Businesses have proven time and time again that email marketing works. For every $1 you spend on email marketing, you should expect to make a return of about $32, making it one of the best marketing forms for high ROIs.
As with any marketing strategy, email marketing changes as new techniques come to light and audiences’ needs evolve. Staying on top of the most current best practices can give you an edge over your competition.
What Is Email Marketing?
Email marketing is one type of digital marketing and a subset of content marketing that uses emails and email campaigns to market to prospects, current customers, and past customers. The primary purpose of email marketing is to keep your business top-of-mind among your subscribers by offering discounts, sharing company or industry news, or making them aware of new products or services.
7 Email Marketing Tips and Examples
With 4.48 billion people globally projected to use email by 2024, there’s never been a better time to start an email list and focus on growing it. How can you make sure your subscribers find value in each email? Follow these tips, which are proven to work by some of the best email marketers in the world:
Showcase Your Brand’s Personality
Your email marketing is an extension of you and your business. From the colors and typography that you use to the personality you show in your messaging, you have an excellent opportunity to connect with your subscribers on a personal level through email.
Example: The Hustle exudes personality in its welcome emails when someone joins its newsletter. Expect to see brilliant copy, like “Greg, our head of marketing, ran outside and hugged some old lady walking by the office,” to prove how excited everyone in the company is that you’re part of the family.
Focus on Your Call-to-Action (CTA)
Your emails’ calls-to-action (CTAs) grab each reader’s attention and let them know what you want them to do. From encouraging someone to shop your products or suggesting they sign up for a webinar, these simple links have a lot of power over your emails’ success.
Example: AWeber uses CTAs frequently in its emails to let prospects and customers know about features they may not have used yet. One email showcases its landing page builder by giving you a brief overview of its features followed by a simple CTA (“Get started now!”), so you know how to try it.
Ask for Reviews and Suggestions
Sending a quick email to people who have purchased from you is an excellent way to make them feel validated. Plus, you’ll get feedback that can help you shape your products, services, and your marketing to meet their needs.
Example: Airbnb sometimes sends follow-up emails to customers who have booked Airbnb spots for their travel plans. The email asks customers to take a quick survey to share their thoughts on their experience to help the company improve. (If you have an Airbnb listing, check out our Airbnb follow button, which allows travelers to save your Airbnb listing, experience, or other pages.)
Write Effective Subject Lines
Subscribers see your subject line before anything else, so making it catchy and intriguing can lead to opens and clicks. Once you get a click, you’re on the right path towards getting your subscribers to take action.
Example: LinkedIn keeps things simple with its “[Your name], You’re Getting Noticed” emails. This simple subject line grabs your attention by letting you know that people are looking at your profile on LinkedIn. There’s no selling going on here, but it certainly works to get readers to open the email and head over to LinkedIn.
Prompt Subscribers to Come Back to You
Emails aren’t always for selling. Sometimes, they can offer a gentle nudge to remind people who have used or service or bought your products why they chose your company in the first place.
Example: Dropbox uses this re-engagement technique to gently remind customers of what they’re missing when they don’t use their accounts. The company keeps the email quick and straightforward, naming a few key features that customers can benefit from and offering a service tour.
Make It Scannable
Your emails should somewhat mimic web content formatting, meaning that they should be scannable. Clear and compelling headings, concise sentences, and short paragraphs make it easy for readers to skim information. This is also achievable with image-focused emails by being strategic about image placement and drawing the eye to your CTA.
Example: Social networking site Quora does scannable copy well. Every so often, it updates its users with an email blast of questions related to what they’ve recently searched. Every question is a scannable subheading followed by a short preview of an answer and a “Read more” section that links to the full content on the website.
Let Subscribers Unsubscribe
It probably seems counter-intuitive to make it easy for your subscribers to unsubscribe from your emails. However, the easier it is for people to so, the less likely your subscribers will flag emails from you as spam, which will help your emails continue to get to people who want to read them. (Note: This is also required by law via the CAN-SPAM Act.)
Example: Look at emails you sign up for to see how other businesses position their unsubscribe options. Some have a link in the header while others keep this information in the footer. Old Navy includes both an Unsubscribe link and an Update Email Frequency link to let subscribers choose what emails, if any, they want to receive.
Try these tips with your upcoming email marketing campaigns using your email marketing software’s analytics tools to determine their efficiency. Consider adding the ShareThis email share button to your website, too, so that others can share your content through email with their family and friends.
