6 Tips for Successful Email Marketing

Millions of people start their day checking email, and while some believe email marketing has fallen out of fashion, the data says otherwise. Yes, spam exists, and we all unsubscribe from time to time, but email marketing is still one of the easiest, most cost-effective ways to reach your customers.

Here are just a few insights from Hubspot:

• Average email ROI is $36 for every $1 spent.
• More than 1 in 3 brands say they’re increasing their email budgets.
• 33% of marketers send weekly emails.
• 77% have seen an increase in email engagement over the last 12 months.

Email isn’t going away. In fact, with segmentation tools, it’s becoming even more precise and personalized. If you aren’t doing email marketing – or need to get better at it – here are 6 proven tips you can start using right now:

1. Quality over quantity: Instead of buying access to a list of unqualified recipients, build your own high-quality email list organically. You want real people who opt-in because they’re interested in what you have to offer. You can collect emails in a few different ways: add a subscribe button to your website, tell people on social media, or add a website pop-up that trades a discount code for an email (very common now). It’s all about incentivizing people to receive your emails.
2. Email with purpose: Before you start sending emails, set up realistic goals. Start by asking yourself what you want people to do after they get your email. Do you want them to make a purchase? Visit your website to engage with more content? Attend an event? Also, make sure you’re offering something in exchange for their attention. You can’t just send information they can get elsewhere. Incentivize readers with offers – discounts, early access, exclusive content and more.
3. Measure and analyze: Every email marketing platform offers some type of analytics. Whether it’s weekly or monthly, it’s important to look at the results of your campaigns to see how you can improve. Open rates, click-through rates, unsubscribes, shares and other metrics give you a sense of how well (or poorly) your content is engaging people.
4. Find a platform you like: Real email marketing doesn’t happen in Gmail or Outlook. It’s set up, managed and deployed on platforms like MailChimp, Emma and Squarespace. And like all technology, email platforms range from simple to complex. The key is to find one you click with. There’s no benefit to getting a top-shelf platform if you don’t understand it. As a new customer, most providers offer tutorial videos and one-on-one support to help you get started.
5. Sharpen your subject lines: Subject lines and preview text are the first things people see, so even if your message is filled with great content, it’s all for nought if they don’t open. You need to incentivize action. That could mean a discount, a deal, inside information, breaking news, shocking gossip, or just a hot take on something in the zeitgeist. Whatever it is, the subject must pique their interest.
6. Short and sweet wins: As Shakespeare said, brevity is the soul of wit. Data shows that the best subject lines are 40 to 50 characters, and in the email itself, best practices call for short bits of body copy broken up with headlines, images and calls to action – learn more, shop now, get started, etc. The job of a marketing email is to get attention, inform and motivate an action – and the faster, the better.

 

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About Brand Poets

Founded by Tana M. Llinás, Brand Poets is a collective of strategists, storytellers, and digital artisans crafting smart, poignant campaigns that command attention.