Let’s face it, in this digital era, digital marketing plays a crucial role in reaching out to your stakeholders. Trends change constantly and its imperative to be up to date with latest best practices. In this blog, I will cover 9 Advanced Email Marketing Tips To Make A Greater Impact in today’s world. These tips are sure to get you on the right direction and not many will share these with you 😉
So let’s get to it.
Tip #1 – Ensure your email doesn’t end up in the Spam folder
This is a no brainer really. After doing all the hard work, if your email ends up in the customers spam folder, then you have not only lost them but also the time and effort you have put in. Not to mention the opportunity cost.
So let’s break it down. Do you get other emails that end up in your main inbox? Perhaps from your favorite brand, company or even competitor?
If you do get them without putting them in the approved list, then they are doing something right. Its best to analyze and see what they are doing right.
There are spam rules to consider when sending mass emails, such as:
- Having the right and relevant subject line.
- Having a valid email official address.
- Inserting the Opt-out feature or Unsubscribe feature for your audience should they wish to unsubscribe.
- Having one dedicated sender’s IP address.
- Making sure all links are secure, i.e. https://
- Avoid having too many links within the email.
- Avoid trigger words such as “$$$”, “free,” “win,” or “cash.”
There are just to name a few.
Tip #2 – Create the best first impression – Right Sender Name, Email Subject, and Pre-Header Text
Okay, you have managed to crack the first point and the emails are landing in the customers main inbox. Now you want them to open the email! For this you need to create the best first impression.
- Sender Name: Having the right sender Name make a big difference. The more personal it is the better chances of your customer recognizing or trusting you.
- Email Subject: The next one is the Email Subject. Keep it simple and relevant and avoid SPAM trigger words such as $$$, Money, You’ve won, etc.
- Pre-Header Text: Many miss out on the third aspect of this tip, i.e. the Pre-Header Text. You have a chance to quickly lay out what’s it in for them so that they can open email. Make sure the first 4-5 words gets them hooked, keep it engaging and personalized.
A quick tip. I would start picking out keywords from other companies or brands that make it to your inbox and start compiling a list of powerful engaging words for you to use them later.
Tip #3 – Content Personalization
Everyone loves attention. Getting your audience to open an email is no less. Make the content as personalized as possible.
- Greet them by their name (works like a charm).
- Make it relevant to their needs, such as product based, service based, interest based, trend based and so on.
- Share what works for others similar to your audience
- Incrementally build based on their interaction, for example, if they liked or added a product, then send them reminders and highlight why it’s a great product or service.
- React and encourage them that they are on the right direction
- Make all content region or country specific.
- Integrate smart tools within the email to sustain their relationship or trigger a follow up action. Such as QR codes, hyperlinks, upcoming forums or webinars, etc.
- Make sure the tone of voice reflects your brand and is consistent throughout.
- Create a need or a FOMO for your audience in a positive way.
- Highlight benefits and what’s in it for them.
- Ensure there is a clear CTA (call to action).
Tip #4 – Make it responsive with a great design.
Make sure you creatively design your email well. As a rule of thumb follow the below guidelines:
- Have 60-70% image and 30-40% content.
- Include your logo, brand and contact details
- Use brand colors so it stands out and your audience can recognize you eventually
- Use images, videos where possible.
- Make sure the email is responsive to all devices. (test it out)
- Make sure your CTA stands out (preferably a button)
Tip #5 – Have the Right Email Newsletter Frequency
Start with a weekly newsletter instead of having an email daily. Learn from your audience how they want to engage from you. If they show enough interest, it may be time to increase the frequency. There is a one size that fits all strategy here. It depends on the service you provide.
Just remember, pushing out emails too often may result in getting spammed. Start slow!
Tip #6 – Check your Email Distribution list.
Make sure you always build your own organic email list. But if you do end up getting or buying one, make sure it’s from a verified and a trustworthy source. The higher the number of bad email, the higher the email bounce rate and it ends up jeopardizing your email campaign.
One of the best ways to avoid having bad email addresses on your list is to make sure that your contacts come from a trustworthy source. If you’re buying email lists or scraping them from the internet, there’s no guarantee that the email addresses are good. It’s always best to get your contacts from a reliable source, such as an opt-in form on your website, and avoid buying data from sketchy sources. Email lists that are bought from external sources are often full of bad email addresses. Not only is this a waste of money, but it can also cause your email deliverability to suffer and can lead to a high number of bounces.
Tip #7 – Keep an eye on the Bounce rate and No. of Unsubscribes
From time to time, keep cleaning your email distribution list to minimize the email bounce rate. Keep learning from each email and keep growing and improving the quality of your email distribution list.
Tip #8 – Segment Your Email List clearly
Make sure you always target the right people to improved your chances of getting the emails read. Segment them based on your service, products, their needs, likes and/or interests. Send relevant emails to the right segments rather than just send your carefully curated emails to everyone every time.
Tip #9 – Test your email before sending
This might sound very basic, but trust me. So many times you receive emails that just don’t look right and few minutes later you get another email from the company. Avoid this and ensure that you test it at least a couple of time and validate it on various devices before you hit that Send button.
You can use automated marketing websites that offer you end to end marketing solutions for a cost such as MailChimp.
You can read about other Digital Marketing trends here.
Let me know your thoughts by commenting in the comments section below.
