Building an email list is the first hurdle to effectively grow your business and profits through email marketing. You’ll also need to pay close attention to how you manage the list so you can reach people with relevant information. As you implement these best practices for your email marketing campaigns, you’ll likely see results through higher open rates, click-through rates and sales.
1. Email only with Permission:
Not only is it rude and disruptive to send emails to people who did not give permission, but it’s also illegal. All of the people receiving your marketing emails need to have signed up for them by providing their email address through a method that includes their consent to receive emails. In addition, it’s important for you to let people know what they need to do to stop receiving emails. A simple do not reply address and no unsubscribe link may not always be enough.
2. Send emails in Moderation:
Nobody wants to receive five emails from you every day, and most people don’t even want five emails a week, unless they signed up for a daily email subscription. Therefore, choose your email marketing campaigns carefully for maximum impact. You want people on your mailing list to remember your company exists, but not to feel overwhelmed by all of the emails. If they feel like they are getting too many, they are likely to unsubscribe from your list or send your emails straight to their spam folder.
3. Write an attention-grabbing Subject Line:
The subject line is the first thing people see so it should capture attention without being obnoxious. Your subject line shouldn’t be full of exclamation points or words in all caps, nor should it have unnecessary dollar signs and special characters. These may attract attention, but not in a good way. Instead, write an actionable subject line that includes a verb so people know what you expect them to do just by reading the subject. For example, you may invite them to stock up on a product or download your latest e-book.
4. Use your Data to Segment your List:
You shouldn’t have one mailing list that receives each one of your marketing campaigns. The truth is that you will have many different types of subscribers, and they aren’t all interested in the same types of emails. You should be gathering data as you create your email list and using this data to segment your list into groups of similar subscribers. You may have groups of people who only subscribe to your blog, who signed up through a PPC campaign, who have indicated serious interest in your products in the past or who are regular customers. Each of these groups should be receiving different types of messages.
Before hitting send on a message, you should always think through the details of your email marketing campaign from the perspective of your recipients. Consider how they know your company, what they are interested in hearing about, how often they want to hear from you and what will grab their attention and encourage them to act. Having done these steps, you’ll find that your campaigns are much more effective.