Email Marketing Strategies: What Really Works

Want to attract new leads or maintain the existing customer loyalty? Email marketing might just be the solution you need.

Perhaps you’ve heard the statement, “email is dead” Indeed nothing can be farther from the truth.

Email is one of the most widely used means of business communication today. Ponder this: the daily number of emails sent worldwide is set to reach 376 billion by the year 2025.

This rate of growth is not about to slow down yet. Clearly, this is a powerful tool that can be incorporated into marketing strategies. But that cannot work without proper strategies.

In this article, we will share some of the best email marketing strategies to turbo-charge your marketing campaigns.

What Is Email Marketing?

Before we go into the different email marketing strategies, let’s first understand what email marketing is.

In simple terms, it is a process of sending out marketing messages to a group of people using email.

This can be in the form of ads, newsletters, or event announcements. The main aim is to build relationships and drive conversions through effective email marketing strategies.

Email marketing is one of the most efficient ways to reach out to your target audience.

Email campaigns are relatively inexpensive when compared to using other marketing channels such as paid ads.

In fact, $1 spent there is an impressive $36 ROI, making email marketing a lucrative investment for businesses of all sizes.

So it is not surprising that over 82% of marketers worldwide incorporate email strategy in their marketing campaigns.

Moreover, it is one of the most effective ways of creating a link with the visitors to your website.

Visitors reach your website from different sources and spend some time there. Very rarely will a visitor come back specifically in search of your site.

That means the chances of ever seeing them again are quite low. And that is where email marketing becomes valuable.

Using this email marketing strategy you can gain access to their contact information, for later interactions for example through effective inbound marketing strategies and for a possible sale.

That said, proper planning is required. With digital marketing becoming ever-competitive the age of cobbling together ad-hoc landing pages, and some uninspiring opt-in is long gone.

Effective email marketing campaigns require proper planning and execution strategies with key goals and a layout map of how to achieve them.

Why Do You Need an Email Marketing Strategy?

With the number of daily emails sent set to reach nearly 400 billion in a few years, it is more important than ever to have an effective email marketing strategy.

This will help you stand out from the rest and achieve your desired results in your marketing efforts.

Email marketing can be quite effective, but only when done right. Having a digital marketing strategy in place will help you track your progress and make necessary changes along the way.

Creating an email marketing strategy also allows you to define your target audience and figure out the best way to reach them.

This process involves understanding their needs and wants, and determining what type of content will resonate with them.

Defining your goals is another important part of email marketing. Without clear goals, it will be difficult to measure your progress and determine your campaign performance.

Some common goals for email marketing include:

• Increasing brand awareness;
• Growing the number of subscribers;
• Nurturing leads and driving conversions;
• Improving customer loyalty and retention;
• Generating website traffic.

Overall email marketing can form a vital pillar in your marketing campaigns. Whether that be to have more business, increase brand awareness, increase engagement or boost sales, email marketing is the way to go.

How to Create an Awesome Email Marketing Strategy

Creating an email marketing strategy might seem like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be.

By following these simple steps, you can create an email strategy that will help you achieve your desired results.

1. Plan Your Email Campaigns

Your email marketing design should be in line with your brand identity. This includes using the same colors, fonts, and logo. Consistency will help create a sense of familiarity for your subscribers.

It is also important to make sure that your emails are responsive, so they can be viewed on all devices.

With over half of all emails being opened on mobile devices, this is one of the essential email marketing tips.

Your email design should also be optimized for conversion. Incorporate the best copywriting skills to include a clear call-to-action (CTA) that ensures it stands out from the rest of the email.

The CTA should be relevant to the content of the email and lead to a landing page that is also optimized for conversion.

Ideally, you should have a ready email template that you can whip out to create the best email campaigns.

Here is an example of a great review request email from Amazon. Sometimes less can be more. Nothing exemplifies this more than the brief and to the point email below.

2. Use a Captivating Email Signature

Using a great email signature with each outgoing message is an excellent way to promote your brand.

It’s like a digital business card that can help increase brand awareness and boost your marketing campaign.

Here are a few tips for writing a great email signature:

• Keep it short and sweet. Include only the essential information, such as your name, job title, website, and contact information.
• Use HTML to add links and branding elements.
• Make sure it looks good on all devices.
• Use a professional photo.
• Avoid using too many fonts or colors.

Here is a simple, but effective email signature template you can use to customize for your own emails.

As you can see it is straight to the point while capturing every detail a reader would need.

3. Segment Your Audience

One of the most important aspects of email marketing strategy is segmentation. This is the process of grouping your subscribers together based on shared characteristics.

By segmenting your audience, you can send more targeted and relevant emails to improve email deliverability.

This will help improve open rates, click-through rates, and conversions. Not to mention, it will also make your job a lot easier.

