Contrary to popular belief, email is still a powerful form of marketing communication.
According to Experian, firms made an average of $40 for every dollar spent on email marketing in 2013 *. A well targeted, consistent message can bring in new customers and convert leads by utilizing engaging copy and high quality visuals. Here are some useful tips that help you improve your email marketing:
1. Mind the Subject Line
The Subject line is one of the most important pieces of an email campaign. The subject line can literally mean the difference between a customer opening and reading your email, or throwing it away without a second look. There are hundreds of articles online that pick apart the science (or art) of writing the perfect subject line – use that information to your advantage to ensure your viewers are interested enough to open your message. Avoid using all caps or multiple exclamation points in your subject, as these can trigger email providers to tag the email as spam. Do use words like “exclusive”, “offer” or “Free”. Some email marketing service providers even have subject line research testing that allows you to compare your subject to popular and successful past campaigns.
2. Always Be Consistent
Consistency in your email campaigns gives your recipients a sense of trust and security. Most of the time, customers don’t like to be surprised or bombarded with unexpected emails, even from sources they opted to receive. Stick to a schedule with your campaigns (such as once a week, twice a week, etc…), and send all your emails at a consistent time of day, and you’ll see a better open and click rate from interested and accepting customers.
3. Add Value to Your Audience
Almost every email campaign you send has one purpose: to build your brand and sell products. However, if every email campaign is a message focused on products, deals or discounts, your customers can become apathetic and start to ignore them. Position yourself as an expert in your field – providing valuable information to your customers, and you’ll find them looking forward to opening your emails. It can be as simple as a small tip, funny joke or image, or engaging tutorial.
4. Use Responsive Design
More than half of all email messages are opened on a mobile device, which means your email is being viewed on multiple sizes and resolutions, whether it be iphones, android devices, ipads, laptops, or desktops. Responsive design is the practice of using CSS code to manipulate the layout and content of your email depending on the resolution or orientation of the viewing device. It’s best to make sure your email will not only look correct on a computer screen, but also on a mobile device. Many email campaign service providers such as Mailchimp and Constant Contact include responsive design by default in their templates.
5. Utilize Email Tracking
The most successful email campaign can fall short of its potential if you don’t analyze and use the resulting data. Most email campaign service providers have a robust reporting system, with information as simple as opens and clicks, and complicated as browser and operating systems, email providers, and domain names. Use this information to influence your next campaign to create an even better result: How many people opened the email? Which links were clicked the most? How many people opened the email on their mobile device? Did anyone unsubscribe, and why?
*Source: salesforce.com
