Tips To Make Your Email Marketing Campaigns More Effective In 2020

Are you looking for a way to build and nurture relationships, convert leads into customers, and lengthen your customer lifecycle? Then email marketing should be a part of your digital marketing strategy for 2020.

With the rise of social media and content marketing, many small business owners wonder if email marketing is a dying art. Far from it. In fact, here are some statistics that may surprise you:

• According to the Content Marketing Institute, 79% of B2B marketers find email to be the most effective method for demand generation.
• Welcome emails have an average open rate of 82%. (GetResponse)
• Email marketing has an average return on investment of $38 for every dollar spent. (DMA)
• 80% of small business owners rely on email marketing for customer acquisition and retention. (Emarsys)
• Nearly 50% of consumers say they would like to receive promo emails from their preferred brands on a weekly basis. (Statista)
• 73% of Millennials prefer email communications from businesses. (Adestra)
• 59% of B2C marketers report that email is their biggest ROI source. (Emma)

But just because you send out regular email campaigns doesn’t mean they will reach your intended audience.

Whether you are new to email marketing or are suffering from low open and click rates from your current email campaigns, here are tips to help you get the most from your email marketing.

Email Marketing Tips for Better Open Rates and Click-Throughs

1. Craft interesting, relevant subject lines for your emails.

According to a study by Business2Community, 47% of email recipients opened an email based on the subject line. Typically, it is suggested that you keep your subject line to forty-three or fewer characters so the full subject line can be seen in mobile.

2. Don’t buy email lists.

While it may be tempting to purchase email lists to reach more potential customers, it generally won’t result in the conversion rates you are hoping for.

The beauty of email marketing is that your audience has at some point provided you with their email address, whether it be through a newsletter signup on the website, providing an email in return for a coupon, white paper or other piece of content, through a customer loyalty program, or other method. In other words, they are a receptive audience. This is not the case for cold emails.

Instead, consider options to grow your email list organically through your website, social media, and other marketing methods.

3. Send a welcome message to new contacts within a day.

As mentioned above, welcome emails have an average open rate of 82%! Reach out to these new contacts within a day while your business is still fresh in their minds.

This is a great opportunity to introduce yourself and make email recipients aware of any current specials, services, or offers. You can set up an automated email workflow for this—just be sure that your welcome email content is always up to date.

4. Make your sender address a person.

Studies show that emails sent from an actual person are more likely to be opened (and not routed to spam filters). This is because people are more likely to trust emails from familiar senders (e.g. bill@openvine.com rather than marketing@openvine.com).

5. Keep your email copy short and sweet.

The average email has about four hundred thirty-four words (AWeber). With recipients receiving record numbers of emails per day, it is usually beneficial to keep it short and sweet with compelling messages that stand out. This gives readers the opportunity to quickly decide on whether to take action or not.

Ultimately, your email length will depend on your business goals, but generally the more concise the better.

6. Include Calls-To-Action in your emails.

What action would you like readers to take? Every email you send should have a goal. Whether it is to visit a page on your website, download a piece of content, redeem a coupon code, or other action, make it clear in your email.

To accomplish this, include links within your text as well as a call-to-action button. Text links should stand out and make sense within the context of your email.

If you’d like additional opportunities to slip in some hyperlinks, consider hyperlinking your image(s).

7. Give recipients the opportunity to share your email.

The more eyes you get on your emails, the better! Amplify your reach and the longevity of your email campaign by including social sharing buttons in your emails.

8. Check the mobile view of your email campaigns.

Since roughly half of email recipients will open your emails on mobile devices, it makes sense to optimize your emails for mobile viewers. Here are some considerations:

• Make sure text isn’t getting cut off.
• Check that images are viewing properly.
• Make sure text links stand out and your call-to-action button is large enough to be clicked easily.
• Ensure that your email template is responsive.

If you are using MailChimp or a similar email marketing service, mobile compatibility should be a non-issue, but a custom template could require adjustments.

9. Follow CAN-SPAM rules.

In 2003, the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing act was passed. This law basically set up rules for commercial emails where recipients have the right to keep a business from emailing them. Businesses that don’t comply face penalties. To be compliant, here are some rules to remember:

• Use clear, accurate “From,” and “Reply To” information
• Don’t use “no-reply” sender names
• Put a postal address on each email sent
• Provide a clear opt-out or unsubscribe option
• Don’t share or sell your email addresses

This list is by no means exhaustive. Please visit the FTC’s website here to see complete guidelines.

10. Clean up your email subscriber lists regularly.

Even if a subscriber hasn’t opted out, it doesn’t necessarily mean they want to continue to receive your emails. Inactive subscribers can squash your open and click-through rates, so it is worth cleaning out recipients that haven’t opened your campaigns in a while.

Hopefully these basic tips will help you run more successful email campaigns. If you need help with your email or overall digital marketing strategy, we’re here for you! Contact us today to learn how we can help.