Whether or not you have a business mailing list that you regularly send emails out to, I’m sure we can all agree that some businesses haven’t quite got the balance right when it comes to email marketing. Perhaps they send you an email every day, or perhaps they hold back and just email once a month but the title is so boring that you don’t fancy opening it up…and let’s not even mention the madness of Black Friday emails!
However, Email Marketing can be a cheap and effective way of keeping in touch with existing and potential customers and reminding them how excellent you are, and why they should buy from you. It just needs to be carried out carefully to avoid people unsubscribing from your list like rats fleeing from a sinking ship. Here are a few tips to help you carry out your email marketing a little more effectively – we think that they are a good starting point!
Mind Your Language: Avoid SPAM Trigger Words – Your email’s success begins with avoiding the SPAM folder. Spam trigger words are certain keywords that can increase the chances of your email being flagged as spam by email filters. Some common examples include “free,” “discount,” “earn money,” “guarantee,” and “limited-time offer.” While using these words occasionally may be fine, it’s essential to strike a balance and not overuse them. Be creative in crafting subject lines and content that entices readers without sounding too promotional. The excessive use of exclamation points is also best avoided, even if you are very excited about your business!!!!!!
Keep Your Mailing List Clean and Relevant – A clean and relevant mailing list is the backbone of any successful email marketing campaign. Every 6 months or so, consider removing inactive or unengaged subscribers from your email list to maintain a healthy open and click-through rate. You can also segment your email list based on customer preferences, behaviour, or demographics to deliver more personalised and targeted content. This approach helps in building stronger connections and improves the chances of conversion. For example, if you were a pet food shop and offered both dog and cat food, you might segment your list into ‘Dog Owners’ and ‘Cat Owners’ so that you could make sure the content you sent out was relevant and interesting to them.
Consider a Double Opt-In to Ensure Consent and Interest – To ensure that people want to receive your emails, you could consider introducing a double opt-in process for new subscribers. This means that when someone signs up for your newsletter or updates, they will receive a confirmation email containing a link they must click to verify their subscription. This extra step guarantees that subscribers are genuinely interested in hearing from you, leading to higher engagement and fewer spam complaints. Generally, this does mean that you don’t get quite so many new subscribers every month from the sign-up form on your website or social media, but it does help with GDPR compliance and also ensures that people are actually interested in your business and services (and aren’t BOTS).
Mobile-Responsive Design: Optimise for All Devices – In today’s mobile-centric world, people check emails on various devices, including smartphones and tablets. Ensure your emails have a responsive design that adapts seamlessly to different screen sizes. An email that is visually appealing and easy to navigate on mobile devices will encourage higher open rates and engagement. Most email marketing tools, from Mailchimp to ActiveCampaign to Campaign Monitor (to name but a few!) have this functionality built-in, and allow you to preview your emails on different devices so that you know they look smart on all of them.
Have a Clear Call-to-Action (CTA) – Every email should have a clear and prominent call-to-action (CTA) that guides recipients on what to do next. Whether it’s to make a purchase, download a resource, or sign up for an event, the CTA should be compelling and easy to understand. By having a call-to-action, you can measure the success of your email marketing more easily, going beyond simple ‘open rates’ and ‘click rates’ to find out how many people are reading and engaging with the emails that you send out.
Admittedly, there’s a lot more to successful email marketing than just the tips above, but they are a helpful place to start to establish whether there are any simple changes that you could make to your email activities to make them more successful. Good luck!