Email marketing continues to be one of the strongest online marketing channels as email generates $38 ROI for every dollar spent, and 91% of customers want to receive promotional emails from the companies they love.
In this environment, marketers are stepping up their email marketing efforts to take advantage of this opportunity. They’re sending emails perfectly tailored to individuals, and building quality lists full of subscribers who love their brands. Today, we’re sharing 7 ways to amp up your email marketing game.
1. Build the quality of your email lists
Marketers used to focus on the number of subscribers added to their email lists. They used various tactics to try to extract email addresses from web visitors, doing anything to build the size of the list.
Today, many have switched gears, in part because a large list does not directly translate to engagement. Marketers are now focused on increasing email list quality. In fact, 66% of SMBs want to increase their list quality, ranking it higher than increasing conversion rates, list size, and list attrition.
To build the quality of your lists, you can remove those who haven’t opened your emails in several months, send automated and personalized messages to brand loyalists, and work to segment your lists so messages are delivered to the right audience. Get heaps of other tips in our latest guide to growing your email list.
2. Automate and personalize your email messages
It’s no longer effective to send the same email to thousands of subscribers. Today, brands are automating their email messages, and personalizing them to ensure they’re relevant to the recipient.
Research from Lenskold and Pedowitz Groups shows that brands who send automated emails are 133% more likely to send relevant messages that can encourage customers to make a purchase. If these automated messages are personalized, they can improve click-through rates by an average of 14% and conversions by 10%, according to Aberdeen.
With the help of integrations with databases, eCommerce platforms, and CRMs, many marketers are finding ways to automate and personalize their messaging. For example, Campaign Monitor has a robust integration with Shopify that allows marketers to tailor email messages based on past purchase behavior.
3. Use segmentation
Segmentation spells out big wins for marketers– our customers report a 760% increase in revenue from segmented campaigns.
Segments are created based on data that you have on your subscribers. Once you create a segment, you can send targeted messages to a particular group. Marketers segment their lists by geographic location, gender, interest, purchase history, and a host of other factors.
4. Leverage dynamic content
It used to be tough to easily send personalized messages, but dynamic content is changing the game. Dynamic content makes it easy to swap in different copy or imagery based on the subscriber. You don’t have to know how to code to send these messages.
One of our favorite examples is from Adidas, who uses dynamic content to send gender-based emails. Women received a red email featuring a female celebrity, while men received a blue email featuring a male celebrity.
5. A/B test to find success
Email marketing requires a lot of creativity. You want to come up with compelling copy and beautiful imagery. But successful marketing also requires analysis, and A/B testing offers you the opportunity to figure out what resonates most.
With Campaign Monitor, you can A/B test email content (copy and images), as well as the from name and the subject line. A/B testing can give you insight into what strategies lead to the highest engagement so that you’ll be able to replicate success in new campaigns.
When you incorporate positivity into your copy, you engage your reader’s brain in a powerful way, enabling them to easily understand your key messages and increasing their motivation to click-through and purchase your product.
We tested and found that using positive language increased our email conversion rate by 22%.
6. Redefine your metrics
Many marketers are shifting their perspectives on how to measure email marketing success. While they once looked at list growth, they now look at list quality. Where they once looked at open rates, they now focus on conversions.
If you want to amp up your email marketing efforts, you should explore and redefine what metrics are most meaningful to your brand. You should focus on metrics that show high engagement, as opposed to just vanity metrics.
7. Meet your subscribers where they are
In the past, everyone opened their emails on a desktop computer. Soon, they transitioned to laptops, and today, upwards of 53 percent open their emails on their smartphones or tablets. ComScore and Markle have found that 70 million US consumers check email via a mobile device and that 40% check it at least 4 times per day.
Your business needs to meet subscribers where they are– and that means ensuring that your emails are optimized across devices. That means using responsive templates, or designing custom responsive layouts.
To learn more about optimizing emails for mobile devices, check out our guide on the topic.
Wrap up
You care deeply about sending messages that resonate with your subscribers, and we’ve outlined 7 ways you can up your email marketing game. Hopefully, we’ve inspired you to try a new tactic or two that will help you crush your goals and get major results.