Although email marketing is a decades-old marketing practice, it is also an ever-evolving medium. With regular market updates, changing design trends, adaptive customer behavior, and wavering market statistics, as a marketer, one needs to not only be up to date with the developments but also master the art of running an email marketing campaign by implementing changes.
A 2019 study revealed that almost 29% of email deliverability issues were faced by marketers either because the marketing goals were not well-defined or the organization was not using the right tool. No matter how much time a marketing team spends on the email design, copy and coding, in the end, if it is not strategized to be leveraged to the right audience it is impossible to nail your targeted ROI.
Moreover, another 35% of marketers said that the biggest problem they face in an email program is the poor quality of data and inadequate staffing. And that’s precisely why outsourcing your email marketing needs, be it for a business email template or to manage a complete campaign, is considered to be a smart move. If your organization is short-staffed or you have great ideas but do not have the technical support to deliver amazing email content, you can outsource tasks from email template designing and coding to managing a complete campaign and auditing email programs.
That being said, let’s jump straight into the 10 tips you should keep in mind while planning, strategizing, designing, and delivering a successful email campaign.
The Secret Behind a Successful Email Campaign- DECODED, step by step
Set up a well-defined goal
Your email campaign can be conversion-oriented or content-oriented. Conversion oriented emails are more inclined towards achieving a desired ROI, whereas emails with content-oriented goals will drive the viewer to a desired action. The latter traditionally comprises trigger-based elements incorporated in the design and copy.
For instance, an engagement email will not directly aim for a sale but a promotional email will heavily navigate the customer towards making a purchase. Below are a few examples of emails that are well-defined and goal-oriented programs.
Welcome email
This welcome email by Lush enlists the products they provide and gives purchase suggestions for the newcomers to explore.
Engagement email
This email by Email Uplers, previously Email Monks, is completely interactive and fun, and it doesn’t nudge the reader to make a purchase. It is more of a portfolio of the highly engaging emails their email developers and designers can create.
Promotion email
This email sent by Email Uplers, is a promotional email, with rate cards of services, coupon codes, and CTAs directing to the respective service.
Retention email
This email by Google is a simple yet effective retention email supported by a light copy and an eye-catching hero image.
Build a healthy email send list
Once you have decided on your goals regarding your email campaign, you need to be sure that you are sending it to the right audience. Only then can you expect to churn out the aimed conversion. Make sure your email list is segmented based on demography and customer journey. Only then will you be able to deliver relevant emails to your customer’s inbox.
Doing this religiously will enhance your email deliverability, open rates, and overall email performance.
Convey the right message
Getting a visitor to open an email, in itself is a humongous task. This completely depends on your subject line and preheader text. If the subject line is intriguing and informative enough, the first step to getting an email opened is achieved.
Moreover, the subject line should give the context of the email and not give away the content of the mail. The email copy should be balanced with the design, that is, if the design is heavy, keep the copy minimal and vice versa. The main purpose of an email copy is to direct the customer to the CTA.
Always remember the 4 Cs of a good email copy – Concise, Comprehensible, Communicative, and Coherent.
Design to back the content
27% of email marketers feel that the more simplified the design is, the more beneficial it is for both creation and consumption. But on the other hand, 40% of marketers also want to incorporate complex rich media to beautify emails. The aim is to find the sweet spot between these two aspects and design an email that not only pushes individuality but also supports the content.
Incorporate an action-oriented CTA
For a CTA that converts, there are 2 things one should keep in mind. The first thing is the copy of the CTA, which should be action-oriented and works better if used in the first person. Secondly, make sure the color of the button is in contrast to the background which will help the CTA pop out in the email.
Send it at the right time
Email marketers that take send times seriously would vouch for the fact that it makes a huge difference when an email is sent at the right time.
Different blogs would tell you different ideal time bands to send emails. But the truth is that, to determine the right send time, you need to analyze the demographics of your subscribers, and based on their location, profession, or customer behavior, you should determine the right send time.
Check the deliverability of your email
Make sure your email is optimized to view on most devices Out of all the email opens, at least 46% of emails are opened on mobiles, which is why we should deliver responsive emails that also render properly on mobile phones.
Another good practice is to use alt-text for the images used in an email, which assures that even in case of low internet connectivity or if the images are turned off, the message of the email is delivered efficiently. Due to these reasons, using an image only email is a big no-no.
Follow Up, but not too much
Emails to remind the customer about a purchase that was interrupted or a similar product that has a price-drop can be useful for the customers and increase your sales. Relatable offers and promotions make the email experience personalized and can enhance the relationship with the brand.
The same thing, when overdone, can annoy the subscriber, and there are high chances that you might land up in the spam folder. It is important to follow up and let your customers know you care, but don’t forget to give them a break.
Automate your emails
Creating an email calendar or even better, automating your email program, will not only save a lot of resources, but also assure uniformity in send pattern. For those marketers who worry that automated emails come across as impersonal, do not forget that you can always monitor your customer journey and leverage personalized and relevant content.
Test and analyze your email campaigns
No email campaign is complete without A/B testing; it can be done for the subject line, copy, design, CTA, and so on to ensure that you deliver the most preferred content to your subscribers
Auditing your email program and analyzing your email metrics will help you rectify your mistakes and enhance your email delivery and performance for future email campaigns.
Wrap Up
Your heart is in the right place. You have successfully stayed on till the end of the blog to understand what it takes to run a successful email campaign and how to stand out in the inbox amongst a hundred other emails. Do incorporate the tips we have suggested in your next email campaign and let us know how it helped you.