Email marketing requires a lot of planning and work in order to be effective, but when done right it can drive more traffic to your website and boost your sales.
If you are ready to improve your email marketing campaigns, here are six tactics you can leverage.
1. Try a new list growth strategy
When was the last time you introduced a new way for people to sign up for the email list? You can create a prominent “above-the-fold” email sign-up message on your website home page. Another popular option is to use a sign-up incentive like a informative ebook, cheat sheet or even an entrance into a giveaway.
Meanwhile, whenever people contact you through various lead gen forms on your site, give them the opportunity to opt-in and automatically receive regular communications, like an email newsletter, from you. These are just a few ways you can grow your list by maximizing simple strategies.
2. Create a focus group
Email marketing is an uphill battle if open rates are low, meaning you can’t entice your subscribers to open your emails in your very first place. A moderated audience of your customers can give you insight above and beyond standard email metrics.
3. A/B test subject lines
If open rates are low, start A/B testing your email subject lines and make sure you are adhering to best practices. For example, keep them short and simple. Studies confirm that, “Most people quickly scan subject lines to decide if they’ll open or ignore the email, so don’t expect subscribers to dig through your subject line to figure out if they’re interested. Keep your subject line to 50 characters or fewer.”
You can also add a bit of personalization. Add the “recipient’s first or last name to improve open rates. MailChimp research suggests including a city name is even better.”
4. Add video
Emails with videos are known to improve click through rates. Videos are educational, entertaining, and one of the best alternatives to written content. Vidyard recommends a quick and easy option that takes very little tech savviness.
“Within your email, include an image from your video and put a play button over top of it to mimic the look of a typical video player: Here you’re adding a visual indication that a video is part of your email with the play button. When readers are prompted with this play button, they’ll click the image and be directed to a landing page – or a branded video sharing page – with your video embedded. Using a compelling image to link readers to your video content within email works really well to increase click through rates.”
5. Extend email reach
Do you have an active social media presence? If so, then make your newsletter available to your social media fans. If you’re sharing your newsletter on other platforms, don’t forget to add an “Add Me to Mailing List” call to action so social fans can easily opt-in to receive updates.
6. Incorporate storytelling into email content
The best brands are great storytellers. You can easily integrate relevant and compelling storytelling to your email content by sharing a behind the scenes look at activities that will interest your audience. For example, if you own an antique store, sharing pictures highlights from a recent buying trip would be a great start.
Also, consider highlighting conversations you have had with employees and customers to use in a podcast, available only to email subscribers.
This article has been edited and condensed.
These business tips are shared on behalf of Ampliz, a contact data hygiene platform that helps companies append data, email list cleaning and verification.
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