With technology advancing, marketing strategies have to continuously adapt. 2019 has continued to see the rise of chatbots, influencer marketing, AR and many other new opportunities for businesses to reach their target audience. However, some of the oldest tricks in the book shouldn’t be overlooked, and that includes email marketing. Over 90% of B2B marketers use email marketing which is no surprise as the return it delivers is incredible, with an estimated 3,800% ROI. In this article, WDA’s Digital Marketing specialist, Matt Tudge, gives us his 10 best tips to ensure a successful email marketing campaign.

Great subject line

Your subject line is one of the most important parts of your email. You need to spend time crafting something that your recipient simply must open and also something that doesn’t look spammy – don’t use exclamation marks or capitalise entire words as this could result in your email going straight to the spam box. Using a question as your email subject line can often work wonders as it’s personable, relatable and engaging, getting your recipient thinking instantly.

Engaging copy

Don’t rush your email copy. Take the time to carefully consider what drives your audience, the message you want to convey and how to best engage them. The first couple of lines are the most important. They need to grab your reader’s attention or they’re likely going to close the email and carry on about the rest of their day.

Don’t overdo the imagery

Although emails should look clean and professional you need to be careful and selective about the imagery that you use. Emails that are too large could well be flagged as spam or they might not send at all. In addition to this, the images that you DO use in your email must be optimised and resized.

Personalisation

Using personalisation in your email marketing campaigns makes your audience feel wanted, cared about and that you’re there to help them. It adds a sense of trust.

74% of marketers say personalisation increases customer engagement and sales!

Personalising your emails could be as simple as using your recipient’s first name in your opening line or in your subject. It could also be more advanced. For example, you could include their gender, their date of birth, location or anything of relevance that you know about them.

Segmentation

It goes without saying really but the more relevant and targeted your emails are the higher your open rates and click-through rates are going to be. Always segment your database in ways that are relevant to your business and the emails you’re going to be sending – this could be by industry, age, interest or something else.

Time/Day of sending

There are many studies and reports on the best times and days to send an email and while this is a good starting point, it’s always something that you should monitor and test for yourself. Try sending your communications at different days of the week and different times of day and see which get better open rates.

Include a CTA

A call-to-action is needed for all marketing emails that you send. Think about what the goal of your email is and the action you want your audience to take after reading it. Is it to get in touch? Download a guide? Read a blog article? Whatever it may be, make sure you create and include a clear call-to-action that guides your recipient into doing what you desire.

Structure

Hardly anyone reads an email from top to bottom. It’s important to have a scannable structure to your email with clear sections, headings and bullets. This structure will make your emails easier to digest and will result in increased engagement and fewer unsubscribes.

Mobile optimised

With mobile accounting for at least 50% of all email opens, the way your email displays on a mobile device is critical. According to a study by Adestra, as many as 15% of users will unsubscribe instead of simply deleting your email if it isn’t mobile responsive. The main reason for emails not looking optimised on mobile for is the layout and structure including oversized or out-of-place images, too many columns and unresponsive tables.

Testing

Never send an email without sending yourself and colleagues a test first. Be sure to check your email on various browsers, email programmes and devices to cover as many bases as you can. What looks great on one device or in one browser might not on another. Also, don’t forget to check all of your links are working as expected and going to the right places.

Take your marketing to a higher level

If you’re currently struggling with your marketing or looking to get started then WDA’s Digital Discovery packages can help take your marketing to a higher level. Included in our packages are the most effective marketing tactics from email to social media.