Key Strategies Marketers Must Know for Effective Email Campaigns
Social media might be the internet’s most popular time sink, but it still doesn’t hold a candle to email in terms of marketing effectiveness. Crafting a successful email campaign is a surefire strategy to hit those KPIs and convert curious visitors into satisfied customers. How do you get one off the ground, though? Here are the tips you’ll want to follow to make your next email marketing campaign shine.
Define Your Goals
Spending money on a marketing campaign without establishing its purpose would be foolish. What do you hope to accomplish? More importantly, what will determine the campaign’s success? Consider KPIs like conversions, open and click-through rates, etc.
Among other numerous benefits, establishing criteria for success lets you do two things. First, it enables campaign tracking so you can improve your efforts or change course if the results aren’t there. Second, it provides brass with tangible proof of the campaign’s usefulness and contribution.
Build a High-Quality Email List
You know who opens marketing emails? People who actually want to receive them. Ideally, your mailing list should only contain promising leads and existing customers. You can entice the former through signups on your website and social media or by offering small welcome gifts like an e-book or free shipping on their first order.
Don’t be afraid to reach for the ol’ pruning shears, either. Some people lose interest despite your best follow-up efforts. Removing addresses that show no engagement or complain about spam will make your list stronger.
Segment Your Audience
Not everyone who is enthusiastic about your brand will care about every campaign. Segmenting ensures you’re always reaching out only to the people a campaign is most likely to convince. You can segment your email list based on various metrics. Sometimes, you’ll want to target a demographic. Other times, sending emails to clients in a specific area or ones who signed up via a social media post will be more effective.
Segmentation, follow-up emails, and nurturing customer relationships are all possible through tools like your CRM. Remember that it holds diverse and sensitive data on potentially thousands of contacts. Ensure that you and your colleagues use unique and complex passwords for it, your marketing platform, CMS, SEO, and any other tools the campaign depends on.
Password managers make the process much easier and can even keep compromised account credentials from causing trouble through multifactor authentication. You can get password managers for Chrome, Firefox, and other browsers as an extension, too.
Nail the Subject Line
Almost two-thirds of recipients won’t bother with your email unless the subject line is a banger. Spend as much time as you need crafting the perfect one. Personalization goes a long way, so mention them by name to up your chances.
Optimize for Mobile
Smartphones have eclipsed desktops as windows into the digital world, so assume most people will view your email on one. Optimize for all formats, paying special attention to the vertical layout on smartphone screens. Ditch the generic preview text for a strong summary of the email, and make sure CTAs are large and eye-catching.
Conduct A/B Testing
Want to improve an email’s effectiveness but not sure what the problem is? A/B testing lets you experiment by making tweaks to elements like the copy, layout, CTA, etc., and observing the impact that has. Remember only to alter one thing about the email when sending it to a test group of recipients since changing multiple things won’t tell you what did the trick.
If you have a global audience, sometimes you’ll need to test the campaign on their terms. A VPN enables you to connect to servers in different parts of the world and accurately simulate a local’s experience. With a reliable VPN, you can check compliance compatibility with laws like the GDPR and ensure emails are reaching their targets. Before selecting a provider, review your options using sources like the VPN comparison table on Reddit.
Don’t Forget about Timing
Something as simple as sending an email during work hours rather than in the evening can drastically impact engagement. According to a Hubspot survey, Tuesdays between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. is the perfect time to work your marketing magic.
Conclusion
So much goes into creating the perfect marketing campaign! You need a receptive audience, the right message, timing, and a bit of luck to make the most impact. Take all our tips to heart for your next one, but never forget that respecting your customers and genuinely enriching their lives with your efforts will hold the most sway.
