Whether you’re a SaaS company, digital agency, or marketer new to the email world, there’s no better time to get started with learning some best practices about email marketing. According to HubSpot, email marketers are sending 27% more emails than before the coronavirus. Email marketing is the preferred line of communication for many top digital marketers.
Here are eight email marketing strategies to increase sales and engagement in 2022.
1. Personalize Your Email Marketing Messages
According to Campaign Monitor, emails with personalized subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened by recipients. Personalized emails tend to resonate better with readers. Including your customers’ names in the subject line can significantly bump up your ROI.
Be sure to use your actual email signature with links to your social media accounts and relevant contact information instead of a generic donotreply@company.com. Invite your email recipients to answer a question by emailing you back. Of course, if they do so, it’s crucial to respond quickly.
2. Segment Your List
Reaching the right people at the right time is a huge part of successful email marketing, and segmenting your email list can help you achieve that goal.
Divide your email list into smaller groups. Unless you are making a press release type of announcement, resist the urge to blast a generic message to your entire list.
Here are some ways to segment your list:
- By industry
- By sales cycle
- By company size
- By campaign
3. Use Interactive Emails
Interactive emails can help you get more clicks and improve lead generation success. Plus, sharing interactive content helps make your email stand out as informative and educational, instead of sounding like a sales pitch.
According to Martech Advisors, interactive email marketing can increase click-to-open ratios by as much as 73%.
Here are some email elements that may help increase engagement:
- Animated buttons and calls to action
- Surveys and polls
- Interactive carousels of images and products
4. Get the Timing Right
The time and day you send emails can have a big impact on your engagement rates. It’s crucial to send emails when your customers are most likely to open them. Track your past open rates and engagement rates and use that information to help you decide how to time your next email blast.
Remember to account for varying time zones as well. For example, if your business is located in Australia but your target market is in the United States, your emails may arrive in the middle of the night unless you plan ahead.
5. Automate Your Email Campaigns
Automation uses trigger-based emails such as “thank you” emails, “welcome” emails, and transaction emails that may include confirmation emails or receipts.
Triggered emails provide recipients with real value and usability. According to Forrester, automated email campaigns could generate 4x more sales and 18x more profit. Here are some common triggers for automated emails:
- Welcome email for a new subscriber
- Product display discontinuation email for customers unable to purchase a viewed item
- Subscription renewal reminder for customers whose subscription is about to expire
- Cart abandonment email targeted to customers who leave without completing a purchase
- Order confirmation email for customers who have just purchased an item
- Thank you email with a promotional offer for first-time customers
- Promotional offer for customers who haven’t purchased anything from you in a certain amount of time (3 months, 6 months, one year)
6. Use Text-Only Emails
Sending a text-only email to your subscribers and including a personalized message can make them feel more valued and appreciated, leading to higher engagement rates.
You can also mix text-only emails with your more complex email designs for maximum effect.
Even when sending HTML emails, be sure to provide a text-only alternative. Many people prefer a text-only email experience to cut down on visual noise, which means it’s even more important to create and send high-quality messages.
Plus, gaming devices, smartwatches and voice assistants tend to omit HTML images and transmit only plain text emails.
7. Expand Your List
Your email list must be constantly growing to help you combat natural attrition rates Subscribers’ email addresses change, they unsubscribe or lose interest. Adding new contacts is essential.
Here are a few ways to expand your email list:
- Encourage your subscribers to share and forward your emails. Add an “Email a friend” button and social sharing buttons to your emails to access the subscriber network. Include a “Sign Up” CTA as a simple text-based link at the bottom of your emails so that those who receive the forwarded emails can quickly sign up.
- Segment your lists by buyer persona. Send targeted content to certain segments of your marketing personas who use different types of email subscriptions. Customers are more likely to click on emails tailored to their particular interests, so creating multiple specific subscription types can increase the likelihood that visitors will subscribe to one.
- Provide valuable content. Your subscribers shared their email addresses and opted in to receiving messages from your because they believe you’ll bring value to their inbox. Evaluate your newsletter and email messages to make sure that you are delivering the content they expect.
8. Optimize Your Messages for Mobile
Many of your email recipients will receive your message on a mobile device, so it’s crucial to ensure that your emails look great no matter which device the recipient uses. If your emails don’t work with a cell phone or tablet, you can expect a large percentage of those recipients to delete the message. Choose a template designed to work well across every device, no matter the size or aspect ratio.
Email Is a Powerful Marketing Tool
Email is an affordable and effective digital marketing tool that can help you stay top-of-mind with your current and future customers. If your email marketing efforts haven’t produced the desired result, use a few strategies listed here to increase your ROI today.