There are a number of different ways email marketers can segment their audience, including:

• Location
• Age
• Gender
• Interests
• Job title
• Industry
• New prospects
• Old customers

Take a look at this data from a study by Lyris showing how email segmentation can play a huge part in the success of your email marketing strategy.

4. Make Your Emails Personal

Personalized messages are important in email marketing strategies. This is the process of tailoring your emails to each individual subscriber.

By personalizing your emails, you can create loyal customers and increase the likelihood of getting a response. One way is to send birthday or anniversary messages.

Other ways to personalize your emails include:

• Using the recipient’s name in the email subject line
• Addressing the recipient by name in the email body
• Sending triggered emails based on past behavior

An effective email marketing strategy is one that seeks to nurture relationships with your target audience.

And since people are more comfortable buying from people they are familiar with, this will go a long way in improving the success of your marketing campaign and boosting conversions.

Check out this email personalization example from Netflix. They recommend shows and movies based on what you’ve watched in the past.

5. Use Short Catchy Subject Lines

According to Campaign Monitor, emails with short subject lines are more likely to be opened than those with long ones.

In fact, 47% of email recipients open emails based on a subject line only, while 69% classify emails as spam based on the same.

It is a huge factor because people are often scanning their inboxes and don’t have time to read long, detailed subject lines.

Your subject line should be clear, concise, and to the point. It should also be relevant to the content of your email.

This way, people will know what to expect when they open your email.

Here are a few examples of great subject lines:

• Get 50% off your next purchase
• New arrivals: spring collection
• We’re giving away free tickets to the show!
• Time is running out: sale ends soon
• You’ve been invited to the VIP launch party

Here is a screen grab of a few scintillating email subject lines.

Source

6. Automate Your Campaigns

Automating your emails is another great step in creating email marketing strategies that really work.

This means setting up automatic emails to go out at specific times, such as:

• When someone subscribes to your list
• When someone makes a purchase
• When someone abandons their cart
• To re-engage inactive subscribers

Marketing automation via your email automation can help you stay top of mind with your audience and keep them engaged with your brand.

It can also save you a lot of time, so you can focus on other aspects of your business.

A number of different email marketing platforms out there that can help you automate your email campaigns, including:

• Constant Contact
• Mailchimp
• Drip
• AWeber

Choose the right platform for your needs and set up automatic emails to go out at specific times. This will help improve the success of your email marketing strategy.

7. Utilizing the Social Media Power

As a marketing channel, social media should not be underestimated. In fact, social media marketing can be a great way to promote your email marketing campaigns and increase the reach of your messages.

When you share your emails on social media, you can:

• Get more people to sign up for your list
• Increase the number of people who see your emails.

The best way to leverage social media is to share your emails on social media platforms where you know your target audience is active.

For example, if you’re targeting millennials, share your emails on Snapchat or Instagram. If you’re targeting baby boomers, share your emails on Facebook or LinkedIn.

In addition, a great way to promote your email marketing campaigns is to run ads on social media.

This can help you to reach a larger audience and get more people to sign up for your list.

To run an effective ad campaign, make sure you:

• Target your ads to the right audience
• Use attractive visuals
• Use compelling copy

Below is a screen grab of the results of a survey as conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of Sprout Social. The data that shows social media is indispensable when it comes to any form of digital marketing strategy.

8. Write Mobile-Friendly Emails

For a successful campaign, it’s important to optimize your emails for mobile. This is because more and more people are reading their emails on their phones.

In fact, according to Litmus, 56% of emails are now opened on mobile devices.

If your emails aren’t optimized for mobile, there’s a good chance subscribers respond poorly to them.

They may even delete them without even reading them. To make sure your emails are optimized for mobile, keep the following email marketing tips in mind:

• Keep your subject lines short and to the point
• Use large, easy-to-read fonts
• Use clear and concise copy
• Include a call-to-action that’s easy to click on
• Use images sparingly

This will ensure your emails are easy to read on a mobile device and that people will actually want to read them.

Looking at the data below, you can see email open rate via mobile is higher than both webmail and desktop, making it a driving force in email marketing.

9. Track the Right Metrics

Email marketing strategy can be a great way to grow your business, but it’s important to track the right metrics to ensure your campaigns are successful.

Some of the most important email marketing metrics include:

Bounce Rate

To Know the bounce rate, go to your email service provider and look at the number of people who bounced (or didn’t open) your email.

Delivery Rate

This tracks the number of people who received your email. Low email deliverability indicates that your emails are getting caught in spam filters.

Open Rate

One way to know the open rate success is to compare it with the accepted industry average. In general, an average of 20% open rate is considered successful.

Click-Through Rates

A low click-through rate may indicate that people aren’t finding your emails relevant. Look for ways of improving the value of your email content.

Unsubscribe Rate

A high rate of opting out may indicate a problem with your emails. Among the issues to investigate include sending too many emails, sending irrelevant content, or emails that look like spam.

