11 Powerful Email Marketing Tips You Need to Know
Are you struggling to get good returns from your email marketing campaigns?
If you answered that yes, then continue reading to get powerful email marketing tips that you need to know right now.
Let’s dive right in.
1. Use the Double Opens Strategy
When you use “double opens strategy,” more subscribers will open your emails.
This means a better chance of driving more revenue from these email campaigns.
So: what is double opens strategy exactly?
Simply put, it means you should resend the same email to the subscribers who did not open your first email, but with a different subject line.
Why?
Because 7 out of 10 people on your email list won’t open your email the first time. By re-sending the same email to these non-openers you can boost your open rates and email marketing ROI.
Before you resend the same emails, pay attention to these things:
- Create better subject lines that captivate non-openers to open your emails.
- Optimize your preheader text.
- Pay attention to your send time.
- Don’t resend it straight away – wait for some time. Ideally, you should wait for 3-5 days before you resend the same email to non-openers.
2. Use a Cliffhanger in Your Subject Line
What is the best way to get more people to open your emails?
The most obvious way is by engaging them, which is true.
But there’s more.
You can hook your email subscribers with your subject lines and make them curious by using a cliffhanger.
How?
Used as an old-school copywriting technique, cliffhangers holds something back from the readers which ultimately will drive them to know more.
Here are two real-life examples to show you how to use this in your subject lines.
I received this subject line from Orbitz, a travel fare aggregator website:
“Wake up like this…”
This one is from The Trip Tribe.
“The secret to a great vacation…”
Because both these subject lines are incomplete and an ellipsis follows them, it compelled me to open the emails.
Caution: Don’t overuse this technique as this can annoy your subscribers.
3. Pay Preheader the Same Attention You Give to Your Subject Lines
Preheader text is super important. The more enticing your preheader text, the better your open rates.
I’d say utilizing the preheader space effectively is one of the easiest way to increase engagement. But the most common mistakes that marketers make: they neglect this space.
It’s not that they don’t craft a preview text, but they rarely use it to complement or supplement the subject lines. And they don’t pay it the same attention as they give to their subject lines.
So, learn to optimize both your preheader text and subject lines.
In the following example, Pottery Barn does a great job with its preheader space by utilizing it to supplement the subject line:
Remember – your preheader is just as important as the subject line itself.
4. Make Your CTA Buttons Contextual
As a marketer, you work hard to craft an eye-catching subject line and write compelling email copy.
But if you aren’t crafting CTAs that encourage subscribers to click on your messages, your campaigns could fall short.
Instead of using something generic like “shop now” or “buy now’’, come up with something that hooks your readers interest a little bit more. Also, when crafting CTA ask these questions to yourself:
- Is it descriptive?
- Is it easy to act on?
- Is it hard to miss?
In the following example, Blue Nile does a great job with its CTA – the button is creating a strong sense of urgency that can help in driving action. The CTA button also gels well with the subject line and copy of the email.
5. Make Engagement a Priority
Most marketers approach email marketing with a short term goal in mind – to boost sales.
That’s a natural thing to do; after all, the primary goal of your marketing email is to increase sales.
But it’s actually the opposite of what you should be doing. You should keep the focus on building a relationship with your subscribers.
People join your email list because they want to know more about your business, not because they want to buy products from you.
Remember engagement is the key to driving good returns from your email campaigns in the long run.
6. Keep the Subject Line Concise to Standout in Mobile
Want to increase your email open rates? Trim your subject lines!
Do you know 51% of emails are opened on mobile devices these days?
You don’t have much space to draw in your readers, so try to keep your subject lines concise and compelling that will make readers want to know more.
Now you must be thinking how to keep your subject lines short, enticing, and captivating all at the same time? Here’s how:
- Use numbers, symbols or emojis.
- Leverage the power of personalization.
- Use creativity.
Here are a few examples to show you how:
7. Use Frequency Capping
We all know that no matter the channel over messaging can lead to frustrated customers and email marketing is no exception.
Every subscriber has their limit when it comes to how many messages they receive, and if you cross that limit there are consequences.
Nearly 46% of subscribers will mark your email as spam or unsubscribe from your email list:
Now the question is how to avoid over emailing your subscribers? Well, you can use frequency capping!
Frequency capping is a feature that allows you to limit the number of mailers your subscribers will receive during a particular time. You can set the value to the desired number to avoid the hazards of over emailing.
While this may be a common sense tip, it isn’t a common practice, especially for B2C companies.
As a subscriber, we all have received a promotional mailer, a cart-recovery mailer, and a welcome mailer from a brand in a day. By capping your email frequency, you can prevent that from happening to your subscribers.
8. A/B Test Your Email Copy Frequently
Regular split testing is one of the best ways to improve your email campaigns.
The more you test, the more patterns you’ll start to spot, and the better you’ll be able to adjust your email strategy.
But when doing A/B testing do not pay much attention to your opinion as your gut instinct can be surprisingly far off the mark when it comes to what will work in email marketing.
So it’s incredibly important to base your decisions on data rather than guesswork or intuition.
What elements of the email should you split test?
- From line
- Subject line
- Preview text
- Email copy
- Call to action
Test only one element at a time (either subject line or preheader text) for the most accurate results.
Use A/B testing, not your guesswork to pick what’s right.
9. Maintain Your Email Lists
To get good results from email marketing, you need to remove the bad addresses that affect your reputation as well as your overall deliverability.
It’s not an email marketing tip that gets written about, but it’s as critical.
Too many marketers keep the focus on growing their email list, but they forget that there is no benefit of having more people on the list if you won’t reach the inboxes of your subscribers.
Don’t spend all your energy trying to get more people on your list; direct some of your energy toward reaching the inboxes of your subscribers, too.
10. Keep It Short
I have noticed that shorter emails are more likely to land in the Primary tab.
Is that a coincidence? This is a topic of much debate. And there is no conclusive evidence.
If you don’t believe that the length of the email plays a role to land into the Primary tab, then you can conduct an A/B test.
11. Stay Updated
Email marketing has changed significantly, and it is continually evolving. What has worked in the past may not work now or in the near future. And we all know that.
That’s why most email marketers think the only path to success is by learning more. But they forget that unlearning what is not working is also essential.
When marketers fall victim to some email marketing myths and misconceptions, their conversion from this channel falls.
Be aware of what’s not working and avoid those mistakes at all costs – if you want to convert your subscribers into customers.
To Sum Up
Email marketing has been around for years, but only a few marketers have mastered it.
If you want to master this channel quickly, this is this important thing you need to know:
Make sure your emails focus on what your audience wants to hear and not necessarily what you want to tell them.
Keep that in mind, and you’ll be on your way to maximizing success via this channel.
Also, don’t forget to pay attention to these important email marketing tips.
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Image Credits
All screenshots taken by author, April 2019
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