How to Create a Powerful Email Marketing Campaign
At some point, we all need the inspiration to excel at our jobs, and it doesn’t matter whether you have been in a marketing role for years, or are just starting out – we all need examples of outstanding content and tips to create amazing email campaigns.
It is estimated that 120 billion business emails are sent and received every single day. Because of this, marketers must stand out by making use of personalization by leveraging automated customer journeys to creating beautifully designed email campaigns.
In order to become a successful email marketer, here are a few powerful tips, from general sending strategies to creating the perfect email copy:
General Marketing Tips
– Create more opportunities for your audience to subscribe from your website to your checkout process.
– Incentivize your opt-in: Gather email addresses in exchange for valuable content (i.e., a guide, blog post, eBook, etc) can help grow a list.
– Authenticate your emails to improve deliverability. This ensures that your emails are making it to as many inboxes as possible and it looks more professional when emails come from your own custom domain.
– Keep your unsubscribe link. Always make sure that your emails contain an opt-out mechanism for subscribers because *CAN-SPAM law requires that emails contain this mechanism.
– Localize your emails: Keep your subscribers in mind when creating emails in different languages. You may get as much as $25 for every $1 invested in localization.
– Use a real ‘Reply To’ address. Replace the noreply@yourcompany.com address and opt for alternatives like hello@yourcompany.com to encourage responses to your campaign.
– Incorporate third-party ads: Relevant ads from third parties can turn your email marketing efforts into an additional source of revenue.
– Again: Make sure YOU are Compliant: Get to know the R&R’s (Rules & Regulations): The CAN-SPAM ACT, CASL, and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations of 2003 require email marketers to stick to the R&R’s regarding email marketing messages.
Email Personalization Tips
– Collect the right data: Use Opt-in forms that collect your subscriber data up front (i.e., first name, gender, interests, etc). This will help you better personalize content on your end, and segment your lists by creating the right groups of subscribers by gender, location, age, job title, transactional data, etc., can help you create and send more relevant messages.
– Dynamic Content: This content based on user date (male vs. female) helps you present highly specific promotional content without having to create individual campaigns.
– Personal custom fields. Personalized subject lines alone are 26% more likely to be opened. Be sure to use personalization tags in places like the subject line and body copy to make messages feel tailor-made.
– Use integrations for robust subscriber profiles. By integrating your eCommerce platform, CRM, and/or accounting software with your email platform, you can boost relevancy by sending emails that integrate subscriber interests, buying habits and more.
– Make use of your ESP’s application program interface (API): If you want to build complex personalization into your email efforts, have your developer make use of the API to leverage the systems you already have in place
Email Copy Tips
– Use short subject lines: Especially in a mobile format! You’re working with smaller real estate, and many subject lines will only display 30 characters max. And don’t go text-heavy. Because of mobile format, too much text can make your email campaign seem like it goes on forever … and that loses interest. Be succinct as possible
– Write compelling pre-header text and use friendly emoji’s when appropriate: This helps the subscriber decide whether or not they want to open your email by adding a bit more context – so make it count!
– Ditch words/phrases that trigger spam (i.e., ‘free money’, ‘winning’ and ‘big bucks’ to name a few
– Customize your ‘From’ name: 68% of Americans base their decision to open an email on the ‘From’ name. So make sure this name is recognizable and makes sense to the recipient and fits within the display characters
– Personalize: Again, using you subscribers name in the body copy of your emails can make your messages feel more custom-made.
– Tell stories. Incorporating an element of storytelling in your email copy adds an interesting human element that draws readers in.
– Problem-solving: Approach email copywriting from a problem and solution angle, to tackle pain points.
– Incorporate Statics. Hard numbers and results add authority to your copy and can help reduce friction by eliminating buyer concerns.
Email Design Tips
– Think mobile-first when selecting a template. Data shows that ‘opens on mobile devices’ has grown by as much as 30% over the past five year, and is the most used format for ‘first-time’ opens.
– Balance image size and text: The average reader only spends 51 seconds reading a newsletter after opening it, so striking a balance between images and easy-to-understand images makes comprehension happen faster.
– Make buttons BIG. Mobile design should be user-friendly, and therefore, large buttons that accommodate the average finger (approx 2cm) make it easier for subscribers to click a. And consider Text size in images. Again, check this via mobile display size (it shrinks down). The text may become unreadable.
– Incorporate video to communicate complex messages fast
– Incorporate interactive content
Email Automation & Testing
– Use automated campaigns to build customer journey: Integrate your business tools with your email service provider. You can build out personalized journeys that are automatically triggered based on time or subscriber behavior. Studies show that automated emails get 86% higher open rates.
– Use drip campaigns: Keep in mind that 96% of website visitors aren’t ready to buy, but if you can collect an email address while a person is on your site, you can follow up with an automated lead nurturing campaigns and convince them to buy over time.
– And remember Welcome emails! Welcome emails have an average read rate of 34%, which is 42% higher than the average.
– Test your emails by trying different word orders in the subject line, see how images vs. copy impact conversions (visuals are processed much faster than text), try different templates, use positive tones (positive tones usually boosts conversion rate by 22%), test delivery times (mornings vs evenings), and most of all … Learn from your results!!
With these tips in mind, you can create an email marketing strategy that not only delights subscribers with relevant, engaging content, but that also boosts ROI for your organization. And also think about how you can weave in these best practices to build an open-worthy, conversion-driving message that drives impressive results.
