Top Five Email Marketing Tips That Will Make Your Next Campaign A Success!

Email Marketing is one of a marketer's most powerful tools. (Image: Wix Stock Image)

Email marketing is one of the most powerful tools a business can use to attract, engage and delight its customers. Not only does it have the highest ROI of any other form of digital marketing (4440% according to Campaign Monitor, 2018), it is one of the only forms of digital marketing where the company has complete control over to whom and how and when the message is delivered (Patel, 2022).

Five of the best email marketing practices to help you create successful campaigns

1. Know Your Audience

Who are your target segment? What do they want to hear from you? How often do they want to hear from you? (Image: Wix Stock IMage)

Your email campaign should be designed for a specific segment/s of your target audience (MailChimp 2022). Using your buyer personas, you should have a clear idea of who your target segment is, and what kind of content they want delivered to their inbox. The more relevant the campaign, the better the results (MailChimp 2022). You should also consider what stage of the buyer journey your target segment is at. The core purpose of an email campaign is to nurture leads. An effective email campaign should move users onto the next stage of the buyer journey, with content that engages and delights them.

2. Write engaging subject lines and set your preview text

Planning a campaign is key. Think about what will capture the attention of your audience. (Image: Wix Stock Image)

Subject lines and preview text are what appear in your audience’s inbox. They are a vital first impression of your message and its content. In fact ‘33% of people decide whether or not to read an email based on the subject line’ (Campaign Manager, 2019). MailChimp analysis (2022) has found an email is more likely to be opened if the subject line is personalised and descriptive. The use of urgent language (Campaign manager, 2019) and fewer than fifty characters (HubSpot 2022) has also been found to encourage swift action, whether that be opens or clicks. A preview text is most effective when it offers readers a piece of information they don't already have (MailChimp 2022)

3. Use Your Brand Voice and Design

Be personable and build relationships with your customers. (Image: Wix Stock Image)

Your email campaigns should nurture your relationships with your customers (Patel, 2022). Keep the design straightforward with your recognisable logo and band colours playing a key role. Show some personality by using your brand voice to impart the most important or engaging information at the top of your email. Treat your subscribers like VIPs. (MailChimp 2022). Offer them things that regular website users don't get (MailChimp 2022), such as Early Bird Discounts or gated content, creating excitement around the email.

4. Ensure you include at least one CTA (Call to Action)

Don't forget to add a clear CTA above the fold in your email campaign (Image: Wix Stock Image)

The purpose of your campaign is to move your subscribers along the buyer journey, therefore an email should include at least one (Hubspot 2022) clear CTA which does this. Use urgent language such and format the button so that it stands out (Campaign Monitor, 2018). Ensure your buttons are designed with accessibility in mind so that all users can find and click on them easily. Your CTAs should appear both above and below the fold (Patel, 2022).

5. Test, test, test!

Get feedback about your campaign before sending it to the masses. (Image: Wix stock image)

Use test emails to check the layout and performance of your email Do the images load quickly, are the CTAs clearly visible? Test any links that you include work (Campaign manager 2022) It is advisable to send a couple of different versions of your email to a small group of your subscribers (called A/B testing). Analyse the results and determine which version has the best click through rate. Then send this to the rest of your target audience. Campaign Manager analysis (2022) found “When e-commerce businesses use A/B or multivariate testing with revenue as their test metric, they typically earn 20% more revenue than they would from a standard campaign.”

Three of the worst email marketing practices!

1. Making new subscribers wait

If you don't continue to engage your subscribers, they will lose interest. (Image: Wix Stock Image)

When someone subscribes, ensure that you have an automated workflow in place which engages them right away, welcoming them in a personalised way to your site. HubSpot (2022) recommends you email new subscribers within 24 hours. Set the tone for your brand and encourage a trustworthy relationship with the customer.

2. Sending ‘One off’ emails

A one off message does not engage the customer. (Image: Wix Stiock Image)

The purpose of your email is to nurture the buyer along their journey. One off or random emails with no planning or specific targeting can be detrimental to your relationship with your customer. Ensure you have a clear goal for your campaign and schedule appropriate and engaging emails in a timely manner.

3. Not Adapting for Mobile

If a customer finds your email frustrating or slow to load on their mobile, they simply wont read it! (Image: Wix Stock Image)

Over 66% of emails are read on a mobile device (Radicati Group Inc., 2019). If your email takes too long to load or looks messy, customers will become disengaged with your business.

Email marketing can be the most powerful marketing tool you have, if you do it right. Take care to engage your audience, remembering it is a privilege to be invited into their inbox.