Although email is one of the oldest forms of digital communication, people still rely on it for most of their communications. Indeed, there are other methods by which you can communicate with your audience and customers. Such strategies include social media, live chat, and others. Despite this, with more than 4 billion users, email remains one of the most popular channels for marketing. As an additional benefit, email marketing yields an ROI of $40 for every dollar invested, making it a valuable component of any marketer’s arsenal.
1. Never buy email lists
Building an email list can take a long time when you’re just getting started. There might be a temptation to buy a list, but be assured – it’s a bad idea. There are several reasons to avoid purchasing a list:
- You’re breaking the law if you send unsubscribed emails or store people’s data without their consent (think of GDPR and the CAN-SPAM act).
- Emails sent to people who are not expecting them are more likely to be marked as spam by recipients, damaging your reputation as a sender and landing you on a spam filter.
- Due to the fact that purchased lists might harm the deliverability of other users on the same IP address, the vast majority of email marketing services will refuse to work with you.
This isn’t all. Purchased email lists often serve as spam traps. Leaving an inactive email address out in the open is a spam trap; it attracts spammers looking for inactive addresses. Email addresses that do not belong to anyone cannot opt into any list because they are anonymous. As a result, the ISP knows that the person contacting this email address is a spammer. Therefore, don’t buy email lists. If you do so slowly, you will reap the advantages of organic list-building in the long run.
2. Personalization
Feeling noticed is a good feeling, isn’t it? People appreciate it when brands pay attention to details and make them feel special. An effort to make us feel valued and understood goes a long way in making us feel valued. Likewise, email marketing is effective when we feel valued. The most effective way to foster trust with prospects and customers is to personalize email messages. You will see a boost in your open, click-through, and conversion rates using simple email personalization techniques.
- Email subject lines and content should include subscriber names (“Hey Aman!”).
- You can maximize the chances your email will be read by taking time zones into account when scheduling campaigns. Which time zone is most popular with your subscribers?
- You can then segment your contact list accordingly.
- Please use behavior-driven emails to reach customers in response to their interactions with your product/service.
3. Optimize for mobile
Mobile devices are used 61.9% of the time for opening and reading emails. Make sure your emails show up correctly on all devices to improve your results. Mobile responsiveness may already be built into your ESP, depending on its email design capabilities. With digital shout, all email templates are automatically configured for mobile devices. The mobile preview feature allows you to double-check this.
4. Optimize email deliverability
A reliable email delivery service is even more essential to the success of email marketing than subject lines, calls to action, or copy. The ability of an email to be delivered to the inbox is of critical importance for email marketers. It makes it past spam filters and makes it to its intended recipient when everything goes according to plan.
If you do not have deliverability, your emails will end up in the spam folder, or you will have your sender IP blocked by your ISP. It is true that deliverability is often related to technical factors, but there are many ways to make sure your email newsletters reach recipients without relying on these factors. Consider the following deliverability best practices:
- Avoid writing an email subject line that sounds spammy or excessively promotional. You will most likely experience delivery problems if your contact declares your email spam before it has been opened.
- Removing contact information and addresses that have not been engaged will keep your subscriber database current.
- Do not send to subscribers that have not opted in. Your emails will likely be reported as spam if you send them to someone who has never heard of you before. Your deliverability will suffer further.
- Provide an unsubscribe link whenever possible. The GDPR (Europe’s data protection regulation) allows individuals to control how their data is used. You should always have the option to unsubscribe as this is entirely within your rights.
5. Choose an engaging email newsletter design
The design of an email is just as important as the content for email marketing. You send out an email that will reflect your company’s values through the look and feel. Make sure you take your time with this. Your email should have an on-brand design while highlighting your main message and CTA.
An excellent email design provides easy-to-read, readable, and structured content. Click-through rates will rise with a call-to-action structure that naturally draws the reader’s attention. You should follow these best practices for newsletter images if you decide to add images to your email content:
- Ensure that you don’t clutter the email with too many images (this could affect its delivery).
- Try not to use image sizes that are too big or too small.
- Please add an ALT attribute for each image if it does not display or is challenging to read for people using screen readers.
- Ensure that high-quality images serve their intended purpose. Keep away from stock photos that do not add value.
6. Use double opt-in
As previously mentioned, opting in refers to signing up for information. The opt-in for email marketing can be divided into two categories:
- When subscribers submit the signup form, they automatically join the mailing list. This is called single opt-in.
- Each newly subscribed subscriber is sent a confirmation email along with a link if you use the double-opt-in method. To complete the subscription, you will need them to click the link. The subscription will not be complete without them checking the link.
A double opt-in may add an extra step between you and your list and the potential subscriber. This process is not an obstruction; instead, it is essential, especially in email delivery. Misspelled email addresses will not be accepted (because otherwise, a hard bounce would result). The contact information rules out spam traps and proves that the subscriber consented – another requirement of GDPR. Doing double opt-in makes it easier for users to agree.
7. A/B test your email subject line and content
Afraid to choose one subject line over another? Do you know what content will best appeal to your readers? An A/B test can help you find out – and is an excellent way to run your campaigns more efficiently. You can experiment with topic lines, formats, and calls to action. Find out which ones attract the most engagement and stick with them. You will find what works best for your subscribers if you keep testing!
Conclusion
We hope this article has helped you better understand what email marketing is all about. Implementing a well-thought-out email marketing strategy and campaign can benefit anyone, no matter the size of their business.