Given the sheer quantity of emails received by customers every day, standing out from the crowd is tricky business. Are you sending emails that aren’t getting opened or are often marked as spam? It might be time to finetune your strategy.
There are hundreds of different variables that can impact the effectiveness of an email, and it can be difficult to pinpoint exactly where things are going wrong. If you’re wondering where to begin, here are five tips that you can implement to ace your next email marketing campaign.
1. Use an Enticing Subject line
The subject line is one of the most critical components to focus on and can make or break your campaign. You have about 50 characters or less to create an impression - so you need to make a good one. If your subject line isn’t appealing, people will send your email straight to the bin.
There are many ways to do this from communicating urgency to evoking curiosity and even reader personalisation. Make sure your subject line is short, sharp, and compelling enough to warrant an open, and don’t forget to split test different variations!
2. Ensure you Provide Value
Your subject line worked, and customers are opening your email - great! But remember, open rates aren’t everything. Your email needs to follow up on your subject line and provide real value for every reader. This could be a new blog post, a free e-book, your new video, or a free training email series.
However, don’t make it about you. Customers are bombarded with marketing emails daily, so re-sending the same spiel is almost guaranteed to win you an unsubscribe. Each email should be unique and provide real value for your subscribers. Otherwise, they will think twice before opening your next email!
3. Clean and Engaging Designs
Design matters. Afterall, no-one wants to read an email that looks like a 1990s webpage. But, while a clean and engaging design is important, you don’t want to distract readers from the true purpose of your email.
Add in plenty of blank space, separate sections with headers and include images where appropriate to ensure a sleek and easy-to-read email. Test different variations to see which one converts the best. Just remember, less is more!
4. Don’t Forget About Mobile
Gone are the days of dedicating time to sit down at a computer. Instead, people are using mobiles to check their emails anytime and anywhere. In fact, 79% of people use their smartphones for reading emails! If you want to keep up, ensuring your designs are mobile-friendly is a must.
Viewing an unresponsive email template on mobile can diminish the user experience through broken layouts and ineligible fonts, among other things. Your email design must be fluid and consistent across all screen sizes. Additionally, a customer that uses Gmail may be viewing the email differently to someone that uses Outlook or Yahoo! Perform regular inbox preview tests to check how your email looks across different browsers, email clients and devices to ensure your customers all receive the correct design.
The Key to a Successful Campaign
Email marketing is an affordable and efficient way to communicate with your audience, generate new leads and increase conversions. Focus on these four tips and ace your next email marketing campaign!
About the Author
Sertan Djelal is head of online at Five Geckos Digital Marketing. He has worked as an online marketing consultant and strategist for over 14 years, having held positions both in-house as well as agency side, working with a variety of businesses and brands, supporting them to improve their online presence, web visibility & SEO.