Email Marketing Best Practices
Email is a powerful marketing tool because it allows you to reach a large number of people easily. Many people check their email every day, multiple times a day. So, the chance of them seeing your email is high, especially if you have a catchy title or something good to offer them. You may be sending tons of email out, but getting no leads or response. There’s probably because you may not be aware of the best practices out there. Let’s take a look at what you can do to make your emails stand out and get noticed.
Best Practices for Email Marketing
There are several things you can do to increase the effectiveness of your email marketing campaign. Here are some suggestions.
Have a Stand-Up Subject Line
If you’re selling new sneakers, you don’t want your subject line to be “new sneakers”. You want something else catchy that will get people to want to read your email and buy your sneakers. There are other things you can do create a stellar subject line:
- Use the recipient’s name (people like the personal touch)
- Use an appropriate emoji
- No more than 30-50 characters
- Use action verbs
Keeping these things in mind can help you get a subject line that stands out and one that people will want to read.
Avoid Spam
No one likes to receive a spam phone call and no one likes to get spam in their inbox. Sending people email they don’t want is only going to aggravate them and make them less likely to patronize your business. While you’re avoiding spam, it’s important to also add your physical address somewhere in the email so people can contact you. It’s also a good idea to give people a way to unsubscribe if they want to.
Have a Good Schedule
It’s not a good idea to just send out emails whenever you feel like it. Having a schedule can help you remain consistent. Studies show that the best time to send emails is Tuesdays around 10 am. Start there and see the type of reaction you get. This can let you know if you need to change your schedule. You’ll find that your schedule will depend on your specific customer base.
Choose a Frequency
Besides a schedule, you should decide how frequently you want to send out your emails. It’s a good idea to touch base with your subscribers at least once a month although many will tell you that you should send out emails more frequently. Developing an email calendar is a good way to remain consistent with your email frequency. This also allows you to plan ahead when you have an announcement you want everyone to know about or a new product or event coming up. You may need to play around with the frequency to see what works best for your subscribers.
Keep it Simple
Many people think that their emails need to be complicated. It’s just the opposite. Keeping it simple is the best. Grab your reader’s attention quickly. If you take too long, they’re going to click out of the email and won’t read what you sent. Once you have them hooked, you need to have a strong CTA to bring them in as well, regardless of what you have to sell or what service you’re offering.
Use Drip Campaigns
Just as the name suggests, you can start by offering a little bit then give them a little bit more at a time. “Drip” the information to them piece by piece. You can start off in one email by welcoming them. A few days later you can follow up and see how they’re enjoying things. Then, maybe one week later you can send another email giving more information, working off what you sent first.
Sharing is Caring
Don’t be shy about asking people to share your information. As they say, “sharing is caring”. In your email ask people to tell a friend. The goal and hope are that they will and then that friend will tell another friend, etc., etc. Another idea is to link your CTA to prepopulate a new email message with the subject and body text already pre-filled.
Go Mobile or Go Home
People do a lot of surfing on their mobile devices. That’s why your emails should be mobile friendly. Many people will read their emails if they’re in line to get their coffee or if they try to sneak a peek at their desks at work. This means your emails should be easy to read, view, and clink on. They should also load fast. Aim for 300KB or less. Your emails shouldn’t require too much scrolling either. As we said above, keep it short and simple. If your CTA buttons and links are 45-57 pixels tall this will be good. Also, limit the width of your email body to 650 pixels. Doing both of these things will make your emails user friendly and reader-friendly. Remember when it comes to emails, think about what you like to read and what annoys you when you get a marketing email. Chances are that if it annoys you, it’s going to annoy someone else as well. Always use yourself as a reference. This will help when you’re looking for email marketing best practices.
Contact Data Masters
Creating email lists and targeted email marketing campaigns with the right mailing lists from DataMasters can help to improve your marketing success rate. We have mailing lists available that can meet your target demographics so that the people you are emailing have an interest in your message. This can boost your leads and as a result, your bottom line. Using lists that are not going to benefit you is a waste of your time and will do nothing to improve your business.
