So, you’ve started using email marketing. You’re putting your heart and soul into it and going your best to send out amazing emails one after the other. And yet your open rates and conversions just can’t seem to increase.
Hey, hey, hey, we know this can be frustrating, but banging your head against the wall (or the sofa) won’t take you anywhere.
What you need to ask yourself is, which parts of your email strategy are falling short and how can you improve them?
Because the truth is that your copywriting might be on-point, your offer might be irresistible, and your email design might be flawless. But use the wrong subject line or sender name, and people will scroll past your email without even thinking twice.
In today’s article, we bring you five email marketing strategies that have the potential to boost your results more than you can imagine. Read on!
Optimize Your Emails for Mobile
Did you know that, since 2011, email open rates from mobile devices have grown by more than 100%?
We all take our phones everywhere we go. And we all check them constantly throughout the day. And for brands like yours, that means one thing: there’s no way you can’t optimize your emails for mobile devices.
Not doing so means that each subscriber who checks their inbox on their phone will open a poorly-formatted email. And chances are that they’ll click off it without even starting to read your message.
So, how can you make sure your emails are mobile-friendly?
Use short subject lines
Subject lines might seem like a trivial component of your email marketing strategy, but trust us when we say that they aren’t.
Make them compelling and enticing, and people won’t resist opening your emails. Make them boring and unoriginal, and people won’t even notice you. In other words, subject lines can make or break your CTR.
There’s a series of best practices you should follow while crafting lines, and we’ll get to them soon. But for now, you need to keep in mind that making a subject line too long means it won’t show up in its entirety. And it won’t have the impact you wanted it to have.
To keep it safe, follow Nasty Gal’s example and never go over 40 characters:
Keep your copy short and sweet
How many times have you opened an email and thought, “This is way too much text, I don’t have time to read it”?
That’s not what you want your subscribers to think when they open your emails but, thankfully, this issue is quite easy to avoid.
Keep your copywriting straight to the point. Use a large font size (at least 13 pixels), and use white space to your advantage. Your emails will be a lot more readable on smaller screens.
Put your CTA near the top of the email
Many people check their email during their quick breaks from work or classes. And chances are they’ll skim through your message instead of reading it from beginning to end.
In other words, unless you place your CTA strategically, your subscribers can easily miss it. Translation: your efforts when creating the email will have been in vain.
Just like mindbodygreen did, place your CTA near the top of the email. Make sure there is some contrast between the button and the background and do not use images as CTAs:
Test, test, test
You might think you’re doing everything right but you’ll never be 100% sure unless you actually run some tests.
Before you click “send” on an email campaign, use a tool like Litmus or Email on Acid and test the email across several devices. This guarantees that all your subscribers receive a well-formatted email, no matter what phone they own.
Create Click-Worthy Subject Lines
Remember when we mentioned how important subject lines are?
Well, there’s more to think about when creating them than how long or short they are. If there’s one thing they need to be it is click-worthy. And ensuring yours are is as simple as using your creativity and following a few essential tips:
Create a sense of urgency
FOMO is a real thing and you should always use it to your advantage when planning out your digital marketing strategy.
No one likes to feel left out. So if you put a deadline on your offer, people will feel a lot more inclined to open your email. As such, don’t be afraid to use words like “now”, “never, “last chance” or “only”, like Scarlett did, in your subject line. Your open rates might just go up by 22%!
Use action-oriented words
Each and every email you send to your subscribers has (or should have) a specific goal. And being straightforward about it in your subject lines can be a smart idea.
You need to make their click worth it, of course. A simple “Buy our products” or “Come to our event” won’t cut it.
Superga, for example, could have used the “Shop sale from $15 now” alone as their subject line. But instead, they chose to add actionable copy as well, and it made it even more appealing:
Use numbers
Including numbers in your subject lines will make them stand out in your subscribers’ inboxes. And they’ll allow you to give some extra information about your message.
The most important thing is using the right number for different types of subject lines.
If you’re sending out a step-by-step email, for example, you want to use a low number. Otherwise, people will assume you’re asking for too much of their time, and they won’t even bother reading. If, on the other hand, you’re asking people to join a community or an event, the higher the number is, the better.
Ask a question
When you ask a question in your subject line, you make people think about whatever subject you’re referring to. And if the question is good enough, you’ll make them so curious that they’ll have no choice but to open your email.
