The Recipe for Email Marketing Success
Emails are usually assumed to be very direct and one-to-one rather than a broad message. People expect email marketing campaigns to be tailored to their particular needs, and they assume you understand who they are and what they are looking for.
Since your prospect’s inbox has become a veritable buffet overflowing with options, to make the plate, your emails must be irresistible.
The right recipe is essential to make sure your email stands out from a long inbox list. Whether you need to generate leads, nurture prospects, or communicate with customers, we’ve put together a list of the most popular ingredients for a successful email marketing campaign.
The Essentials
“From” email address that uses your business domain: Recipients click the Spam button based on the email “From” name or email address, so make sure your address is easily recognizable and trustworthy.
“From” name that matches your branding
After confirming your address is legit, the next thing your recipients do is figure out if they know you. Try to be consistent; if your name changes often, you’ll confuse your subscribers and risk damaging your reputation.
A functioning “reply-to” email address that also uses your business domain
Give your recipients the possibility to come back to you for further questions.
Short, attention-grabbing subject line
Make sure your subject line is relevant and personal, and not misleading, deceptive, or fear-inducing. Instead, be creative and, if possible, include the recipient’s first name and company name in the subject line. Also, make sure to use words that encourage them to read more but keep your brand voice and messages in mind.
Preview copy that expands on your subject line
The preview text is another opportunity for you to get your readers’ attention and entice them to open it by giving them some catching brand-driven headlines.
Clear, concise email body content
Your email body content must match the message you want to send as a brand. Remember that an email is just a driving tool, an extension of your other marketing efforts. Your subscribers should be able to transition seamlessly from your email to your webpage content.
One clear call to action (CTA) for each message or section
Do not overwhelm your subscribers with more than one CTA. Keep your call to action simple and make sure it stands out from the rest of the text.
A clear unsubscribe link in your email
Don’t consider your unsubscribe button as the dead-end. If someone clicks it, give them the option to say why they want to leave—a survey should do the trick. Feedback from your unsubscribes can help you refine your future email strategies.
Optional Add-ins
Savvy marketers use even more sophisticated methods when tackling email marketing. For successful email campaigns, you may want to leverage your strategy by considering a few more tips:
Images to add visual interest (including ALT text)
Images offer a quick way for subscribers to recognize your brand, are more attractive to the eye, and are easier to puzzle out at-a-glance across lists. Use ALT text to give information about your imagery to contacts who cannot see the pictures due to mail setting preferences.
Mobile-friendly layout
Keep a scalable and responsive email design with each of the CTA buttons clear and clickable. Also, be sure your formatting makes it easy for your recipients to access, read, download, or convert your content from any mobile device. Additionally, if you’re leveraging marketing automation to send out emails, you can toggle which email elements are mobile or desktop specific.
Link tracking tags for Google Analytics tracking
To measure your email campaign’s impact, look at metrics such as clicks and conversions from a landing page perspective. Open rate matters, but it might be misleading since it is not always accurate: preview panes automatically send back an “open” response to your email even if the content hasn’t been read, or on the contrary, if an email is opened, but the images haven’t downloaded, an open response isn’t sent even all the text has been acknowledged.
Social media links, social share buttons, and company contact information
Email marketing has already stepped into the realm of social media as it is a great way to make your email more visual, recognizable, and shareable. Encourage subscribers to share your message on your social media channels. It will lead you to new possibilities that produce returns for your email campaign.
How to Start
You’ve now mixed the right ingredients in the right order, but for the best result of your recipe, there are some directions you need to follow:
- Proof grammar and spelling
- Send a test message to ensure deliverability
- Test every link—including CTAs and social media links
- Test on all major mobile devices
- Test on all major email clients
- Test on all major browsers
- Check all images to make sure they render well on both desktop and mobile
- Use exclude lists, if needed, to ensure you’re sending only to subscribers who have opted-in to your email marketing
- Update your email list with new subscribers acquired since your last send
- Remove any email addresses that bounced with your last send
Tip: Avoid Over-Mixing!
If you whisk cake batter too long, you’ll end up with a dry, dense lump that falls flat. The same is true for emails.
When crafting email copy, make “less is more” your mantra. So, make sure you keep your subject line under six words and your preview copy within 140 characters or less. Don’t overflow it with images, and keep your text short, sweet, and up to-the-point.
Don’t send more emails than they have agreed to when subscribed.
Sending a blast to your entire list is the best way to increase your unsubscribers. You can provide the best experience only if you understand your audience and how they spend their time. Segment your audience based on their interests and stage into the funnel. Remember, each target type is different and needs to hear something specific from you.
Closing Thoughts
For an effective email marketing campaign, you have to offer your subscribers a consistent experience from the first click in their inbox list to the landing page openings.
Make sure you create a unified impression of your brand—one your subscribers can connect with. Have more questions? Don’t hesitate to reach us and see how you can be on your way to creating more successful campaigns that drive results.
