Ultimately, the key to a successful email marketing campaign lies in the method you use. It starts with studying the tools you use, how you build and segment your email list, and the results of your campaigns. Here are some tips to help you improve your email marketing strategy.
1. Use tools made for email marketing
Standard email services such as Microsoft Outlook and Gmail are not intended to be used for email marketing. Email marketing software makes it easy to manage your contact list, generate leads, and send and track mass emails and mass emails. Many of the tools created for email marketing include features and integrations with other types of software that can help with marketing, such as CRMs and landing page builders.
2. Actively build your email list
You may have already collected email addresses from your customers after interacting with them, but there are other things you can do to build your email list. Whether you sell physical products, digital items, or services, you need valuable information that you can give away for free or provide an email address. If you offer an e-book, free trial, coupon, or webinar to your prospects, all they need to do is provide their email address.
These free offers you create can be posted on your website and can also be promoted through social media and digital advertising. As your email list grows, you can start segmenting so you can market to each group with better intent.
3. Split the list by user intent
Segmentation is one of the key elements of effective email marketing. By dividing your audience into groups that distinguish between their interests, you can create more personalized campaigns. At a minimum, you can segment your audience by purchase history (customers vs. prospects), but you can also be more granular. Try segmenting by geographic location, type of purchase, or website interaction.
You can also send out surveys and set up sign-up forms to let your customers and prospects know what they're interested in, making segmentation easier. A good email marketing service will include automated segmentation to build lists based on sales history and user interaction with your site.
4. Capture your reader's attention every step of the way
Creating effective marketing emails involves more than just the body of the email. By adjusting many elements of your email, starting with the sender and subject line, you can improve your open rate and CTR.
- from: Try to avoid common “from” names. Use a brand name or a name that your users will recognize.
- subject: Some email marketing software allows you to shorten your subject line to catch your recipient's attention. Preheader lines appear after or below the subject line, are slightly longer, and may contain more appealing information to encourage clicks. Adding an emoji or two can be fun.
- Text: This is the core of your message. It should be short but informative and lead readers directly to the action you want them to take.
- Call to action (CTA): These are buttons or links that direct email recipients to a website, form, or product page.
Also, optimize your sending time. The best time to send email varies from person to person, but the consensus is that weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. are the best times. To further hedge your bets, submit on Monday. According to HubSpot data, 22% of marketers say Monday is the best day to get higher open rates.
5. Measure the results of your email marketing campaign
One of the best ways to check if your email marketing campaign is working is to check your reports. Most email marketing software includes at least basic reports like open rate, bounce rate, and CTR.
If you're using split testing (A/B testing) for your subject lines, body text, and CTAs, you can see what works best and what doesn't. Use the data you collect to hone your email marketing strategy and increase your open rates and CTR.
6. Repeat scrub and rinse.
Your email will be bounced. It's only a concern if it happens too often or if you don't scrub the malicious emails. A high bounce rate can affect where your email reaches your readers. This means your email may end up in your spam folder instead of your desired inbox.
Be sure to scrub email addresses that don't deliver for any reason (fake email address, blocked email, etc.). You should be able to easily remove the bounced email address and continue your campaign (with a little tweaking for better results next round).
