A 2018 report by The Radical Group revealed that by the end of 2022, there will be more than 4.2 billion email users worldwide. With more than half of the world’s population using email, it is increasingly important for businesses to incorporate the best email marketing strategies that will help them grow.
If you’re looking for tips to improve your email marketing campaigns, we’ve rounded up the top five strategies that will help you build successful campaigns. Let’s dive in.
1. Build Email Lists With Attractive Offers
The first step in devising a successful email marketing strategy is to create a strong email list. To create a strong email list, an activity known as lead generation, you’ll have to use innovative marketing campaigns and enticing offers.
For example, you can encourage your target audience to share their email address with you in return for gift vouchers and discounts. You can also incorporate gamification into your lead generation efforts by creating a spin-the-wheel contest or a lucky draw.
Also, make sure to highlight your offers by using attractive flyers. You can easily do this with PosterMyWall’s free small business design templates which help you create eye-catching and engaging promotional materials.
As tempting as it is to skip this step by buying a ready-made mailing list, we’d caution you against it. This is because sending emails to prospective customers without their consent can do more harm to your business. Sending unsolicited emails can damage your brand name and there’s a much lower chance that your emails will be opened. If several of your emails remain unread, it’s likely that the email software will automatically send your next emails to the spam folder next time, rendering your efforts useless.
Building your own mailing list from scratch also ensures that your content is relevant and engaging for your newsletter’s intended audiences.
2. Review Your Email Lists Periodically
Many email marketers often try to email their digital newsletters to as many people in their email lists as possible, hoping to maximize conversions. But this is a huge mistake that can sabotage their reputation.
People usually avoid opening irrelevant or unsolicited emails which can reduce the email open rate and negatively affect a business’ IP (internet protocol) reputation. One’s IP reputation goes down once if it sends a certain number of unwanted requests such as emails that remain unopened. Mail service providers perceive this as a sign that the communication is spam and treat it accordingly by sending emails from that sender directly to the spam folder.
This is why businesses must periodically review their email lists and be selective about who they send to. Make it a point to only send emails to people who regularly open them. Scrubbing your email list will help you increase email deliverability, open rates, and IP reputation, helping ensure greater success for your email marketing campaigns.
Clean and verify your email lists once or twice a year. This helps you keep email addresses that have a high open rate while tossing out addresses that don’t provide business value.
3. Keep Your Emails Relevant
People receive hundreds of emails every day which means your digital newsletter can easily get lost in the crowd. Make your emails stand out by keeping them simple and contextual. If your emails are relevant to your recipients, it will incentivize them to open and read your emails which increases your open rate and IP reputation.
Here are some ways to ensure that your emails remain relevant:
- Don’t be afraid to address people by their names.
- Make your subject line compelling.
- If it’s your first time emailing them, mention the customer touchpoint where you got their email.
- Tell them the reason for your email.
- Make sure your call to action (CTA) is reasonable. For example, don’t offer customers a discount or inform them of a sale that will no longer be valid in the next few minutes.
These practices will increase your emails’ open rates while reducing the chances of being sent straight to the Trash or Spam folder.
To send contextual emails, you will have to segregate your email list into various groups which we will cover in the next tip.
4. Create Segments To Personalize Emails
Marketers should leverage email segmentation and personalization to craft a micro-segmented and hyper-personalized campaign that helps with high conversions.
Segmenting email lists helps you understand different user needs, preferences, and behaviors. This will give you vital information that can help you send personalized emails that solve your customers’ needs and problems. Some easy ways to segment email lists include:
- Segmentation by age, sex, and location
- Surveys and quizzes about customer interests
- Reviewing the purchase history of customers
- Analyzing usage frequency
- Mapping customer behavior on your website or app
You can also craft relevant, personalized emails with PosterMyWall’s easy-to-edit email templates that you can then send directly to customers. Make sure you add engaging and personalized subject lines to grab the attention of your recipients.
5. Track and Analyze Metrics for Your Email Marketing Campaign
Tracking different metrics of your email marketing strategy helps you measure its performance and success while identifying strengths and weaknesses. Here are a few important metrics you must track and analyze for your campaign:
- Open rate
- IP reputation
- Click rate
- Email deliverability and delivery rate
- Conversion rate and ROI
- Subscriber health
Conclusion
Building a successful email marketing campaign can be a tricky task for small businesses. But with our easy tips and strategies, you should be able to craft a high-converting email marketing campaign that does wonders for your company whether your goal is to boost sales, brand awareness, or general growth.
