“Master the Art of Email: 20 Proven Best Practices for Optimal Results”
Maximizing Your Email Marketing Strategy: A Comprehensive Guide
Email marketing is an undeniably powerful tool for businesses, especially when it remains an effective way to generate leads and engage with prospects. A recent HubSpot survey shows that 94% of marketers find email marketing useful in reaching their business objectives. This comprehensive guide will delve into the best practices for streamlining your email marketing operations.
Table of Contents
- Email Marketing Best Practices
- Outbound Email Best Practices
- 17 In-depth Email Marketing Best Practices
Email Marketing Best Practices
Deploying email as a part of your marketing arsenal requires a keen understanding of both the medium and its best practices. We explore these best practices in the following sections.
Outbound Email Best Practices
Outbound emails serve as a direct connection to your leads and prospects. Understanding how to effectively use this tool will streamline your marketing operations and contribute to your overall success.
17 Detailed Email Marketing Best Practices
Let’s delve into some of the fundamental best practices that can transform your email marketing operations.
1. Avoid the Purchase of Contact Lists
While it may sound tempting, buying contact lists is a poor practice, especially with the advent of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Mailing lists bought, as opposed to ones earned through interaction, won’t yield healthy open rates, and could even lead to plummeting performance for your email campaigns. Moreover, GDPR stipulates the need for explicit consent from a European contact before sending them campaign mails, a criterion typically not fulfilled by purchased lists.
2. Skip the ‘No-Reply’ Sender Address
Being aware of CAN-SPAM, the legislation that governs email marketing in the United States, suggests not using “no-reply” as the sender’s name. This restriction prevents recipients from responding or opting out from future emails, thereby violating CAN-SPAM. Instead, use a human name as an automated email sender (e.g., jamie@mktgplan.com). The human touch to your emails can significantly increase the chances for their opening while keeping you within the regulatory framework.
3. Limit Typeface Variety
Simple and uncluttered emails often yield higher conversions. Limit your email to two fonts or typefaces at the most. Overloading typefaces can distract your readers and compromise the visual appeal of your communication.
4. Optimize Preview Text in Emails
The teaser or preview text of your email significantly affects its open rate. Many businesses default their preview text to the first couple of words in the email body. Unfortunately, with customized email templates, trivial messages such as “Email not displaying correctly? Click here” often make it to the preview, impacting your email’s open rates negatively. Always write a preheader that concisely indicates what your email offers.
5. Include an Email Signature
A 2020 study showed that 62% of marketers use email signatures to boost their brands’ visibility. Every email you send out adds a chance for marketing, and every signature acts as a personalized touch, which significantly increases the chance of the email being read. A custom CTA, links to your site, or your social media handles can all be a part of your email signature.
6. Regularly Clean Up Your Mailing List
Keen marketers keep track of their least-engaged recipients. Inactive subscribers can bring down your open rates, and by extension, the perceived quality of your campaign. Periodic reviews of your subscriber list to weed out inactive ones can provide a useful checkpoint for your email open rates. Alternatively, implementing workflows to shift inactive subscribers to lesser frequency mailing lists based on their activity can be a good strategy too.
7. Get Your Message and Call-to-action Right at the Top
Users typically do not scroll down a lot when reading emails. Placing your main message and CTA ‘above the fold,’ making it the first thing that your recipients see, can boost your conversion rate significantly. While this is a strong suggestion, backing it up with an A/B test for your emails can’t hurt.
8. Use Personalized Email Greetings
A personalized greeting can significantly increase the chances of your email being read. Including recipients’ names in the greeting can work wonders, especially if done automatically using modern email marketing tools.
9. Keep the Width Within 650 Pixels
Having your email template fit within the popular 650-pixel width format ensures better readability, conversion rates, and user experience, keeping in mind that many users read emails on mobile platforms. Anything wider than 650 pixels could lead to inconvenience scrolling, hampering conversions.
10. A/B Test Subject Lines and Calls to Action
If your email’s open and click-through rates are not improving, it’s time to test your content through A/B testing. A/B testing subjects lines, CTAs, and other elements in your email content can provide insights into what works best with your recipients and adapt accordingly.
11. Don’t Forget Your Logo
A study indicates that emails with logos see 21% higher open rates and an 18% increase in brand recall. Consequently, incorporate your logo within your email design to maximize impact.
