It’s true that email marketing is king when it comes to digital marketing efforts that yield results. According to eMarketer, 73% of marketers rate email as the number one digital channel for ROI.
Consumers receive an average of 88 emails per day and only open one-third of them Textrequest reports, making competition stiff when it comes to capturing the attention of consumers long enough for an email open.
Use triggered campaigns
It’s important to act proactively to keep subscribers engaged, but you should also have a reactive plan in place, to enable relevant responses based on the recipient’s actions. Triggered campaigns happen based on what a customer does and usually that means the person is engaging with your brand anyway. An email that goes out after a person buys something, for example, can further engage them with your brand. Similarly, a person who abandons a shopping cart was recently engaging with your products, so a triggered email reminding them about the cart and the fact that they have items still waiting is a smart move.
Other triggered emails could be related to events – like a customer’s birthday or a big sale on your end. Whatever the reason, triggered emails work, with GetResponse reporting open rates 46.84% and click through rates of 11.13% for these campaigns.
Having a reason for the email – coupled with an incentive – is a great way to reach out to email subscribers without burning them out on communication with you.
Target the audience
Whenever possible, customize your emails for specific customers. General newsletters are okay and have a place in some situations but today’s consumers want custom content, created just for them. Not all email marketing service providers offer customization options or list segmentation, so it’s good to find an email service provider that gives email personalization options.
Email marketing platforms, like Campaign Monitor, allow you to personalize email content based on an individual subscriber. You can send product suggestions that make sense based on previous purchases (or even views) and you can also adjust messaging based on location, age, gender, and more demographic data. The more a reader feels like you truly “get” what he or she needs or wants, the more likely that person is to open your email (and click the buy button).
Analyze engagement
Use the tools in your email marketing service provider, like Emma, Campaign Monitor or Delivra, to discover which emails are working – and which weren’t well-received by your audience. Look at the data to see which emails are being opened, which content is being downloaded, which videos are being watched, which links are being clicked and more.
How much time are people spending in your emails? What time of day, and day of the week, sees the most engagement? Analyze the numbers in front of you to discover your ideal customer and to determine which direction your next email campaign should take.
Keep recruiting
No email list is ever complete. Even the smartest email list campaigns will lose subscribers over time so it’s important to keep growing the list. Quality is more important than quantity but you should never stop trying to get a higher number of subscribers. Take advantage of these tactics to grow your email list:
- Use a pop-up subscriber prompt window on your website. Time it to pop up 15 to 30 seconds after a person visits your website so they don’t X out of it immediately out of annoyance.
- Tout your email list on your social accounts. Schedule posts that regularly ask followers to join your email subscriber list for deals, insider information, and more.
- Start a blog. Use part of your website to provide content that can constantly be refreshed and updated. At the bottom of each post, provide an email subscription option.
Keep your subject line intriguing
If you want your emails to be opened, you need a snappy subject line. Use strong verbs, keep it short and consider using an emoji. Your subject line is the chance to make a good first impression every time a campaign is sent out. Give your subject line enough thought to fly with your consumers.
Use a free subject line tester like this one from CoSchedule to get your subject lines as good as they can be.
Finally...
Remember that your emails are competing with hundreds of others that a consumer will see in a week. Use the tactics in this article to make sure you keep your subscribers engaged and far away from the unsubscribe link. Whatever your strategy, make sure you read up on GDPR rules to ensure your marketing communications are in compliance.
