You’ve compiled a list. You’ve got a lot of readers who are interested in what you’re saying. You have everything you need to send out fantastic emails. However, there is still something missing that is preventing you from achieving the desired level of engagement.
According to 59 percent of marketers, email marketing gives the best return on investment. If this isn’t the case for you, it’s time to zoom out and figure out what’s going on.
How do you get back to the email marketing best practices that sparked your interest when you initially started building your list? Here are a few suggestions.
Start split-testing anything you send out from now on.
Split testing is definitely something you’ve heard about before. It entails sending out various versions of the same email to see which one receives the best reaction.
You could, for example, isolate the email subject. The emails are identical, but the subject lines are different.
Which one has a higher rate of open? Which one makes the most revenue? That’s the approach you should take with your next campaign.
But here’s the thing: there’s a catch. The same testing principles can be applied to any aspect of your campaign.
We’ve been known at Campaign Monitor to split test entire templates. The adjustment alone resulted in a 127 percent increase in click-through rate in one case.
Split-testing is an excellent method to get back to the fundamentals. Consider:
- Only 39% of businesses split-test their emails. If you start doing this, you’ll be in the top 61 percent of people in no time.
- Split-testing turns each email campaign into an ongoing learning experience. Even if your current campaign isn’t generating engagement, a split test could provide you with information to use in future campaigns.
You’ll learn about the preferences of your subscribers. Are they more likely to respond to a promo code than a customised subject line? Do they wish to participate in competitions? Do you have any useful information? Do they open an email more often if it’s “from the CEO” or if it’s “from the whole company”? Begin by narrating a tale to pique your audience’s interest.
It is critical to conduct split tests. However, if you lose sight of why people subscribe to your email in the first place, you may find yourself drifting away from your main message.
Create a personalized “welcome” email.
Since we’re discussing best practices, let’s continue with one of the foundations: crafting a decent “welcome” email.
This is the email that your subscribers receive after they confirm their subscription. Every “welcome” email should have the following two elements:
- A personal message You can be super-casual here, or simply express your gratitude for signing up. In any case, let them know there’s a live person on the other end of the line.
- An explanation of what they’re about to get. Remind them of what they agreed to. Look at how Monica Vinader’s email reminds subscribers why they signed up, then leads them to a call to action:
- Consider your “welcome” email as a piece of free real estate. It’s a chance to interact, customize, and route traffic to a CTA. Why don’t you make the most of it?
- For people who haven’t reacted in a while, you can include a re-engagement newsletter.
Avoid the “spam” folder and the “promotions” tab.
The spam bin and Gmail’s “promotions” tab are two natural predators for email marketers.
One of the most important industry best practices is to avoid spam filters. You won’t have your well designed emails read if you don’t have it.
If your emails don’t match quality criteria, email providers like Yahoo and Gmail may label them as spam. Yes, they can utilize algorithms and “scores” to assess your performance. What you’ll need to know is this:
- Aim for a high percentage of people to open your emails. It’s a good sign when people open your messages frequently. It signifies that your emails are valuable, and that when consumers find them in the spam bin, they are more inclined to move them to the inbox.
- Be important enough for people to refer to you as “not rubbish.” How often your own subscribers save you from the spam folder is one of the most important numerical indications of a high-quality email newsletter.
- Remind your readers to save your contact information in their address book. This will also help you get a better score from the email providers.
Separate your list into sections.
A segmented list has been shown to enhance revenue by up to 760 percent.
Consider the math for a moment. Two essentially identical lists can create approximately eight-to-one income differences.
What is the reason for this?
Personalization. Customers can be segmented depending on their purchasing preferences or the types of emails they wish to receive, which can help you increase conversion rates.
Here are some ideas for how to go about it:
- Segmentation based on specific behaviors. Do some buyers prefer small-ticket things to larger-ticket items? Do certain people spend a lot of time on your site while others spend less? Based on their previous conduct, you might start creating different emails and offering other things.
- Segmentation based on content. You may be able to build new segments depending on the material that your specific contacts prefer if you have data on them. If one reader wants to download eBooks and instructions while another prefers to buy products, you have enough data to build two completely separate campaigns.
Some email marketers even explicitly ask their subscribers, “Which do you prefer?”
They then request that their clients go to their link preferences page. This enables the email marketer to divide clients into several groups depending on their individual “votes.”
Increase the frequency of your email marketing.
No one wants to hear from you all the time.
Others will not want to hear from you too infrequently.
In email marketing, it’s the classic Goldilocks dilemma: how often should you send out your email blasts?
In general, 26% of respondents say they unsubscribe from email lists because they receive too many emails. 19% said they do it because a corporation sends them an excessive number of emails.
However, you don’t want to send out so few that you never sell anything.
Split testing is one solution to this problem. However, you might want to include a footer in your emails that allows customers to set their own frequency preferences.
Finally
Best practices for email campaigns can be so effective that it’s easy to overlook them. You believe you’ve figured out how to use email and that no further changes are required.
However, if your behaviors have grown out of hand, it’s time to come back to the basics.
With these best practices in hand, you can either start a new list or breathe new life into an old one. In either case, your readers are likely to notice. And you might get a boost in open rates as a result.