Email Sign-up Rate

Tracking this metric can indicate how many new subscribers you’re gaining over a certain period. A high sign-up rate is a thumb-up sign for your email campaign effort.

10. Revive Dormant Subscribers

If you have a large number of inactive subscribers, it might be time to address the issue. These are people who have signed up for your email but never opened or click on them.

There are a number of reasons why someone might do this. They may have lost interest in your content, or they may have changed their email address.

In any case, it’s important to take action so that you’re not wasting your time sending emails to people who will never see them.

One way to address inactive subscribers is to do a re-engagement campaign. These are messages that ask them for example to update their preferences or confirm their subscription.

Or, highlighting any new product. Look how Path showcases this form of re-engagement email below.

You can also segment your email campaign based on subscribers’ activity levels. This allows you to send more targeted content to the people who are actually interested in what you have to say.

11. Give Away Freebies

Everyone loves free stuff. And if you’re not giving away anything for free, you’re missing out on a great opportunity to engage your audience.

Freebies can take many different forms. They can be ebooks, coupons, templates, or even access to exclusive content.

Whatever you choose to give away, make sure it’s something that your target audience will find valuable.

The key to making freebies work is to make them exclusive to your email list. This will entice people to sign up for your emails so that they don’t miss out on future freebies.

Look how Neil Patel does it with a free consultation offer.

You can also use freebies as a way to segment your list. For example, you can offer different freebies to people who are interested in different topics.

This allows you to send more targeted emails and improve your chances of conversion.

12. Make It Easy to Sign Up

If you’re not making it easy for people to sign up for your emails, you’re missing out on a lot in your email marketing strategies.

There are a few things you can do to make it easy for people to sign up for your emails. First, add an opt-in form to your website.

This should be prominently displayed so that visitors can easily find it.

You can also add an opt-in form to your blog post. This allows readers to subscribe to your list without having to leave the page.

Finally, make sure you’re using double opt-in. This means that new subscribers will need to confirm their subscription before they start receiving your emails.

While it may seem like an extra step, it’s important in order to ensure that people actually want to receive your emails.

13. Improve on Your CTAs

Your email campaigns should have a clear purpose, and every element should be geared towards achieving that goal. That includes your call-to-action (CTA).

Your CTA is the part of your email where you tell subscribers what you want them to do. It could be clicking on a link, visiting your website, or making a purchase.

Whatever it is, your CTA should be clear and easy to understand. Don’t make your subscribers guess what you want them to do.

Use actionable language and make your CTA stand out from the rest of your email.

Additionally, you should also test different CTAs to see which one performs best. Try different placements, wording, and styles to see what works best for your audience.

“Find the plan for you”. This one from Dropbox is an example of a simple yet compelling CTA.

14.A/B Testing

One of the most important parts of any email marketing strategy is testing. You should always be testing different aspects of your emails to see what works and what doesn’t.

A/B testing, also known as split testing, is a method of comparing two versions of an email to see which one performs better.

By testing different elements, you can figure out what works best for your audience and make necessary adjustments to improve your results.

Additionally, you should perform other tests. For example, you can send it to yourself and a few other people on your team.

Then, open the email on different devices (e.g., desktop, laptop, smartphone) and browsers (e.g., Chrome, Safari, Firefox) to make sure it looks good and is working correctly.

You should also test your email’s subject line and call-to-action to see how they perform. Try different versions of each and see which ones get the best results.

Tools that you can use for A/B testing include;

• MailChimp
• Constant Contact
• GetResponse

15. Leverage on Visuals

People are visual creatures, and they’re more likely to engage with an email that contains images. In fact, emails with images get 94% more views than those without.

So for email marketing success, you need to add visuals. This could include photos, infographics, or even videos.

Just make sure that the visuals are relevant to your email’s content and that they’re properly sized. Otherwise, they could end up looking distorted or pixelated.

As shown below, simple visuals like emojis can impact your email campaign.

16. Timing Is Key

Another important part of your email marketing strategies is timing. When you send your emails can have a big impact on their click-through rates.

Generally, you want to avoid sending emails during the middle of the night or on weekends. Instead, aim for weekdays during normal business hours.

That way, your subscribers are more likely to see and engage with your email.

Of course, you’ll also want to take into account your audience’s location. If most of your subscribers are in a different time zone, then you’ll need to adjust your send times accordingly.

You can use tools like MailChimp and Constant Contact to schedule your emails in advance. That ensures your emails are always sent at the optimal time.

Conclusion

Email marketing can be a great way to reach out to potential and current customers. However, without the right email marketing strategy, your campaigns are likely to fail.

By following the tips we have discussed above, you can create a successful email marketing campaign that will help you achieve your business goals.

Additionally, no one-size-fits-all strategy, so be sure to experiment and find the tactics that work best for you and your business.