5 Tips to Improve your Email Marketing Strategy

Trevin Shirey

17 Oct 2017

With so many forms of communication out there, many people think that email marketing is long-gone, but it’s more important now than ever!

Email is required in multiple areas of the Internet including creating social accounts, loyalty programs, and signing up for online shopping accounts. The main reason email has lasted as long as it has, and will continue to thrive, is because email is the main way to get your information directly to who wants to see it. It also ensures that they receive it in the way you intend it to be received.

Email marketing is an essential tool when it comes to a direct marketing strategy. You can reach high volumes of people at a lost cost, target specific customers, and control who the emails are sent to, and when. With all of these perks, email marketing’s ROI is extremely high. According to an article posted on Forbes, the average ROI for email marketing is 4300%!

Check out our 5 step checklist to see how to easily improve your current email marketing strategy!

1. It all starts with organization

Whether you’re just starting your email marketing campaign or you’re already in the email game, staying organized is one of the keys to getting the most out of your email campaign.

Create segments within your email list to avoid sending generalized emails to everyone in your list. Segmenting your emails by location, date of signing up, interest, etc. can help you understand your subscribers and tailor your emails to their changing wants and needs.

Remember to keep your emails brief and to the point. No one has the time or wants to read through paragraphs of content just to learn about when your next sale starts or to get the code for the current online special.

Create an email template that is easy to navigate and highlights the important information your customers are looking for.

2. Make a schedule and stick to it

Odds are that your newsletter isn’t the only one that your subscribers are signed up for.

To make your email stand out in your subscribers’ overflowing inboxes, create a schedule of when your emails will be sent out. Creating an email schedule and sticking to it will train your subscribers when to look for your latest email.

When determining a time for your emails, consider the time zone your subscribers live in and send out your emails during the time frame they will most likely be opened.

Using a content calendar can help you keep track of who is getting what and when. Your calendar can include important information such as which segment the email is going to, the personality of those in the segment, and the day and time that it will be sent.

Setting up an email automation account will keep things on schedule and remember all of those important days and times.

You can even set emails to be sent automatically based on user interaction, such as when a subscriber clicks on a certain product selection or views sale items. That way you can turn your focus away from the logistics and to the content of the emails!

3. Make it personal

When you meet someone for the first time, you always introduce yourself. The same etiquette goes for email marketing!

By sending out a personal welcome email to new subscribers, you can introduce yourself and your business as well as explain what subscribers can expect by having signed up for your emails.

Some things to keep in mind:

Send welcome emails right away, don’t make subscribers wait
Live up to the expectations you describe in this welcome email
Engage recipients right from the start and prove that you’re focused on them
Create the welcome email based on how and where the subscriber was acquired

Don’t forget about the subscribers you already have!

Customers are all at different steps in their customer journey so personalize their emails to provide value to them depending on what stage they are in. Have an ongoing conversation with your subscribers to see what they what to receive – which will lead to more conversions. Remember to avoid sending generic statements in your email or the exact same email to everyone on your list. Keep it personal!

4. Track your success

In order to continually improve your email marketing strategy, you must figure out a way to track your success and identify opportunities.

Three popular ways of tracking email marketing analytics are:

Open rate

If subscribers open your emails, you know you have built the foundation for a strong relationship through email. If your emails have a low open rate, rethink the title and format of how your email looks when it reaches the subscriber’s inbox.

Click through rate (CTR)

If your CTR is high, your content is interesting and interactive for subscribers. If you’re seeing a low CTR, rethink your content organization strategy. Be sure to check for errors in the content such as typos and broken links.

Unsubscribes

If your unsubscribe rate is low, your subscribers are engaged and are getting the information they want. If your unsubscribe rate is high, look into how you can increase value to your subscribers. A good place to start would be to look back at what your subscribers signed up for and that the information you’re sending them is relevant to what they want.

5. Figure out what’s wrong and fix it

If you’re running into problems with your email marketing strategy, here are a few tips to figuring out what is wrong and how you can fix it:

Look at how you’re formatting your emails and be sure to proofread. If you’re sending out large paragraphs of information, try using a different format to your emails such as bullet points. Make sure the language you’re using is tailored to your email list segment. You’ll word your emails differently if your target group in high school aged students in comparison to parents. Also, check to make sure your emails are not getting marked as spam. If they are, stop sending your emails until you make the fix. It’s also important to make sure all parts of your email are visible to your subscribers and that your attachments can be opened and viewed correctly.

Remember that email marketing is centered on trial and error. If who you’re sending to isn’t responding in the desired way, try sending to a different segment, rework your content or listen to feedback recommendations.