There are over 4.5 billion email users as of 2024; between them, 300+ billion emails are sent daily. You’d think email has become irrelevant with so many platforms and social media, but it’s still a solid way to connect with your customers and audience. 60% of customers prefer to be connected through email, there’s a lot of potential with email marketing but you may already know that, and if you’ve been using it already you know that times have changed. Maybe retention and engagement have gone down for you, and it’s natural with so many emails bombarding us daily. In this blog, you’ll find 10 key winning email strategies to generate more retention, engagement, and ultimately more profits.
Let’s dive in!
Know Your Audience
To make an email that gets opened, first, you need to know who your reader is. Imagine being able to ask your friend what their favorite color is before buying them a gift. The chances that they will love it are much higher. That’s what email marketing of knowing your audience does.
Initiate with just some basic details from them, like the name and email address. After you have sent many emails to a respective person, start asking some interest or need about it—like if the person likes to read sports articles or cooking articles. This way, you may gather too much information very slowly without annoying.
For example, if one has subscribed to the gardening course, a first email would be one thanking him for joining and giving a general tip on gardening. After some emails, you would say, “Do you like flower gardening or vegetable gardening? This helps you send more specific tips they will enjoy, making them more likely to open your emails.
Set Campaign Goals
An email campaign should have a definite goal, such as a road trip with a map. Know what you want to achieve, like wanting more people to buy your products or wanting more people to know your brand.
For example, when launching a new product, your objective may be to inform people about the new product in the market and convince them further to make a purchase. You may define success as the number of people who used a special offer code in their purchase from your email. Keeping statistics of how many people opened your emails, clicked through your links, and purchased from you is a way of keeping on track with your marketing or needing to use another trail.
If not enough people open your emails, maybe you’re not making your subject lines exciting enough. And if they don’t open but do not buy from you, maybe your offers are not interesting enough.
Maintain a Clean Email List
Think about sending out invitations for a party: You’d not send them to old addresses where your friends no longer live, do you? It sort of is like keeping your email list clean. This kind of email, if not too long past its sell-by date or, worse, if not belonging to interested people, could make your email efforts feel less effective. It’s like screaming in an empty room.
By removing these outdated emails, you make sure more of your messages reach people who want to hear from you. This will save you not only some money, but it’s also going to keep the email providers happy and ensure that they don’t stay in the spam folder. Every couple of months, just go through your list. Remove those who haven’t opened your emails in a while or those whose emails bounce back because the address doesn’t work. That way, it keeps your list fresh, and your emails go to the people they are supposed to go to.
Email List Segmentation
Think of your mailing list, in a way, like a group of friends: some will like hiking, some movies, some others will be all about cooking. If you talk about a new film, you will certainly want to tell friends interested in movies, right? That’s what segmentation will do for your emails.
By dividing your list based on what people like or do, you can send emails that are more interesting to each group. For instance, if you are into the sale of sports equipment, you could send out the newest news on running shoes to buyers of this kind of gear or lookers, and news about camping equipment to buyers or lookers at camping and other outdoor activities gear.
This, therefore, will mean that every member gets an email that interests them, hence increasing the chances of reading your mail. It will also mean that they are less likely to unsubscribe if a good number of them do not apply to them.
Personalization
Personalization involves the use of the name of the person in question when addressing them. Unless in email marketing, personalization is defined as every email sounding as if it were particularly written for the reader. You can even make it as simple as adding the name of the person in the email, but you can go further to suggest items that one may have purchased before and even recommend a product lineup based on their hobbies.
For example, if a person has recently bought a cookery book from an online store, he or she may receive an email informing them about the offered set of kitchen utensils.
This would indicate that you’re paying attention to what they like and trying to help them find stuff they like. It makes your emails more effective because people are far more likely to purchase something if it gives them the feel of a personal recommendation tailored only for them.
