As a marketer, business owner, or copywriter, you understand the importance of an email marketing campaign.
Unlike social media, where you are beholden to an ever-changing algorithm on a platform you have zero control over, you own your client’s inbox. Those in your email list want what you are offering, you just need to guide them along to their ultimate decision.
So, how do you do that? How do you craft an effective email marketing campaign where you provide value to your audience and convince them to choose your product or service?
Here are 12 tips to help you do just that:
1. Personalize
Nobody wants a generic message sent to their inbox that makes them feel like just a number. If you have the first name of the person you’re writing to, use it! Always intro with some variation of “Hi {first.name},” and use their name in most locations you’d normally write “you.” Don’t overdo it though! Use their name strategically throughout the email.
If you are writing to a member of a business and you have that information, drop the company name where you’d normally write “your organization” at least once.
But at the very least, if you don’t have those details, use “you.” Your audience is interested in how your service helps them, so make sure you are talking to them at all times.
2. Define Your Audience and Write Directly to Them (Not Caring About Who Your Message isn’t For)
You’ve heard the saying “if you try to please everyone, you please no one.” That is exactly what you should keep in mind as you define your audience. Learn exactly the customer archetype you are targeting, know their common pain points and speak directly to them. Anyone who doesn’t resonate with the message wasn’t a part of your target audience anyway.
3. Clear & Simple Calls to Action
Calls to action (CTA) don’t need to be these extravagant phrases or techniques to get your audience to click through. Instead, keep them simple! Tell the reader EXACTLY what to do, being specific about the action and the content.
4. Keep Subject Lines Short & On Point
Your subject lines are arguably the most important part of your emails, as they make or break whether the message is even opened and read. A good rule of thumb is to keep SL’s under 60 characters, or about 6-10 words. This is the sweet spot. Front load key words so every letter is used efficiently.
Great go-to formulas to use include:
- How to…
- Asking a question (avoid yes/no questions unless you have a strong understanding of your audience and their pain points)
- Make a clear promise about what the reader is going to get by opening the email (and follow through!)
- What everyone needs to know about [topic]
5. Split Test Emails
If you have the tools to test out different emails at the same time, do it! This is a great way to try out a pair of emails and subject lines you couldn’t decide between. See which one performed better and use the results to better optimize your emails to your specific audience.
6. Analyze and Refine to Your Specific Audience
On a similar note, don’t just keep sending the same type of emails over and over again without looking at what is working and what isn’t. There’s no secret formula to email marketing success for your specific audience. Everyone’s email list and audience pain points are different. Once you’ve gathered enough data on what topics resonate the most, which writing styles worked the best, use this information to learn what your readers are looking for. No campaign will ever be perfect, but this is how you steadily improve.
7. Timing is Everything
When you hit send on your emails is important. A common saying is that Friday is the worst and Tuesday is the best for email open rates and click-through rates. As for time of day, late morning, early afternoon and during “prime time” are usually the best times (10 am, 1 pm and 8 pm). However, this also depends on your specific audience, different time zones, and the type of campaign you’re sending. The best you can do is experiment which timing works for your audience.
8. Use A Consistent Sender Name & Email Address
Your audience wants a consistent voice to receive messages from. Ensure that your emails are coming from the same “person” and email address at least for the entirety of a campaign.
9. Text is Best
Most readers respond better to a simple text-based email. You don’t need a super elegant design and you’d be better off keeping things basic. Keep this in mind if you’re stressing how your email should “look” and instead focus on your message.
10. Balance Sales Emails With Content Emails
You need to build a rapport with your audience and establish trust and authority. One of the best ways to do this is to give your readers valuable content for free. That way, when you launch a sales campaign, you’ve already given something to your audience, making them more willing to buy your product. Think of content marketing emails as deposits in your email bank account and sales campaigns as withdrawals. You need to have money in the bank before you can take any out.
Content marketing is also how you continually nurture your list. You don’t want to neglect your readers and then suddenly launch a sales campaign asking for money.
11. Format for Mobile!
Everyone is on mobile – which means your emails need to be formatted correctly. There’s no excuses for this and could lead to a poor customer experience if you don’t execute this right.
12. Use AI Tools Like ChatGPT or Jasper AI
AI tools are picking up steam even though some of these have been around for a few years now. When it comes to email marketing specifically, the best ways to use these tools that I’ve noticed is for:
- Email campaign outlines: What the theme and general messaging will be for Email 1 through Email 6
- Subject line assistance: These tools are hit or miss on coming up with better subject lines than you or I, so don’t rely on them 100% for this
- “Getting the ball rolling:” I’ve found these AI tools work great for breaking writer’s block and providing a foundation to start writing from. Gone are the days staring out the window for an hour before your first word hits the page (well… maybe not completely gone)
- Proofreading: Tools like Grammarly or another human editor still do this better in my opinion, but you can still use it effectively
- Research: To a degree, however, you’ll want to fact check what an AI tool tells you. They get things wrong and doing research yourself is still the smartest way to go about it