You’re reading this because you’re interested in email marketing best practices. Well, search no more! Here are the most up-to-date tips and tricks to keep your emails on top of the inbox pile.  

You’ll learn how to craft an engaging subject line that will get people excited about opening your message, find out what makes a good subject line, discover when is the best time to send, and much more. 

By the end of this post you will be armed with all the tools you need to succeed at email marketing in 2021.

Introduction

Is email marketing dead? It’s not if you ask Michael Brenner, who has been using it for the last 12 years and he says it is still his most effective strategy to grow his business. Why does this work so well? Email is ranked as one of the best forms of communication with a whopping 97% open rate! 

Email marketing has been around for decades and it’s still the most effective way to connect with potential customers. Data shows that people are using email more than other platforms, such as social media. 

Email is a platform you can own – there aren’t worries about algorithm changes tanking your reach as there would be on Facebook or Twitter where you only control half of what users see in their feed due to algorithms controlling which posts show up first. That means building a successful email marketing campaign is more important than ever!

You can reach your customers in their inboxes consistently without having them get lost on social media or elsewhere online, which makes email an easy way to keep current clients happy while at the same time finding new ones. 

If that isn’t enough proof then consider these two stats: 

• 100 million people read emails every day.
• 70 per cent are more likely to buy from companies they’ve subscribed to via e-mail than those who haven’t.

What is Email Marketing?

Phone calls, magazine subscriptions, and even mailboxes are a thing of the past. Nowadays your inbox is one of the few places you can get updates on things that interest you most! But with so many messages coming in every day it’s hard to keep up sometimes. Lucky for us there are email marketing services out there that give businesses powerful tools for sending emails (and other digital content) directly to their customers’ desktops and smartphones – all automatically managed by professionals behind the scenes. We don’t have time or resources to manage our inboxes anymore! 

So if what we’re talking about here is anything from transactional messages such as shipping notifications to lifecycle campaigns, reminding people they need car insurance soon. 

If you’ve ever received an email from a company that makes products or services in your area of interest, then you have been exposed to the power of email marketing. 

When used correctly and strategically, emails can be very effective at building loyalty with prospective customers while also educating them about what’s available on offer.

It is often wise for companies to segment their lists so they’re able to send personalised messages tailored towards each customer based on their needs – which we’ll focus on below!

How to Build Your Email List

We have been building our email list for a long time. That’s why we want to share some of the most effective strategies with you right now.

First, get social media followers. Once they’re following you on the different platforms (think Facebook and Twitter), send them an automated message with links that lead people back to your blog post or website for more information about whatever it is you do best. 

This way, even if someone doesn’t reply right away – because let’s face it we all ignore emails sometimes, eventually they will come across one of those messages in their inbox and take a look at what really interests them most from there. 

It may have taken some time but hey patience pays off as long as success follows soon after!

Optimise Your About Us Page

There’s a good chance that people who visit your ‘About’ page are already fans. In fact, they might be some of the most eager subscribers you can get! 

A quick email sign-up form on this very popular part of your site is likely to do wonders for conversions and lead generation. But don’t stop there you can add email opt-in boxes on your home page, blog posts and services pages too. 

Offer Incentives

Offer your mailing list an incentive and you will quickly see a new email address increase in size. Think of it as the only form of currency, because giving away money for free is just not something people do. 

Some prefer to give out a product or service on their site while others simply provide updates via newsletter or other content-driven mediums like blogs. For example, Morning Brew offers readers interesting daily news that they can’t find elsewhere which entices them to sign up for their mailing list every morning. SEJ also asks questions about subjects users are interested so they tailor what type of information (such as SEO) gets sent directly to their subscribers.

Create Lead Magnets

Lead Magnets are the lifeblood of any list building campaign. Why? It’s REALLY hard to get someone to sign up for a “newsletter” or “21-day email course”. 

Instead, you need to offer people something they can use right away – checklists, ebooks, swipes files and case studies, templates that have proven successful time and again in your industry (videos too). 

The more valuable your lead magnet is though, the more likely it will be viewed as worth their while by subscribers on social media platforms like Facebook where high-quality content goes viral faster than anything else these days!

What Makes a Good Lead Magnet?

There are 3 criteria we consider when crafting our lead magnets:

1. It has to be easily consumed – the more digestible and consumable it is, the better! If it’s too long or hard for people to get through in one sitting, they’re less likely to come back later on. 
2. A great tool needs an actionable outcome. If there isn’t something tangible that can happen after consuming your content, then what’s really being provided? 
3. Be relevant – If you’ve done your homework about the problems prospects are facing, it will be easy to come up with a lead magnet that solves them. It doesn’t matter if they’re thirsty for information or love instant gratification – deliver what’s needed right then and there!

Types of Emails to Send

Transactional emails are sent during checking out and other purchasing actions. They can be functional, sending key information to individual customers like order confirmations or receipts. You might also get an email when your package is shipping containing all the necessary tracking info. 

Promotional emails are designed to raise awareness for a specific deal or promotion such as Black Friday Cyber Monday deals or Mother’s Day gift guides etc… 

Life cycle messages have been given their name because they “follow” you throughout your journey with that company – so if it was just one promotional message you would not need another life cycle message until something in between happens – things change (ie: upgrades).

Choose an Email Service Provider

There are many robust and cost-effective email marketing tools to choose from, so don’t get caught up trying to pick one that’s “perfect.” You can always switch providers down the line. 

