More and more businesses are tapping into email marketing as a method for connecting with customers. But as with any marketing effort, there’s a right way and a wrong way to do emails. If you’re lagging with open rates, responses, and conversions, keep reading. Identifying where your email campaign might be lacking can be a tall order. But these tips and suggestions will help you do just that, and we’ll share insights you can leverage right now to make the changes needed for your email marketing to be effective. 
And this won’t be your run-of-the-mill listicle of generic tips and overshared advice. This is the list you’ll want to print out and take to your next marketing meeting, we promise.
What Are You Trying to Accomplish with Your Emails?
Before you dive into troubleshooting your existing email campaigns, take a step back. When you first began developing your email strategy, what was the core mission? Are these emails intended to just engage and nurture prospects along in the funnel? Were you hoping to build a newsletter list of opt-in recipients? Were you focused more on customer acquisition and lead generation with your emails? Or were you simply hoping to promote new products and services?
The answers to these questions matter. If you’re sending emails to increase newsletter subscribers, you can’t very well expect them to generate leads. If you’re looking to promote a special or sale, don’t expect newsletter increases. Start by first identifying the purpose of each email campaign, and if you want all of the above, you’ll need to create separate campaigns and messaging for each. Manage your expectations and set your emails up for success by recognizing what your goals are and moving forward with strategies that speak directly to the customer behavior you want.
The Email Campaign Essentials Checklist
Regardless of the objective you have in mind for your email marketing, there is a checklist of essentials every email should have. These elements are mission-critical for any email to have the best chance of opening, responding, and converting success. Benchmark every campaign with this pillar of essentials.
Subject Line Genius
How many times have you read the subject line of an email to determine whether or not you should open it or file it away in a deleted folder? Yeah. Your email prospects do the same. So, make sure your email sequence subject line is accurate, not spammy, concise, and borderline genius if you want recipients to open and explore further.
Pre-headers Are Helpful
When someone opens your email, consider starting off with a pre-header statement that basically introduces the concept of your email. You can follow the PASO framework (problem, agitate, solution, outcome.) Maybe open with a question that nudges the key problem you’re looking to solve.
Correct Personalization
This may sound obvious, but before you send Chris Smith an email, make sure you’re using proper pronouns. Personalization with your emails is key, but it will backfire if you’re addressing the recipient incorrectly or misspelling someone’s name.
Physical Mailing & Unsubscribe
As part of the CAN-SPAM legislation, emails must present physical address locations and opt-out options or unsubscribe links. Failing to comply could result in email penalties and fines.
Images that Actually Populate
Nothing is more frustrating than super-slow load times. So, if you’re sending pictures, memes, or graphics with your email, you’ll want to send a few test emails to verify those images open properly.
Emojis Add Personality
Look, there’s a fine line between a spammy email full of wacky faces and the impactful email that stands out with a little personality. Find your balance, and don’t be afraid to drop an emoji or two if it makes sense to your message. Because so nearly everyone checks their emails on their phones, seeing the occasional emojis is perfectly acceptable.
Strong and Transparent CTAs
When recipients are done reading your email, what they do next depends entirely on the strength of your call to action. Ask them to subscribe to your newsletter, visit your website, make an appointment, or download a free webinar. Whatever you ask, make it easy to do and clearly state what the next steps are.
Ability to Respond or Reply
Make sure any email you send, regardless of the mass-mail platform you have, allows for direct responses or replies. What if your recipient has a question or wants additional information? Some mass email platforms don’t allow replies, which loses the personalization element. If you’re using one of those platforms, provide direct instructions for how someone might respond to you directly.
Mobile-Friendly Layout
As previously mentioned, lots of people are reading their emails on the phone, 55% of them actually. So, make sure your email platform and message are mobile-friendly with the look and readability you prefer. Send a few test emails first and check them out from your mobile device, so you know exactly how your message will look to your email list. And be especially mindful of the “preview text,” which is the short snippet they’ll read first when deciding whether or not to continue.
Error-Free Messaging
This can’t be overstated. If you’re not using the right “your or you’re” or are getting a little comma crazy in your grammar, it’s going to reflect poorly on you, your brand, and your company. Take the time to review the email message before sending. Read it out loud and run it through a grammar checker online to make sure you’re using “its” and not “it’s” or “whose” and not “who’s.”
Maybe Your Email Is Missing an Enticing Offer
So, if your email marketing campaigns check all the boxes so far, but you’re still not achieving the open rates and conversions you’re looking for, there could be a problem with your value proposition. If your offer isn’t well-defined, clear, or very enticing, it won’t prompt a response. They’ll be more engaged if they can quickly identify what’s in it for them.
