Email marketing is a great way to quickly get information out to a large group of people. By utilizing your CRM system, you can keep your past, present and future consumers up to date.
When you finally get to crafting an email, there are many techniques that are great to follow. From the subject line to the body of the text, there is a lot of thought that should be put into the process.
What You Should Do
A/B Test and Track Metrics
No two people think the exact same. You may think it’s best to have the subject line say one phrase. However, your coworker may think it’s better to have the same meaning but with different wording.
Best way to solve that disagreement? Test it out. You can conduct an A/B test on one email campaign and learn which customers respond to better. For your next email blast, you can have a better idea on which style is better received by consumers.
Tracking metrics is vital to the success of your email campaigns. Pay attention to the metrics while also comparing them to the results of an A/B test. It will tell you a lot about what you are doing right and wrong within the emails. Click through rates and unsubscribe rates are both very telling on how compelling or unnecessary your emails are to consumers.
Segment Lists
If you send the same exact email to all of your customer base, it will soon be clear to them that you are not putting thought and personalization into the emails. That is not to say that each email needs to have detailed personalization elements but there are times where it is only necessary to send certain emails to certain groups of people.
For example, let’s say you own a sports dome where both softball and soccer teams play. It would be unnecessary to send an email to the soccer teams outlining the operating hours for a weekend when a softball tournament is taking place.
The more relevant and accurate emails your consumers receive, the greater their engagement will be.
Strategically send emails
Know your customer base and try to gain the best understanding of when they will be on their devices to check emails. If you’re a B2B company, you probably will not find much success sending emails at 8 in the evening. However, certain companies may find that the later evening has higher open rates as more people are at home.
Easy to Opt In and Opt Out
The best email marketing lists are built organically. You will find much more engaged consumers when they sign up for your campaigns rather than buying their credentials.
Make sure to make it easy for them to sign up! Have a pop up that comes up when they come to your website. Another possibility is to make a clear area to do so once on the site or on social media pages.
In many states, by law you do have to provide an opt out option. However, most consumers greatly appreciate when it is an option. It can help lower your overall opt out rate as people can stay on some email lists while removing themselves from others.
Including opt in and opt out options will also likely have a positive impact on your open and click through rates. This is a simple theory as if the people who join the list willingly do so, and can opt out as the please, those who are on the list are probably fairly receptive to your material.
What You Should Not Do
Not have emails set up for mobile
Industry averages showcase that nearly one half of all emails are opened on mobile devices. Emails optimized for mobile devices is crucial for email marketing success. It may seem like because it is 2019 that may be common sense but it really is easy for marketers to overlook that step. A responsive design for all devices will serve dividends in its success.
Not obliging by SPAM laws
Yes, there are SPAM laws beyond how many strange chemicals can be put into the food. However, there seems to be a few more strict regulations in the world of SPAM Digital Marketing.
Back in 2003 (Remember, the year when iTunes was launched – did you know that Apple is now ending their cornerstone service?), Congress passed the CAN-SPAM Act. Essentially, this is the formal version of the Do’s and Don’ts of Email Marketing.
Here is a quick snippet from this monumental act. Do not use misleading or false information, include an invalid postal address, and be sure to honor any opt outs.
Buy lists
We already touched on this in the “Do’s” section of this blog. However, this really is an important piece if to consider, especially with email marketing campaigns. You really will not get accurate open rates and engagement metrics if you are sending out emails to people who did not sign up for them. Every once in a while, it may make sense for your company to buy a list, but just know the success will not be phenomenal from it.
Send emails before Testing
For example, you could have names be auto filled in when addressing the person in the email. The name is taken directly from the lead or contact data section in your CRM system. Hypothetically, you could have a name populate from the “lead” forms when your customer base is actually located in the “contact” section. If you test your email before you send it, you will be able to catch that error before sending it out to ensure that customers are receiving accurate and relevant information.
Recap
At Pulse Digital Marketing, we really do believe in the power of email marketing. However, we know that this power lies in the intelligence and craftiness of the creators. If you are interested in our services, request a free consultation to see how well your company’s digital presence is performing. In the meantime, read our recent blog on what exactly you will be able to find out from one of our free consultations.