12. Highlight Offers in Subject Line
Subject lines with incentives considerably lift your open rates. If you are running a promotion, use subject lines like “Free shipping for orders above $25” or “Get a free iPad with a demo!” to attract readers. However, avoid overwhelming your readers with excessive sales or promotional emails. An optimal balance between industry insights and offers can contribute to customer loyalty.
13. Provide Subscription for Your Newsletter
Adding a ‘Subscribe’ button in your email significantly helps with audience spread when your subscribers forward your emails to their peers. However, ensure that the ‘Subscribe’ button does not interfere with your primary email campaign CTA.
14. Prioritize Short and Compelling Subject Lines
Concise subject lines ranging from 30 to 50 characters not only reduce the likelihood of display cuts from email providers, but they also cultivate a sense of urgency and provide an overview to the readers about the email contents.
15. Automate Opt-in Emails
Subscribers are likely to forget their opt-ins after a while. Consequently, setting up automated emails reminding them of their subscription and providing additional content or bonuses can enhance their retention and engagement rates.
16. Align Emails to Landing Pages
If a specific landing page is featured in your email, ensure the headline, copy, and content of the page matches the email for consistency and trust-building. Also, use tracking tools to identify the most performing emails and landing pages, and focus on their successful elements.
17. Conduct Five-second Tests
Before hitting send, conduct a quick five-second test. Send the email to a friend or co-worker. Can they identify the CTA quickly? If not, revisit your subject lines or linked landing pages.
3 Best Practices for Outbound Emails
When it comes to outbound emails for lead generation, personalization is key. Be clear with your CTA and follow-up appropriately without overwhelming the recipient. Remember to factor in typical response times before sending follow-up emails.
Email Marketing with MKTG Plan
As a leading SEO Miami agency, MKTG Plan holistically integrates an arsenal of proven digital marketing strategies, with email marketing as one of its key pillars. But how can you fully maximize your email marketing strategy? What are the best practices to follow?
Why MKTG Plan for Email Marketing?
MKTG Plan, a premier Miami website design company, leverages the power of email marketing alongside innovative web design solutions. The company recognizes the need for interactive and responsive websites to complement effective email marketing campaigns. Combining these strategies optimizes all inbound and outbound touchpoints for your brand, resulting in higher engagement and conversion rates.
Email Marketing and the Role of Website Design
As an integrated marketing agency, MKTG Plan believes that email marketing and website design should work hand in hand. Email marketing draws attention to your brand and drives traffic to your website. An impressive website design then captivates the audience and makes them want to stay longer or return, thereby improving the chances of conversion.
Having a Captivating Website Design
When your email marketing strategy is able to effectively direct traffic to your website, having a captivating, user-friendly design enhances the user’s experience. Good website design involves various elements such as visual hierarchy, consistency, readability, and mobile compatibility, among others. MKTG Plan, as an expert in Miami website design, ensures that these elements are well-incorporated into your website.
Making Email Marketing and Website Design Work Together
When properly executed, your forthcoming email marketing strategies will not only boost your engagement but will also solidify your brand’s online presence. An optimized website design will likewise ensure that incoming traffic will be nurtured into becoming potential leads. This harmonious synergy between email marketing and website design will aid in your business growth.
More Email Marketing Tips to Consider
While the previously mentioned email marketing best practices are certainly effective, there are more strategies that you can incorporate to optimize your campaigns. Here are additional tips for your email marketing efforts:
1. Use Animated GIFs
GIFs are visually appealing and can immediately grab a reader’s attention. They can also provide a more engaging alternative to videos. Use them moderately and make sure they’re aligned with your brand and the message of your email.
2. Experiment with Different Content
Don’t limit your content to plain text. Incorporate images, infographics, videos, or even interactive content to your emails. This can make your content more appealing and fun to read.
3. Incorporate Social Sharing Buttons
Adding social sharing buttons in your emails allows you to extend your content’s reach beyond your email list. Your subscribers might also share your content with their network, capturing a broader audience.
Conclusion
Email marketing, when properly executed, can truly skyrocket your digital marketing efforts. With a vast number of marketing tools and tactics available, the simple yet potent email remains a valuable cornerstone in building business success. By adhering to proven email marketing best practices and harmonizing these with excellent website design strategies, you are on your way to a robust digital marketing roadmap.
At MKTG Plan, our years of expertise in SEO, website design, and email marketing are put into play to deliver the results your business seeks. Learn more about our services today and let’s revamp your email marketing strategies.
