It doesn’t get much more powerful than email marketing. What other marketing channel allows you to put your message right into the inbox of your prospects and customers? By getting your brand at the literal fingertips of your target audience, you can drive traffic, convert leads, and create repeat customers. But there are a few basics that every email marketer should be familiar with if they want to maximize their opportunity. We’ve compiled and listed the top six most important below.
1. AB Testing
Nobody can expect to write the perfect email on the first try. And even if you could, how could you know for certain? That’s why AB testing is so valuable. When you can AB test individual aspects of your emails like the “From” address, the subject line, or the length of your email message, you’ll gain incredibly valuable insights into your email campaigns. Only by experimenting with various email elements can you plan to optimize your email practices and achieve a better ROI.
2. Using Segmented Lists
Segmenting your list is a simple but consistently effective way to get more from your email marketing efforts. With segmented lists, you can develop a more targeted message and increase your open and click-through rates. You can segment your list by whatever metric makes sense for your business. Some common segmentation examples include segmenting by vertical, segmenting by company size, or segmenting by a recipient’s spot in the sales cycle.
3. Harness the Power of Automation
When discussing automation in email marketing, one of the most common examples is the use of trigger-based emails. A trigger email is when a campaign of one or more emails is started by a specific event: like a purchase, a pdf download from your site, or even when a recipient has not opened your emails in a while. The open rates for trigger-based emails are usually higher because the emails tend to be more relevant to audiences. Use automation to create simple trigger-based emails and you should see a noticeable uptick in those opening and clicking your emails.
4. Making the Most of Drip Campaigns
Any discussion of automation should include a look at drip campaigns. Drip campaigns are a set of scheduled marketing emails that are usually sent out following any number of specific triggers. Drip campaigns are wide-ranging and can be used to move leads through your sales funnel, reward long-time customers, or give leads the chance to engage with your site more.
5. Optimizing Your Emails for Mobile
For the last decade, a greater and greater percentage of marketing emails have been opened on mobile devices. As a result, it is critical that your emails are optimized for mobile. Some ways to make your email an ideal fit for mobile can include keeping your subject line and pre-header short, creating a can’t miss call-to-action button, and making sure your emails are designed to be responsive—meaning they easily adjust to any screen size.
6. Employ Full-Funnel Marketing
If you want to understand the present state and future of marketing, look no further than “full-funnel marketing.” The big idea behind full-funnel marketing is that a prospect no longer goes on a linear sales journey from “first contact” to “purchase.” Instead, they take a cyclical route: interacting and engaging over time in a way that eventually leads them to not only buy from a brand but become a loyal customer and even advocate for the brand over time. Your focus when employing full-funnel marketing is on keeping your prospects engaged: that means providing plenty of valuable information and content over time, and only occasionally engaging in sales-focused emails.
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