Email Marketing Best Practices: How to Improve (Almost) Every Email

Brands have been using email marketing to build awareness for decades.

These email marketing examples clearly show how easy it can be to engage and delight your subscribers with carefully crafted emails. Unfortunately, however, sometimes your emails end up in the spam folder or deleted no matter how hard you’ve worked on them.

The global email marketing market is valued at $7.5 billion as of 2020 and is expected to grow to $17.9 billion by 2027. This is a clear indication that email marketing is here to stay. This article will guide you through some of the best practices that you can adopt to get the best results.

 These eight practices will improve the emails you send and get more eyes on your brand.

A/B Testing

There is no such thing as the “perfect email.” That’s why marketers are constantly tweaking and tinkering with their marketing collateral in hopes of finding something that gets better results.

A/B testing your emails is no different. For this, you’ll need two versions of the subject line, email design, CTA, offers, and other variables.

So, for instance, you can A/B test the subject line by sending out the same email to similar audiences but with different subject lines. The goal is to see which one has the highest open rate.

The winning subject line should then be used for the rest of your campaign. This is a trial and error process where you have to keep testing your emails, from the subject line to how the message is delivered. However, this can be a great first step towards improving your campaigns.

Storytelling

Customers appreciate personalization. Telling a story through your emails can build a sense of connection between your brand and potential audiences. It may be a good idea to keep your CTA right at the end of the story. Pushing your product throughout the story can make it sound like a sales pitch.

Direct Potential Buyers Through A Funnel

If you are trying to connect to the customer, pushing them to buy your product or service can be detrimental. The customer wants value from your brand before they make a purchase.

One great way to drive sales is by sending customers through a sales funnel. Redirect them to blogs or other resources, building trust with your brand. There are several ways to convert customers into MQLs and pitch them with your product.

Make Sure You Are Mobile-Friendly

Becoming mobile-friendly in this day and age is vital. According to a survey conducted with 1,500 respondents, 75% claimed that they were “highly likely” to delete an email if it couldn’t be read on their smartphone.

Therefore, make sure that your emails are compatible with mobile. Failure to do so can drastically impact your open rate.

Segment Your Email List

You can’t expect the same email to appeal to everyone. Therefore, it is always advised to segment your mailing lists based on different factors.

For example, if you send discounts or coupons to students, you can segment your email list as per age. Furthermore, suppose you are looking to send a newsletter. In that case, you can have a dedicated media list for the recipients that can gain value.

Clear CTAs

Not having a clear CTA is like having a ship without a rudder. Your ultimate goal is to drive sales through your emails.

A CTA is a bridge between the customer and the brand. So make sure to have a clear CTA that can direct your customer to your website and make for a potential sale.

Track Your Emails

You need to integrate Urchin Tracking Modules (UTMs) into your emails to track your emails properly. These modules are designed to track everything about your email, from the number of clicks to bounce rates and even deletion. This data can be used to improve your emails.

Update Your Email Lists

According to experts, 40% of your email subscribers are inactive. Therefore, it is essential to keep your list clean and avoid sending emails to these inactive accounts. Failure to do so can impact your delivery rate. A simple rule of thumb is to remove subscribers that have been inactive for 12 months.

Wrapping Up

Email marketing is a robust tool that has been used for years to help brands build awareness and drive sales.

However, if marketers look for good results, they need to improve their email marketing practices. A strong campaign can make a massive difference in your reach, sales, and retention of customers.