Email Marketing Best Practices 2020
5 Steps To Make Your Email Marketing More Effective
February 26, 2020Email Marketing, How To
By Marilyn Heywood Paige
According to the Direct Mail Association, email marketing averages a return of $32 for every $1 invested. That’s a big deal— clearly, email is an effective marketing tactic. Capitalize on this channel with our five email marketing best practices and make your message stand out in customers’ inboxes.
The right subject line can mean the difference between a click-through and an unsubscribe.
Consider these five eye-catching subject lines:
● New Video: (Topic)● [Name], this can boost your revenue● Boom chakalaka! Let’s get started!● 40% Off on Your Favorite [Blank]● It’s your birthday! Here’s your free gift!
What do each of these subject lines have in common? They’re about the recipient, not the sender. A great subject line immediately tells the reader what they'll get from the email. It doesn’t waste time.
You can even include emojis in your subject line. In fact, many marketers see boosts in open rates when they use emojis thoughtfully. Emojis save space, get attention, and help your audience recognize your email. They’re a friendly way to be memorable and, yes, increase your open rates.
#2 Don't Make It About You
If someone knocked at your door and fervently explained how much people love them, you would slam your door in their face.
The same sentiment applies to your marketing emails. Your correspondence should read like a friend stopping by with coffee to say, "Hey. How's your day? I was thinking about you. Are you still trying to find the perfect coffee pot? I did some research for you. . ." The key is to figure out what's important to your reader and deliver that to them. In. Every. Email.
Which brings us to our next point...
#3 Spend Time In Discovery
Don't put any email content together until you spend quality time in your customers’ minds. Learn what’s important to your audience. What do they worry about? What do they desire? What's their day like? What do they need to accomplish? What’s standing in their way?
A great first step is to Interview 15 of your best customers. Ask them their thoughts around purchase decisions, why they chose your product over other products, and what their goals are in work and in life. Discover problems for which they’re seeking solutions.
Take the time to intimately acquaint yourself with your target audience, and you will be able to address their pain points and make your communications more relevant and compelling to them.
#4 Make It Look Professional
It’s time for some tough love— just because you have a Constant Contact account doesn't mean you’re a designer. Ante up and invest money into a professionally-designed email layout. Today’s audiences are incredibly sophisticated. They watch SuperBowl commercials. They see (and ignore) ads every day designed by the slickest advertising agencies in the world. They know when something looks digitally shabby. Even if their brain doesn’t initially register that you used five fonts in your email, those details are small cues to their subconscious that your brand is untrustworthy.
#5 Be Consistent
Train your audience to expect regular emails from you. If you email daily, send them at the same time every day. If you email weekly, send them on the same day at the same time. Monthly? Send them every month on the first Tuesday at 11 a.m. —-you get the idea.
When you follow these rules, email marketing can help you stay at the top of your customers’ minds.
Case Study
We have a client who is a restaurant equipment supplier. They wanted to gain more visibility and trust with the manufacturers that provide their products. We interviewed the manufacturers and discovered that they value equipment suppliers who effectively elevate their product line, persuasively educate the customer, and convey to the end-user that the manufacturer values them as a customer.
Paige Black created an email newsletter campaign in which we featured the manufacturers’ products and informed the reader how the product can solve their commercial kitchen’s problems. The manufacturers are on the mailing list and after a couple of months, one reached out to the client to say, "We love that you're doing this. How can we help you do more of it?"
Visibility and trust? Check and check.
Email Marketing Company in Denver
Paige Black will help you determine your ideal target audience and precisely the kind of compelling content which resonates with them. Contact us today to discuss how we can implement a new email marketing campaign or revamp your current one.
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