Mobile-Optimized Emails
Today, the majority of people read their emails on the go from mobile phones. Make sure your email is small-screen-readable. This means using larger fonts, ensuring images are prepared for different screen sizes, and ensuring your message is very clear and concise. For example, if people need to zoom in to read your mail or pictures do not load properly on the phone, they will get pissed off and end up deleting your mail.
But if your email appears nice and seems easy to read on their device, they’re much more likely to give it their time and take a look at the whole thing, potentially following any links or offers you include. That means there’s much more at stake than simply making your emails look nice;
it’s the difference between a professional-looking email that gets read and an amateurish document that just goes right into the trash. If reading, interacting, and placing the device from whichever position is easy and possible, then automatically the audience will take an interest.
Attention-Grabbing Subject Lines
Your subject line is the title of your book; therefore, it should be interesting enough to make one open the email. It is the most important thing in a very crowded inbox.
It’s the first thing people see, so you want it to make a good impression.
Instead, for example, of “Our Weekly Newsletter” being the title of it, you would want to make this something more to the point and exciting for them, maybe “Unlock Our Secrets to Great Summer Meals!” telling exactly what they can expect and getting their interest going. Keep those subject lines short and sweet; this is likely to be read on a phone by most people. And if one’s subject line is getting cut off, its impact will be lost on the reader.
Aim for subject lines that create a sense of urgency or excitement, prompting readers to open the email right away.
Time it Right
Timing can make a huge difference in your open rate. Think about when you’re most likely to check your emails—probably not during a busy workday or late at night. Your audience is no different.
If your target is working professionals, send them at the lunch hours of an office or near the working day beginning time. For general readers, go with weekends or evenings.
Through trial and error, sending at different times, and seeing when your open rates are highest, you will find the best time. After all, what works in one group can be different in another, so it’s all about knowing your audience and tweaking your strategy accordingly.
Strategic CTAs
A call to action (CTA) is part of your email that tells the reader what to do next. In this way, every next part of your email leads further to their interest, and, lastly, the CTA leads its way toward the treasure (your website, product, or offer).
For example, if you are writing to a list making them aware of the new line of eco-friendly products you have, the CTA could be “Shop Green Now!” This would rather accurately indicate exactly what you would like your reader to do.
Make sure your CTA stands out by using a button or a different color text, so it’s easy for readers to find.
You can have more than one CTA, but ensure they give different stuff. For instance, “Learn more” leads to more information, or, at the same place, one might see “buy now” leading to a purchase. This, therefore, gives readers an option depending on what action the reader is ready to take.
Use the Right Visuals
Consider adding pictures, videos, or GIFs to your email messages. This added visual adds a touch of interest and liveliness to the emailed message. Pictures can tell a story much faster than words from a book; they draw focus and maybe explain your message or present your products.
The point is, to choose an image that fits the message; for example, if one speaks of some new outdoor product, then a bright, attractive image of somebody using the said product outside shows what is meant to be used and how well it is used.
Videos, though, can be a bit dicey as not all email-playing services accommodate videos directly from the email service provider. But do have a thumbnail image that links to the place on your site where they can watch the video. That way, you get the benefits of the power of video without technical issues.
Leveraging Social Media
Social media links in your email provide readers with more opportunities to keep in touch with and get to know you in general. You can also use email marketing to promote your content on social media, e.g., a contest or special behind-the-scenes of your business, which encourages people to follow you on social media for further updates and the idea of your brand through different platforms in an interactive manner.
For example, a section of your email might feature a recent Instagram post and invite your readers to follow you for more. This will also raise the bar on your social media engagement and deepen your relationship with the audience as you reach out to them at various vicinities of their online life.
Note:
All the tips we’ve mentioned will only work when you put the customer at the front and are customer-centric. There’s no hidden secret to good emails. It’s all about taking care of the small things and nuances so that the reader feels effortless reading your email.
You have to play around and tweak it to your brand. Just keep in mind that the more you engage your customers and send them strategic, helpful content, the higher your ROI will be.
Also, if you need help from a seasoned team of marketers, consider Kabir IT services.
With over 8 years of generating ROI for brands and businesses, we know what makes people tick. Contact us here
