Email marketing is still one of the most cost-effective digital marketing strategies available, with the potential to drive significant engagement, brand awareness, and customer loyalty. Email marketing, like all digital marketing strategies, has tips and tricks that can improve the effectiveness and maximise results. Also, some of the common mistakes that can be avoided will be highlighted. Here are some of the best practices in email marketing
1. Segmentation and Personalization
The ability to personalise emails according to subscriber’s behaviour, preferences or demographics makes email marketing attractive to marketers. Addressing the subscriber by name or even sending them recommendations based on their browsing history means they will get relevant information unique to their purpose/interests.
Segmenting subscriber’s email list means grouping them based on common criteria, such as location, previous purchase allows for more targeted and relevant content. The impact of this is shown in results, as according to research, segmented email campaigns receive 14.31% more opens and 100.95% more clicks than non-segmented campaigns (Campaign Monitor, 2021).
2. Ensure It’s Optimized for Mobile Devices
Most people access their emails on their mobile devices, therefore, it is important to ensure the emails are mobile-friendly (Litmus, 2022). To ensure the mails are optimised for mobile, limit image size, use a single-column layout for easy viewing and keep the subject lines short and compelling. Reduce the text and have concise call-to-actions (CTAs) that are easy to click. The aim is that the email increases the chance of user interaction and improves the click-through rates and likelihood of unsubscriptions.
3. A/B Testing
One of the perks of email marketing is the room it gives for A/B testing. This helps the marketer to determine what resonates most with the segmented audience. With A/B testing, the marketer can try out different subject lines, text and graphics layout, CTAs, sending times (the best time of the day or best day of the week to send out emails). Regular A/B testing helps refine approach and, over time, increase open rates and conversions (HubSpot, 2022).
4. Strong Calls to Action (CTAs)
A clear and compelling CTA is essential for driving action. CTAs should be prominent, benefit-oriented, and easy to find. Keep them simple, yet persuasive. Avoid the use of generic terms like “click here” and go for more actionable phrases like “Get your discount now” or “Explore the col.” Stick to using one primary CTA to avoid confusion your subscriber. Ensure only one primary CTA per email to avoid confusing the reader. Simple yet persuasive CTAs can increase conversion rates significantly.
While following best practices can boost the email campaign’s effectiveness, there are email marketing errors that can limit success.
Lack of Clarity: An email without a clear objective or benefit will confuse subscribers and lead to a low click-through rate. Email must have a specific purpose, which could be to inform, promote or engage the audience.
Not Maintaining a Clean List: Regularly clean the mailing list to remove inactive or disengaged subscribers. Failure to do this will affect deliverability of emails and engagement rate. Failure to remove inactive or disengaged subscribers will affect deliverability and engagement rates. Regularly clean your list to avoid high bounce rates and potential spam issues (Klaviyo, 2021).
Perfecting email marketing will involve some trials, errors and successes, most especially for those new to it, but bearing these practices in mind,while avoiding these common errors will help businesses craft effective email campaigns that will be a bit with their audience.
References
Campaign Monitor, 2021. The Ultimate Email Marketing Benchmarks for 2021. Available at: https://www.campaignmonitor.com/resources/guides/email-marketing-benchmarks/ (Accessed 15 October, 2024)
Litmus, 2022. Email Client Market Share. Available at: https://www.litmus.com/resources/email-client-market-share/ (Accessed 15 October, 2024)
HubSpot, 2022. The Beginner’s Guide to A/B Testing in Marketing. Available at: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/beginners-guide-to-ab-testing (Accessed 15 October, 2024)
Klaviyo, 2021. Cleaning Your Email List for Improved Deliverability. Available at: https://www.klaviyo.com/resources/guides/email-list-cleaning (Accessed 15 October, 2024)