Sending emails is easy. Yet a long term email strategy for strong and certified business growth is hard work. An intentional approach utilizing email marketing through best practices is needed. Ranging from the right tactics, obtaining subscribers on email lists to top-notch practices for readers to subscribe and unsubscribe, the world of email marketing has rules which are worth using.
But if they do not know such guidelines, then sendouts will turn into spam. An email looking nice on the computer but not on the mobile is a problem. Secondly, a large and unengaged mailing list is another problem which at times is unfixable. Third, emails that never get opened mean a higher email bounce rate.
Focusing on implementing and following best practices of email marketing can help businesses understand their customers, connect and click with them, and help grow the business as well.
What are leads?
Marketers explain that lead generation is basically the starting point of consumer interest, or inquiry, into a portfolio a business, brand or company has (i.e. products/services). In short, a lead is the contact information a marketer needs. A marketing lead is the contact information or demographic information of customers interested in a particular product/service.
How to generate leads? – following the best practices in email marketing
Those who have just entered the field of email marketing, or have been using it and hit a roadblock are in luck. This post will share tips to amplify emails and help business owners and marketers develop email marketing tactics which are actionable, scalable and workable.
We will go through 20 best practices for generating marketing lead, optimizing emails, averting sending one-off emails and moving towards building a sustainable email marketing strategy that pays off strong dividends for the business.
Reducing the email’s content to precise margins
Today’s life is fast-paced and readers today lack the time to read long emails. Customers prefer reading emails which are concise, crisp, straightforward and easily readable on the move. Instead of text, image, videos and other visuals can be added to attract readers to read them.
Hence, marketers should ensure that their email has content which is interesting to engage the audience, and help them generate quality marketing lead. They can be either quality subscriptions, or customers calling to show interest in the brand and its portfolio. Each email should be able to deliver value and relevant plus helpful content, to delight each user and audience member.
Marketing lead
A customer’s email can come from subscriptions. They are like calls showing interest in the brand and its products/services. Each business must deliver value in every email message so the audience is not only amazed but also delighted.
Utilizing double opt-in email sign-up
Conveying information and offers via email through user consent is ‘Permission Marketing’ of sorts (coined by Seth Godin in his book Permission Marketing: Turning strangers into Friends, and Friends into Customers). This is done in an ethical and responsible manner.
Double opt-in signup is much better than the single opt-in one. It helps collect email addresses with additional confirmation steps, ensuring user’s consent to send them emails. It prevents fake signups and ensures each business entity is compliant with anti-spam laws and regulations (especially GDPR).
Sending subscribing customers and subscribers a welcome email
After customers have opted to receive emails, they should be sent a welcome email for creating an early connection. This also helps them get ready for what is to come for them.
In general sense, welcome emails have an open rate of more than 86% and are worth utilizing. Most email marketing service providers allow clientele to send automated welcome emails to customers once a new subscriber joins the mailing list. It should be made sure that the welcome email is warm, courteous, lively and relevant to new customers.
Here are some tips for making a worthwhile welcome email:
- Introducing the company and the business.
- Sharing a curated list of top-notch content.
- Provision of either a promotional offer or a discount on products/services.
Formulating captivating subject lines to catch attention
A subject line is a notice worthy part of an email which influences people to click on it and open it. A subject line which is captivating would usually be like ‘20% discount on buying today’ as it can catch the reader’s (lead’s) attention quickly.
Turning email marketing into a cash generator requires the email subject line should be concise and brief. It must reflect the email’s purpose with a sense of urgency. A decent subject line is usually between 30 and 50 characters.
The usually boring subject line can be changed into something quite engaging through addition of adjectives and verbs. It is the main factor encouraging users to open the mail.
Personalizing emails
Creating a connection with subscribers and giving them the best possible value can be done via personalized emails. Addressing subscribers by their name through merge tags is one of the easiest ways of adding value. A worthwhile email marketing platform can make such a thing possible.
An email marketing platform with top-notch automation features will work best. It will help create an email experience that can create easy customizations for emails. Here is what it should offer:
- Web browsing emails.
- Emails about abandoned carts.
- Birthday offers.
- Educating about product purchases.
Keeping the email list neat and up to date
An email list which is accurate and updated helps businesses reach the right customers on time. Sending emails to customers who are interested can help generate leads converting into buyers. Hence it is key for each business to keep their list of email contacts meticulously neat and updated. Information which is old, irrelevant and incomplete must be removed.
Emails should be written in a casual and conversational tone
Businesses want to approach customers in a sophisticated and professional way. Yet stiff formality needs to be avoided. To make a warm, conversational and professional email, it is wise to avoid complex terms and language, contractions should be used, no need of acronyms or jargons and using the tone of a trustworthy person.
Send each email at the right time
It wouldn’t be wise sending emails on each day of the week. Some businesses find Tuesday as best suited while others find Thursday to be suitable. Following statistics without checking is not suitable.
Each business has a different target audience (preferences, habits and choices are always different). Studying customers, and identifying the right day and time to send emails can help fetch good leads. The universal time for sending an email is 10 a.m.
Emails should be mobile optimized
Almost 53% of all emails are checked on phones and mobile devices. More than 60% of all online traffic comes from those devices too. Users today prefer reading emails or other content on their phones and tablets. Hence, emails should be properly optimized for all kinds of mobile devices.
It should be kept in mind that the screen size and other user aspects should be considered to design the email template. Buttons (especially the call to action) should be placed in a way that it is visible and does not get concealed on mobile screens.
Testing email campaigns and analyzing results
The most important thing in the end is testing the email campaign before sending it. A/B testing is key to check its performance to see if changes in colors or CTA button placement is needed (or rectification of other errors).
Once all loopholes have been determined, they should be fixed before sent to users. This is why each email marketing campaign should be thought out properly and with proper tactics, executed, for best results.
