Email marketing is still a vital part of your customer communications. A lot of focus is given to channels such as social media – which is great for attracting customers. But to hook them in further you need regular communication, and emails are a great way to do this.

 

Do not buy email addresses.

Buying an email list could be an easy way of starting your email activity, but it inevitably won’t give you the return you’re looking for or need.

Why? Since the owners of these email addresses didn't explicitly agree to receive content from you, there's no telling how interested they are — or if they're even a fit for what you have to offer.

A bought email list is also in violation of GDPR and this could cause even more issues for your business!

 

 

Ensure your email marketing opt-in process complies with GDPR.

You've probably heard of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a law enacted across Europe in May 2018 to better protect internet users' personal data.

If some of your email recipients live in the UK/Europe, there is one key guideline by which you should develop your email marketing campaigns.

When your website users land on a page that solicits their personal information, tradition might tell you to include a pre-checked box that opts the user into an email campaign so they can receive updates and special offers related to your business.

Today, having this box pre-checked violates GDPR. So, to comply with GDPR, make sure your users and customers are given the clear option to opt into your email newsletter themselves — don't decide for them.

This rule might sound like bad news for your email marketing campaign, but it can actually improve your open and click-through rates.

Limiting your subscriber list to just those who specifically asked to join you will ensure only the most interested people are receiving your messages. This maximizes the chances that you'll convert readers to qualified leads as a result of an email send.

 

Email new contacts within 24 hours.

It's important to take advantage of the window of opportunity when your brand is at the top of your prospects' minds.

Send an initial email within the first 24 hours of subscribing to your newsletter, signing up for an offer, and so on. Plus, this is a great opportunity for setting expectations.

 

Write clear and clickable subject lines.

Your marketing emails have a lot to compete with in recipients' inboxes. The best way to stand out is to write compelling, "can't-help-but-click-on-this" subject lines.

 

To entice readers to click, be sure your subject lines:

• Are super clear and understandable.
• Are fewer than 50 characters, so they don't get cut off, particularly by mobile devices.
• Use language and messaging that is relevant to your market.
• Avoid spam triggers like “Cash,” “Quote,” and “Save."
• Are timely.
• Include their first names sometimes (it could increase clickthrough rates). You'll want to do this sparingly, like for your most important offers, rather than overdoing it and being repetitive or intrusive.

 

Keep your emails concise.

People prefer short, concise emails with an obvious focus. When your users are scanning through all their emails in a short amount of time, they're more likely to find the overall message before deciding to take any action.

 

Another reason to keep your emails short? Too much copy is actually a red flag for spam filters, too.

To keep your emails short and compelling, write your email like you were talking to someone in real life. If your email has to be on the long side, break it up into multiple paragraphs and provide visual breaks. That'll make skimming it much easier on your reader.

 

Prioritize your Call to Actions.

The way you write and design your calls to action (CTA), has a significant impact on email engagement and click-through rates.

As readers are so used to being prompted to take action, creativity is crucial to avoid being filtered out.

Experiment with everything from copy and design to placement and frequency. You’ll discover what kind of CTAs and buttons yield the best results from your particular target audience.

 

Add social sharing buttons.

Increasing the number of people who see your link will increase the number of people who click on it. So, be sure to extend the life of your email by adding social sharing buttons.

 

Many email tools will come with templates that have built-in social sharing buttons that make it easy — just fill in the destination URL, and you're good to go.

 

Segment your email marketing.

Segmenting your email list enables you to get the right message to the right client at the right time in their buyer journey. And that is crucial for increasing conversions.

To send segmented emails that are more likely to convert, identify the groups you wish to create and plan how you wish to target them and with what content – make is specific.

 

Preview and test your emails before sending them.

When you're finally ready to hit "Send" on your email, make a habit of double-checking one last time whether your emails look good. If your email marketing tool lets you, preview what your email looks like in different email clients and devices that are popular with your audience.

You should also send out a test version of your email before you send out the real deal to ensure it's working properly for everyone on your email list. Start incorporating these as final steps in your email review process.

 

Don't be afraid to “clean up” your contact list.

It's tempting to keep every subscriber you win on an email campaign until they personally choose to opt out.

But just because they haven't opted out of an email newsletter doesn't mean they're still interested. Subscribers who have become inactive can kill your emails' open and click-through rates.

To make sure you're only sending emails to the people who want to read them, clean up your email list so that it excludes recipients who haven't opened a certain amount of emails in the campaign's recent history.

It’s about quality not quantity!