What is your offer? Is it different from what your core customer might expect? Is it a cost-savings or additional service? Are there timelines to act, creating FOMO? If you’re not sure if it’s a deal or not, neither are your email recipients. Consider reworking your offer to make it stand out in the email as a value add. Make sure it’s easy to take advantage of and clearly outlines any terms.
You Might Need a Better Opt-In Form
If you continue to struggle to gain traction with your email marketing, maybe it’s your opt-in form that’s creating a roadblock. When a recipient clicks to take action, the next step should be just as easy to complete. Here are some form tips for creating an engaging opt-in form that is hassle-free and quickly converts.
- Make sure it has an eye-popping header.
- Go big with an attractive design layout.
- Include your brand and methods for exploring further for more information.
- The content should be relevant to what your email message said.
- Make sure your form only asks for essential information.
- Test run your forms as your users would to ensure flow and operability.
Revisit Your Copy
If you’re copying and pasting content, you could be missing an opportunity to properly engage your audience. Yes, templates make sense and can be great tools. But if you’re sending generic intros and offers, your recipients are likely glossing over without really reading. Check this list of tips for sharpening your copywriting pencil to ensure your email has the most powerful impact.
- Use the right words, not words you think will impress them.
- Avoid the industry jargon if you can.
- Make it more about them and less about you by using “you” more than “we/I.”
- Emails must be short. Don’t write books.
- Break up statements into easy-to-digest paragraphs.
- Don’t be spammy with an overuse of “FREE” or “book now.”
- Go easy on the punctuation. Too many exclamation points are overkill.
- Showcase immediate benefits to them, not features.
- Tell a story you’d want to hear.
- Proofread anything you write, but also consider having someone else review your text.
- Change up CTAs or messaging and A/B tests to find which yields the best results.
If writing isn’t your jam or you struggle to make the content engage conversationally, consider outsourcing your copywriting to the professionals. (Hint, Hint.)
Are You Sending Emails at the Right Time?
There’s another component to email marketing campaigns that, if executed incorrectly, could tank your entire effort. When should you send those emails, and how often should recipients be hearing from you? As you create multiple email sequences, for example, one intro message, two follow-up messages, and a final, hard close message, be mindful of your timing and frequency.
The data changes frequently about which days of the week are most ideal for sending emails. Right now, Tuesdays and Thursdays seem to be the most effective. Others suggest adding Wednesday to that group. But again, your emails may be best sent over the weekend, depending on who your audience is. Recruiters like to send correspondence and outreach when their candidate prospects aren’t working. So, be sure you know your audience and do your homework about what days are best to engage them.
The next timing element to consider is frequency. How many times should you reach out in a week? Over a month? Every year? If you overdo it, you could become a nuisance and force your targets to unsubscribe. If you don’t follow up enough, you could miss time-sensitive opportunities to convert a potential lead. Generally, more than two or three attempts per week is excessive. And the sweet spot, according to Omnisend data, is two to four emails per month.
Check out these stats that continue to drive home that every industry model is different, and each target customer will require something different.
- The highest click-through and open rates came with emails sent once each month (7% and 28%.)
- Those sending two to four times each month get 21% open rates and 5% click-through rates.
- Daily sends brought the lowest open rates of 12% and click-through rates of 2%.
But when it comes to orders and conversion, frequency seems to be key.
- Sending ten to 20 emails every month translates to roughly 12 orders.
- Five to nine emails every month lands seven to eight orders.
- And only sending two to four emails every month constitutes four or five orders.
Ok, great. You’re thinking, with that contradictory set of stats, is sending more emails better or not? And for the answer, go back up and read the first section of this blog. What’s the purpose of your email? If you’re sending newsletters, promoting your brand, or nurturing leads, fewer emails will make more sense. If you’re driving home purchases and conversions, hard-close CTAs will deliver better results if you’re emailing more frequently.
If You’re Emailing, You’re Doing Something Right
Even if you’re still working through the kinks of your email campaign strategy, know that you’re at least moving in the right direction. Of all the available marketing channels out there, email may still be one of the most effective forms of prospecting, sales, and relationship-building. Email campaigns, no matter what your goals are, continue to be great tools for boosting brand awareness, marketing products, nurturing leads, and connecting your solutions to your customers’ problems.
- There are four billion email users globally. That’s a lot of inboxes to work with when you think about it.
- According to 2020 data, email can produce $36 for every ad dollar spent. Now that’s a return.
- Of all the marketers surveyed, almost 80% of them listed email marketing as one of their top three most effective channels for outreach.
Email marketing can be a game-changer for B2B, B2C, e-Commerce, and service-based businesses everywhere. If you’re not using it, start exploring how you can make email work for your bottom line. And if you are knee-deep in campaigns that just aren’t producing as you’d like, consider these tips and suggestions for improvement. And, of course, if you’re going to need help crafting those compelling emails, let Ghost Blog Writers whip up something magical for you!