5 ways to improve your email marketing results
Email marketing remains one of the top three marketing channels year on year, and one that delivers the highest ROI. Litmus estimates that email marketing delivers $36 for every $1 spent – that’s an ROI of 3600%. In other words, email marketing doesn’t require a big budget, yet it can be very effective for lead generation and nurturing.
With such a high return, email marketing is an important element of a marketing strategy, but before you start focusing on the specific tactics, you need to define your goals and what success looks like. To establish your email goals, look at your overall marketing strategy and how email feeds into it – keep your end goal in mind and work backwards, track your results, and adapt your strategy accordingly.
Once you are clear on where you are heading, and start drafting your campaign, remember to focus on these effective ways to improve your email performance:
1. Segment your audience
One message doesn’t fit all. To start a conversation, you need to be on the same page with your audience. You will only achieve this by having an up-to-date email list and segmenting your list based on what you know about them. Marketers who use segmented campaigns note as much as a 760% increase in revenue, so it is worth the time and effort to segment your list. Depending on your industry, focus on demographics that matter to you and reach out to them with a message specific to them on a personal level.
2. Personalise your message
Make it personal. Go beyond using their first name in the greeting and include any information that will make them feel that they are not just one of many on a mass email list. According to HubSpot, message personalisation is the number one tactic used by email marketers to improve performance - keeping it personal is more likely to trigger interest and a response to your call to action, as it is centered around the recipient. Make them feel that the message is specifically drafted for them, linked to their current circumstances.
3. Send your email from a person, not a brand
People buy from people – so use your name. If you are worried that you are missing out on building brand awareness, include your name followed by “from …”. Putting a name to an email is much more effective than an email coming from a brand. In fact, we have seen some significant improvements when our clients switched from a brand email to a personal note. And we highly recommend you test it too.
4. Keep it short
Our attention span is short and our days are busy. If you got them over the hurdle of opening the email and reading it, you don’t want them to get bored halfway through. Keep it simple and to the point, so they can quickly identify what is it that you are contacting them about and make a decision whether they want to engage in a conversation. If you feel that you want to share information in more detail, include a link or an attachment, but don’t scare them with a lengthy email as they will lose interest even before they start reading it.
5. Include a clear call to action
Surprisingly, there are many companies that don’t create clear and simple calls to action, however, without them your audience might find it more difficult to engage with your email. When you’re crafting your call to action, ensure that you start with an action word, such as ‘read’, ‘download’, ‘buy’, or any other relevant ones. Create a sense of urgency with words like ‘today’ or ‘now’ and tell your audience what’s in it for them if they do take action.