With more than half of the worlds population using email, your business cannot afford to neglect email marketing. And unlike social media sites with their convoluted features and ever-changing algorithms, where no one likes your messages for some reason, email marketing is quite simple.
So, how does one become an email marketing expert? Simply put, it consists of three steps. First, create your list. Second, maintain the integrity of the list.
And third, always send this list email containing valuable content. Lets begin by constructing your list. While creating your email list, there is one and only one rule to follow. And finally, never purchase or rent a list. There are actually additional regulations, but lets focus on this one for now.
Purchasing or renting an email list can result in low open rates, a negative company image, and expensive fines from privacy protection organizations. So, what steps should you take to establish a solid email list? Well, here at HubSpot, we grew our email list by publishing free ebooks on topics such as introduction to data visualization and how to become an influencer, which consumers discovered by Googling for these terms. Perhaps you could provide a free trial of your business, an online course, or another type of experience.
Remember To Send Value
Everything you provide must be of sufficient value to entice users to provide their email addresses. In addition to the landing page, most websites permit the use of a pop-up for email collection. Configure one to appear after the user has spent some time on your site, indicating that they are receiving value and may be receptive to additional content. In addition, if your business involves online buying, ensure that clients are prompted to join your email list after making a purchase. Why is it essential for users to opt in? Having users opt-in indicates that they want to hear from you.
It also ensures your compliance with the increasingly stringent anti-spam laws adopted by governments and email services. A double opt-in is more successful than a single opt-in since it requires the user to open and click a confirmation email. This not only prohibits consumers from providing bogus email addresses, but also trains their email client to recognize your messages as legitimate. With that, we have reached the spam folder.
Managing Your Email List
How you construct your email lists will determine your future success. But equally crucial is how you manage your list. This involves periodically removing bounced emails and addresses that never open your emails from your email list. Every six to twelve months is a decent rule of thumb for cleaning your list. You may question, whats the harm in sending emails to those who dont open them?
The engagement ratio is another indicator that email algorithms employ to determine whether a message is spam. The more emails you send that are never opened, the more likely it is that email services will eventually label them as spam.
Despite these increasing challenges to email deliverability, the overall value of email marketing is on the rise. In 2010, the Digital Marketing Association estimated the return on investment for email marketing to be $40 for dollar spent. By 2019, the return per dollar spent grew to $42. Why has the ROI increased? So I am opening all of their emails!
Segmenting Your Emails
Yet, a significant factor is the rising use of segmentation in email marketing. Segmentation is the process of separating your email list into smaller groups so that you may send content tailored to the interests of each section. You can segment your list based on demographic information, such as geography, company size, or any other factor that is significant to your organization. Real email managers, however, employ a technique known as behavioral segmentation, which groups recipients based on their past interactions with your company.
Factors such as previous purchases, consumer loyalty, and lifecycle stages. Developing email flows that are triggered by specific user behaviors allows you to be responsive to your users demands. So, it is not surprising that 77% of email marketing ROI comes from segmented, focused trigger programs. It is the ideal method for delivering valuable material that your audience will want to open because it is targeted to their interests. Which takes us to the final step in mastering email marketing: creating an email signature and sending valuable emails.
Create Enticing Headlines
A typical office worker receives approximately 120 emails every day. It is a large number. Forty of these 120 are urgent business emails requiring a response. That leaves 80 additional emails competing for your attention. The only way to stand out is to have a really enticing subject line headline The only way to truly stand out is to provide something that your subscribers will want to click on because it will enhance their life. Consider a company like OpenTable, which leverages subscribers past actions to provide discounts and suggest new eateries. Or Spotify, which regularly notifies users through email of new music from artists they follow. These are excellent instances of emails that subscribers are eager to receive and eager to open. One more useful tip.
Remind your subscriber of the action that prompted the request whenever you propose something to them. So, they will correlate the positive emotion of the past experience with the current offering. So, when it comes to email, the subject line is where value is communicated. This may involve stating explicitly what the recipient will receive when opening the email. And attempt to do so in no more than 50 characters. Utilize these 50 characters to pique the interest of the buyer. Dont give up everything in the beginning.
Provide a little of intrigue so that the reader would feel motivated to open the email. Ensure that whatever you promise in the subject line is actually included in the emails body. No one like misleading clickbait topic lines. 69% of spam reports originate only from subject lines. So be cautious. Today, you may utilize the preheader as well. These are the first few words of your emails body that are displayed in your inbox to complement the subject line.
Most email marketing platforms allow you to define the preheader when you enter the subject line, so you dont need to worry about modifying the actual body copy of your email. Always A/B test your subject line so that every email you send teaches you something for the next. Therefore all of your email lists messages have been delivered. And many thanks for the great subject line and preheader. They cannot wait to read what you sent them so write for your audience. Remember those segmented lists we created? This is why they are so crucial.
Use A Personable Tone
Use a friendly, one-on-one tone when writing. Not only is this a considerate approach to treat your consumers, but it also prevents your email from being marked as spam. And speaking of spam, HubSpot maintains a comprehensive list of spam trigger words that should be avoided in email copy. Before sending an email, you should also put it through a spam test to ensure that the formatting, punctuation, and fonts all pass through the filters. There are numerous free internet spam filters available for usage. Youd be shocked at how a few small changes may make a significant effect. Sending valuable material in a compliant format to users who you know want to receive it will allow you to run effective email marketing campaigns for years to come. Happy Marketing!