The 7 Email Marketing Strategies

Email marketing is a powerful tool for businesses to reach their customers and achieve their marketing goals. With more than 340 billion emails sent daily, it’s clear that email is still a key player in any marketing strategy. In fact, email marketing outperforms all other online marketing strategies, including SEO, PPC, and content marketing. It’s a cost-effective way to promote products, communicate with customers, and generate a high return on investment.

To make the most of email marketing, it’s important to use effective strategies that are backed by research. In this article, we’ll share seven unique strategies that can help you achieve extraordinary results through email marketing.

Strategy 1: Personalize Your Messages

Personalization is key to creating effective email marketing campaigns. It involves using customer data to create personalized messages that resonate with your audience. A great example of a company that does personalization well is Amazon. All of Amazon’s emails are personalized, addressing the recipient by name and recommending products based on their purchase history. Personalized emails have been shown to deliver higher open rates and transaction rates. In fact, research has found that personalization can generate $20 in ROI for every $1 invested. Despite the proven benefits of personalization, 70% of brands do not use it in their email marketing strategy. By personalizing your emails, you can stand out from the competition and generate better results.

Strategy 2: Segment Your Subscribers

Segmentation is the process of dividing your email list into smaller, more targeted groups based on specific criteria. When you segment your database, your email campaigns become much more relevant to your audience. For example, if you’re hosting a networking event for small business owners, you can create a segment of people who are small business owners located within a 20-mile radius of the event and send them a personalized invitation. Research has shown that segmented email campaigns lead to a 760% increase in company revenue. Segmentation is also important for GDPR compliance, as it allows you to send targeted emails to subscribers who have given their consent. Despite the benefits of segmentation, 9 out of 10 email marketers do not segment their database. By segmenting your email list, you can improve open rates, revenue, leads, transactions, and customer engagement.

Strategy 3: Send Mobile-Friendly Emails

With 46% of all marketing emails being opened on a mobile device, it’s crucial to optimize your emails for mobile. If your emails are not mobile-friendly, subscribers are likely to unsubscribe or delete them. On the other hand, when email campaigns are optimized for mobile, they generate higher revenue. The average revenue per mobile email is $0.40, which is more than 4 times that of a desktop email click. Mobile-friendly emails also lead to higher conversion rates, with 50% of users making a purchase through a mobile website after receiving a promotional email. To optimize your email campaigns for mobile devices, you can implement responsive email design, keep the subject line and pre-header short, and make the call-to-action big and obvious.

Strategy 4: Test Copy, Design, and Buttons

Testing is an essential part of email marketing. A/B testing allows you to compare different versions of your emails to determine which one performs better. Most US companies use A/B testing to improve their email marketing. You can test different elements of your emails, such as the subject line, from address, plain text vs HTML campaigns, and long vs short emails. By testing and analyzing the results, you can make data-driven decisions that improve your email marketing performance. For example, former President Barack Obama used A/B testing to optimize his email subject lines during his presidential campaign, resulting in a significant increase in donations. Testing is a powerful tool that can help you improve open rates, click-through rates, and overall campaign effectiveness.

Strategy 5: Automate Email Campaigns When Possible

Trigger-based emails are automated emails that are sent out based on user behavior. They can include welcome emails, thank you emails, and transactional emails, such as order confirmations and receipts. Triggered emails perform better than traditional email campaigns, with higher open rates, click-through rates, and revenue. In fact, trigger-based emails can increase revenue by at least 24 times compared to traditional emails. Setting up triggered emails can be complex and expensive, but you can start by using auto-responders in your customer service software to replicate the automation aspect. Triggered emails are effective because they are contextually relevant and timely, based on the recipient’s actions. By implementing trigger-based emails, you can improve customer engagement, retention, and revenue.

Strategy 6: Spend Time Creating Great Subject Lines

The subject line of your email plays a crucial role in determining whether the recipient opens it or not. In fact, 69% of people determine if an email is spam just by glancing at the subject line. To capture the recipient’s attention, create subject lines that pique curiosity, offer value, or generate excitement. Avoid using spammy or clickbait subject lines, as they can lead to unsubscribes and damage your sender reputation. A compelling subject line can significantly improve your email open rates and click-through rates.

Strategy 7: Send Your Emails at the Right Time

Timing is important when it comes to email marketing. People check their emails at different times, so it’s crucial to send your emails when your subscribers are most likely to engage with them. A/B testing can help you determine the best times to reach your audience. For example, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, especially from 10-11 am, have been shown to yield the best results. Sending emails during the workweek, between 9 am and 5 pm, generally leads to higher open rates. However, emails sent from 4:00 am to 8:00 am have a strong transaction rate. By sending your emails at the right time, you can improve the effectiveness of your campaigns and increase customer engagement.

In conclusion, email marketing continues to be a powerful tool for businesses to reach their customers and achieve their marketing goals. By implementing these seven strategies, you can make the most of your email marketing campaigns and generate extraordinary results. Remember to personalize your messages, segment your subscribers, send mobile-friendly emails, test different elements, automate when possible, create great subject lines, and send your emails at the right time. With these strategies in place, your email marketing performance will improve, and your business will continue to grow.