Outsource to Us looks at the effectiveness of email mailing in today’s market, and how to optimise your email marketing campaigns for success.
Of all the online communication platforms, email marketing continues to be one of the most effective and efficient ways of engaging consumers. As it is 40% more effective in creating conversions than Facebook, it is a tried and tested tool which belongs in any long-term marketing strategy and should be part of yours too. One of the greatest benefits of email marketing is the ease of access and distribution that it allows. Emails are quick and easy to create, as well as simple to send. They can be used by many businesses in many different ways to great effect—from sending out monthly newsletters, to alerting customers of the latest marketing offer, to announcing new products, or even sending out event invitations.
As most people actively use emails in their daily lives, consumer inboxes are often bombarded with dozens of emails a day. To combat this constant onslaught of correspondence, you must focus on the effectiveness of your email marketing above all else. You could send one hundred emails, but if your content doesn’t stand out from the rest, your efforts are in vain. The following are some ways in which you can ensure your email market content won’t get lost in anyone’s inbox.
Ensure your email content is relevant to the subscriber
In today’s market, customers want tailored messages. If you own a pet store, for example, you have customers who are dog owners, cat owners, fish owners and so on, and very rarely will a dog owner be interested in your new selection of premium cat food. So segment your subscriber lists, the more specific the better – you can start with a dog owners list and then segment it further to account for puppies, adult dogs, and older dogs, small breeds and large breeds, etc.
Test your subject lines, increase your chances of being read
Many email platforms, such as MailChimp and Vision6, now offer A/B testing for all their user’s emails. Due to this, gone are the days of wondering whether your subject headline will hook recipients. A/B testing means that you’ll send out the most effective headlines every time.
The way it works is by allowing users to create two subject lines. These could be completely different or slight variations of the same line. Maybe you want to test whether having the current special as the subject line is more effective than a general headline about your monthly updates, or maybe you wonder if adding the price to the very start of the subject line or the end of it will make a difference.
Once you select two subject lines, you can select your test period – most platforms will have this as a minimum of 3 hours. During this time, the platform will send out emails to a random portion of your list, so if the test sample is 20%, 10% of your overall list will receive an email with one subject line and 10% with a different one.
At the end of the test period, the platform analyses which line produced a better open rate and will use the winning subject line for the remaining 80% contacts from your list.
Make it easy!
Subscribers will be more likely to act upon your emails if you make it as easy as possible. Add linked buttons and headings where you want people to click through to your website, make sure images are also hyperlinked to relevant pages, and make sure your emails look good on mobile, as most people read emails on the go.
Want to read more about email marketing? Why not check out our blog – 8 things to start, stop and keep doing to your email marketing.
