Email is a Powerful Tool But You Have to Use it Right
Email has been around since the days of dial up, so I know what you are thinking. But email marketing isn’t some dinosaur.
In fact, 99% of people check their email every day and nearly three-quarters of Millennials even prefer it. So with a statistic like that, why wouldn’t you reach people where you know they’ll be every day?
It can be easy to shoot off an email blast with little thought going into it. However, if you want to truly be successful and see a return on your investment, you need to design an engaging email that is up to date on the latest best practices.
Here are our top tips to designing a more effective email for your marketing program.
1 | Make it Personal
No threats here. People just want to feel like the email has been personalized for them. If your open rate is low, it probably means your emails just aren’t relevant to your target audience.
A good place to start is with the subject line. It’s the first thing people see in their inbox and is what helps people decide if they actually want to open the email.
So what makes a good subject line?
- Something that identifies with their lifestyle
- Might include their name
- An emoji or two (don’t go overboard, but this can show you put a little extra thought into it)
- Could ask a question to get readers thinking
- Notes an upcoming holiday
Remember, think about what bit of information in your email is the “must-know” takeaway and create a short subject line based on that that taps into the emotions of readers that will get them to click.
2 | Make it Mobile Friendly
One of the reasons why people check their email every day is that they have it right there on their cell phone, so not using a mobile friendly template is a big no no. It’s easy to click away from something that is unappealing or hard to read.
Be sure to check the desktop and mobile previews when drafting your email. If the template being used interrupts comprehension or just doesn’t look good on mobile, switch to a new template that is better.
3 | Clean It Up
The marketing funnel is key, even for email blasts that go out to a lot of addresses. Consider microtargeting by creating separate lists or segments. This can help you target people by more specific interests, age, and even by where they are in the sales funnel. There are a lot of marketing tools that can help you organize this, including tools within many of the major email marketing platforms.
You’ll also want to weed out bad or stale addresses. This will ensure that you aren’t clogging up the inboxes of people who are no longer interested and that you don’t get any bounce backs. If you are using an email marketing platform, there is often a tool that helps you weed out these addresses, otherwise you’ll need to do it manually.
4 | Pump Up Your Design
Gone are the days of simple emails with a photo, some text, and a link. These days, emails have gotten fancier. Some ideas to help you jazz up your own emails to make them exciting and engaging include:
- GIFs
- Embedded full-length videos
- Interactive content (like a slider that shows a before and after)
You’ll still want to make sure that your emails have a quick load time despite having media-heavy content. Some other best design practices include bold CTAs and colorful visuals. Remember, you can include helpful information without sacrificing the user experience! And don’t be afraid to switch things up; using the same old same old can cause readers to click out of your email in favor of someone else’s.
5 | Don’t Disregard the Metrics
Once you’ve sent out an email, your work isn’t done. Don’t ignore the metrics or data that you get on that email. Many email marketing platforms show you tons of metrics on each email campaign as well as overall metrics. You can see who checks their email regularly, who opens your emails most often, who’s clicking on your links and much more.
So be sure to take a look at these metrics and adjust your audience segmentation, CTAs, or email design based off of that data. Regularly checking the data and adjusting your strategy can make each email you send out better than the last one!