Below are a few of the most prominent providers, although there are many more. 

With list size, objectives and features all coming into play as factors of what makes a great mail campaign – there is no one clear winner. 

MailChimp– This platform offers users easy sending options through emails or text messages from any device (desktop/mobile). It also has templates that make designing newsletters super simple! However, Mailchimp does have some drawbacks like having limited social media integration (only Facebook), only minimal segmentation capabilities which may restrict the audience.

Shopify Email for online shop owners who want seamless integration with their store as well as drag-and-drop editors, templates or autoresponders at affordable prices!

ConvertKit is a powerful email marketing platform geared toward online creators. Like bloggers, artists and musicians. It has all the features you need to help take your business from zero-to-hero without breaking the bank! One thing that makes ConvertKit unique is their focus on Online Creators like yourself who want quality tools for email marketing – but don’t have an endless budget to work with (you know how it goes). 

With flexible pricing based on subscriber numbers ($29 per month at 1k subs or less), this ESP might be just what you’re looking for!

GetResponse is a marketing automation tool that includes popular features like autoresponders and popups. Plans start at $15/month with limited functionality, but there’s also a 30-day trial to explore the software fully before committing. 

The Get Response ESP platform provides email marketing tools such as landing page creation and an “opt-in” popup builder for users who want help getting their subscriber list started or growing it more quickly than they could on their own.

Follow the Rules

You’ll also want to make sure your emails follow local rules and regulations, including CAN-SPAM and GDPR. Double opt-in options will let you know that the recipient is opting-in of their own accord rather than being pestered by unwelcome messages. And if they don’t like what’s on offer, it’ll be easy for them to unsubscribe with just a click or two — so there should never be any hard feelings!

With all the changes in email marketing laws and regulations, it can be hard to keep up. Luckily for you, we have a handy guide on how to follow these important rules so that your emails stay compliant with all relevant legal authorities!

Improve Open Rates

There are many strategies for increasing open rates on your email list, but we have found that the simplest strategy is also one of the most effective. 

Make emails more interesting than they were before! Here are some more hacks to get that edge over your competition. 

Perfect Your Timing

Much like a well-crafted novel, there are many elements that go into making the perfect email campaign but one of the most important is timing. Timing can have a huge effect on whether or not your subscribers open your emails and on your conversion rate, so think carefully about what time and day you send out an email campaign. 

You won’t be able to figure this one right away but test times in A/B testing for which work the best – some of these are already identified by GetResponse who found Tuesdays had the highest open rates with over 60% more opens than any other weekday within their study! Although Saturdays had the highest conversion rates. 

Subject Lines

When it comes to email open and click rates, your subject lines are everything. Your job is to make them stand out from the rest of the competition’s emails in order for you not to be relegated into spam or a trash folder. 

Here are some tips that can help with crafting effective subject lines:   

Entice curiosity but don’t get too clever. You want enough suspense so they’ll feel compelled to check what you’re talking about without being cryptic and completely confusing.

Include numbers because there seems something magical about seeing an amount like $10 off on their inbox list right away 

Speak as though we’re speaking face-to-face with our customers by using language habits and abbreviations they would use day to day. 

Add Some Humour

Humour has a way of making strangers forget their differences and find common ground. What do you need to make this happen? 

You don’t have to be witty or funny, just know your audience! It’s personal, entertaining and sticks out in peoples’ minds. 

What if you aren’t always the funniest person? Funny is hard to come by sometimes so how do we inject it into our emails without sounding like comedians trying too hard for that punchline? Simple, know your recipient’s preferences! 

If they love puns use them sparingly outside email subjects or greetings. You want these jokes to really pack that humorous punch because nobody likes it when dinner conversation gets awkward…

Track Your Results

In order to understand how your email marketing campaign is performing, you must first create a list of metrics that are important for your business. 

You should be tracking open rates, click-through rate (CTR), and conversion rates as they show the level of engagement with customers on all levels. 

Another thing to track might unsubscribe or bounce back emails which will help in understanding customer behaviour better so that positive trends can continue and any negative tendencies can be addressed before becoming too big an issue. 

Tracking these items ensures success by being able to analyze what resonates best with them based on their actions throughout this process!

It goes without saying that revenue is the ultimate benchmark. What percentage of your store’s total revenue can be attributed to email marketing? Sanocki tells us many successful stores he’s seen about 20% of their total revenue generated from emails.

Conclusion

If you’ve been ignoring email marketing, it’s time to re-evaluate your strategy. Email marketing delivers huge returns for marketers willing to learn how to do it right. It doesn’t have to be too complicated. 

First, remember that you are a guest in the inboxes of your subscribers and will always only get one chance at making an impression on them with each message you send out – so make sure they know who is sending them content by including a clear “from name” or company logo in every email campaign! 

Next, follow all rules set forth by industry associations like the CAN-SPAM act of 2003 and any other regulations relating specifically to your business sector (like GDPR). 

And if all of this sounds overwhelming or intimidating? Let us know! We are experts in email marketing who love what we do – so let’s chat about how we can help you increase your sales with an effective email strategy tailored specifically for your needs. 

Which of these strategies has helped you get more customers from emails? Contact Us Today!

Email Marketing

Perry Stevens

Perry Stevens is the founder and CEO of Blend Local Search Marketing Ltd. He’s a tea drinker, cocoa grower and a frequent traveller.

Connect with Perry

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