Take a look at this subject line by Neville A Mehra, for instance. It gets you thinking, doesn’t it?
A/B Test Everything
Nowadays, most email marketing tools have A/B testing as one of their essential features and it is certainly one you should never ignore.
Conducting this type of test will help you make better decisions in your strategy. You’ll have actual data to back up your decisions, instead of going with your instinct and hoping for the best.
The big question when it comes to A/B testing is, which components of the email should you test?
While there’s no unique right answer to this question, a few elements to consider would be:
- Subject line: tone, personalization, length, and including versus not including an emoji.
- CTA: copywriting, color, format, size, and placement.
- Visuals: including an image, video, or GIF, versus not adding any visuals.
- Copy: length, tone, wording, and placement.
When running your A/B tests, remember to set a specific goal for the campaign (otherwise, how will you know which of your hypothesis works best?), to use the right sample size (otherwise, your results won’t be statistically significant) and to test one single element at a time (otherwise, you won’t know which change made a difference).
Personalize Your Emails
Personalization in email marketing is nothing new.
We’ve all gotten emails that include our name or our location and, let’s be honest, it’s not that impressive anymore.
However, that doesn’t mean you should give up on personalizing your emails altogether. On the contrary, it means that you need to make sure your personalization is unique and creative like these three brands did:
JetBlue: Account creation anniversary
JetBlue’s personalization idea is as original as it gets: celebrating their one-year anniversary with each of their subscribers. This is a great way of showing people how much they value the relationships they have with their clients. And, of course, it’s an efficient way to stand out even in the busiest of inboxes.
If you can afford to, send your subscribers a small discount on this special day, and they’ll be more than happy with you!
Netflix: Weekly suggestions
Netflix has countless shows and movies on its platform, and they know that can be a bit overwhelming for its users.
After all, who hasn’t spent waaay too long scrolling through Netflix looking for the absolute perfect show to watch?
Instead of seeing this a challenge and possibly reducing the size of its database, Netflix saw it as an opportunity. They started sending out regular custom emails with series and movie suggestions based on what the user typically watches.
This works for other types of content as well. Whether you create YouTube videos, blog posts, webinars, or ebooks, sending out suggestions can be valuable for those who are interested in your niche.
redBus: Feedback request
redBus is a website where people can book bus trips, which means they have data about where and when their users last traveled.
This represents a great opportunity to feed their platform with reviews and, ultimately, get even more people to use their website. After all, 91% of consumers aged 18 to 34 stated that positive reviews make them more likely to use a certain product or service.
No matter what service or product you sell, after someone completes a purchase, it’s always a good idea to ask for feedback. This is a unique way to personalize your email campaigns. It will provide you with valuable insights to take your brand to the next level.
Send Interactive Emails
How many emails do you get each day?
If you’re like the average person that number is around 121. And let’s face it, no one has time to go through all of those emails. That’s something you need to remember every single time you draft a new message: how can you stand out in such a crowded space?
One of the most effective ways is by adding some interactivity to your emails. Meaning that instead of sending never-ending walls of text, you mix things up a bit.
How, you may ask?
Using gamification
Playing games is always fun. Playing games when you can actually win a discount, a free trial, or a sample product…
Take Forever 21’s example. Not only are they creating a sense of urgency, but they’ve also created a quick game where people can get a mystery deal. In just a few clicks, people can get a discount on one of the most popular clothing brands out there. For their fans that’s more than worth it!
Using GIFs or videos
Adding video to your emails can boost your click rates by an outstanding 300%. Need we say more?!
Both videos and GIFs can make your emails a lot easier to consume. Once again, they prevent you from sending too much text at once. Plus, they allow you to present your products or services in a more unique way. And they’re generally a lot more fun for your subscribers.
Rockwear, for example, could have used two static images to introduce their new animal print leggings. However, they chose to use a simple GIF and it worked perfectly!
Adding polls or surveys
Who doesn’t love giving their opinion?
People want to be heard. And by asking them the right questions, not only can you increase your engagement rate, but you get important feedback. Use this feedback to innovative ideas that will help you take your business to a whole new level.
Now you should be familiar with five of the most important and effective email marketing tactics that you can use. Now it’s time to go over your current strategy and identify what could use some improvement. You’ll start seeing all the important metrics shoot up and you’ll never look back!