimizing for mobile devices, using eye-catching visuals, and creating a clear and concise layout. Well-designed emails not only attract attention, but also provide a better user experience and help increase engagement rates.
Perform regular email list maintenance
It's important to maintain your email list regularly. This includes removing inactive subscribers, correcting or removing invalid email addresses, and segmenting your list based on engagement levels. List maintenance helps improve delivery rates and ensures your content reaches a truly engaged audience.
Exploring interactive email content
Experiment with interactive email content, such as surveys, polls, and clickable elements within your emails. Interactive content increases engagement and provides valuable feedback. This makes your emails more dynamic and encourages active audience participation.
Leverage email analytics for continuous improvement
Continuously analyze your email campaign data to understand what works and what doesn't. Focus on key metrics like open rate, click-through rate, and conversion rate. Use these insights to refine your email strategy, test new ideas, and continually improve the effectiveness of your email marketing.
