Have you committed to growing a solid email list to help your business bloom? Great, because despite the many digital marketing methods that exist today, email marketing is still an OG that has proven itself as one of the most effective strategies for getting people to know more about your business and buy from you.
9 Effective Email Marketing Strategies
There are many ways to grow an email list and use it to your business’ advantage. Try these top tips for creating a successful email marketing strategy.
Trade Free Stuff for Sign-Ups
A lead magnet is something you give away in exchange for sign-ups. Marketers use lead magnets to build their email lists by encouraging people to subscribe to their list. They give subscribers something for free in exchange for their email address. Close to half of marketers say that their top lead magnet performers are video or text-based content, with short-form content being the most effective.
Promote your free lead magnet with your opt-in form to entice more subscriptions. Make your offer clear so your subscribers know what they’re getting when they sign up.
Send a Welcome Series
Welcome emails have a higher open rate than regular emails, on average. And a welcome series — an automated drip campaign of consecutive welcome emails — could prove to make your email introduction even more effective.
Some marketers choose to hold off on sending regular emails to new subscribers until the welcome series has finished. This way, you’ll give new subscribers all the information they need to know to get the most out of your emails.
Segment Your List
List segmentation breaks your email subscribers into groups to help target everyone with the information they want. If you’re a web designer with services for other web designers and people who need designs for their sites, you can cater to them both by segmenting your list and sending appropriate emails to each group. Email marketing software can help you with list segmentation.
Tailor Emails to Their Needs
The more you know about your subscribers, the more personal you can make your emails. And we’re not just talking about adding their name to the subject line (in fact, that’s something you don’t want to overdo).
Instead, dig deeper by adding a question on your opt-in form. If you sell meal plans for specific diets, you might ask, “What diet plan do you want more information about?” Then, have a drop-down list of options. This way, you’re learning what subscribers want to see more of and you can segment your list accordingly.
Also, consider sending out surveys or emails asking a quick question once in a while to your current subscribers. This technique is especially helpful when you’re doing market research for a new product or service.
Automate Some Tasks
The beauty of email marketing is that it allows you to automate many of your tasks. From collecting email addresses to sending out emails, you can save time by using an email marketing service that lets you set up your list how you want it and send emails on a schedule.
Consider making a welcome email series, follow-up emails, and regular emails and set them up to go out to subscribers on a schedule to automate your email marketing workflow. Just be sure to always send test emails to yourself to make sure they look like you envisioned.
Make Emails Mobile-Friendly
Statistics curated by 99Firms show that 85% of smartphone users access their email on their mobile devices, and about 42% of all emails are opened on a mobile device. Those are some pretty solid numbers that show how important it is to make your emails mobile-friendly.
How can you do that? Here are a few pointers:
- Make subject lines short
- Keep copy clear and to the point
- Make your CTA stand out
- Use a one-column template or mobile template (many email marketing providers have them)
- Use a clear, large font
- Add only small, optimized images for speed
- Keep space between your lines, especially with links
- Make your first line of copy your best (mobile email users often see it along with the subject before they click on your email)
- Test your email templates on as many devices as you can.
Reward Loyalty
All email subscribers are important. But those who have stuck with you for a while should get something extra to thank them for their loyalty.
Do this by sending out exclusive promo codes or offers to those who have shopped with you recently. Or, set up a reward program for members to get special deals or rack up points to use on future purchases.
Know the Best Times to Send Emails
Just as there are best times to post on Instagram and other social media platforms for engagement, there are also ideal times to send emails.
Of course, there are circumstances when sending emails at specific times is a must, like with a limited-time sale. But generally, GetResponse finds that 4:00 AM is best for global, U.S., and Canada open rates, while 6:00 AM is best for click-through rates.
This is another case in which automation is your friend! Set your email service to send out emails during those times, and you might see a surge in opens and click-throughs.
Analyze and Test Emails
Your email marketing strategy needs to be analyzed, tested, and analyzed and tested again. It’s the best way to ensure that what you’re doing is working. Again, many email marketing services offer A/B testing to pit two emails against each other to see how they perform as well as analytics to track your open rates, click-through rates, and more.
ShareThis has another way for you to benefit from email marketing without having to touch your list. It’s the email share button, which you can add to your site quickly to display on all your content. Visitors can click on it to share your content with others via email, getting you more traffic without adding work to your plate.
