14 Tips for Email Marketing

14 Tips for Email Marketing to work like a pro.

For years, the rumor has persisted that email marketing no longer works in times of new forms of communication such as social media or Whatsapp. But even in 2021, reality shows otherwise. Email marketing is still one of the best ways to reach your target audience and build a personal relationship. It is cost-effective and success is easily measurable.

Nevertheless, everyone knows newsletters that are immediately deleted or unsubscribed because they only contain advertising and no useful information. Therefore, when it comes to email marketing, it is important to consider some points in order not to end up in the trash.

Again, as always with inbound marketing, the main focus should be on useful content and not on your own company or products. We have compiled some helpful email marketing tips for you, which should be considered when sending out emails:

14 Tips for Email Marketing Like a Pro

1. The Right Email Distribution List

Before launching an email newsletter or campaign, it is important to put together the right distribution list. Here it is important to obtain the consent of the people to whom the emails are to be sent. The General Data Protection Regulation, which was introduced in May 2018, has made everything much stricter. You need to make sure that you have consent to send to your mailing list the newsletter. Furthermore, you risk ending up in the spam folder or having a high “unsubscribe” rate.

To collect new contacts, you can include a newsletter form on your website, for example in the footer or with a pop-up. Such a form can also be added at the end of each blog post using Call To Action. To achieve the highest possible reach, the newsletter can also be promoted using social media to draw the attention of people who are interested in a particular topic. However, personal contacts can also be added to the mailing list if you have their consent beforehand.

2. Different Email Content for Different Buyer Personas

Most companies have more than one target group (Buyer Persona). Accordingly, the individual Buyer Personas also have different interests. Therefore, it is important to cater to this and adapt the content of the emails to the respective target group. For this purpose, it is necessary to create different distribution lists in order to align the mailings as well as possible with the interest of the recipients. If the newsletter does not offer interesting content for the reader, there is a high probability that it will not be opened at all the next time or will be unsubscribed immediately.

With marketing automation software such as Constant contact, content can be adapted to the target groups using smart content. This involves writing the text differently for each recipient list and adapting it to their interests. This way, everyone receives the content they are truly interested in.

3. A Captivating Subject Line that Arouses Curiosity

Even if someone has signed up for your newsletter, that doesn’t mean they will open and read it. This is where the subject line plays a big role. It must make the reader curious about the content, so that he definitely wants to read the email. The title must therefore be interesting for your target group and arouse their curiosity, otherwise the email will immediately go into the trash.

Try different titles with few email copies to find out which one appeals most to your target audience. Brainstorm with your colleagues and be creative. Keep in mind that you are making a promise with the subject line that you need to deliver on with the content.

You can also test different subject lines for the same newsletter to see which type resonates best with your target audience. Again, with modern email programs, it is possible to insert a so-called “Smart Subject Line”, which is aimed at the respective target group. The success can then be easily measured by the open rate.

4. Personalized Sender

Do you prefer to open emails from a specific person or from a general office address? I think the answer is quite clear here. Therefore, specify the address of a real person as the sender and not the office address of your company. This is much more personal and increases the chances that your email will be opened. If there are questions or more detailed information is desired, the recipient knows immediately who to contact. He thus has a real contact person whom he can contact and through whom a relationship can be built.

5. Personal Address

If you have the name of your email contact, address them personally. Avoid salutations like “Dear Sir or Madam”, this is very impersonal and looks like a big mailing that is not tailored to the individual.

Therefore, the reader does not feel addressed and the probability that he will not even open the email the next time, or even unsubscribe is very high.

Often it is very easy to research the name based on the email address. Take your time, then the chance that your email is actually read increases.

If you make a mistake in addressing someone personally (it has been said that a lady was addressed as Mr.), it is best to apologize as soon as the mistake is noticed. In the case of many contacts, it can happen that the form of address is inadvertently exchanged.

6. Useful and Appealing Content

Once you have cleared the first hurdle and your newsletter has been opened, the next step is to provide readers with useful content. Refrain from long novels and self-promotion and directly address the problems and interests of the target audience.

Think about what your target group is interested in and how you can help them with your newsletter or mailing. The content should consist of 90% useful and helpful information and only 10% promotion for your own company. A short personal introduction usually goes over well, too. Tell a few anecdotes from your company or what has been new. The human aspect should not be lost.

Keep the content as simple as possible. The newsletter should only give a taste of your content. Try not to overwhelm your subscribers with information, but let them decide for themselves what content they want to read. Include links to other websites and links to blog posts to include more useful content. Your readers should be intrigued by the email and encouraged to click.

An example of a content structure can be:

● short personal introduction
● 1-2 helpful contents tailored to your target groups (download, video etc.)
● Teaser of 3 blog posts

7. Simple and Clear Design

Use images to support the text and make the email more visually appealing. Refrain from long paragraphs and use bullet points instead to make the text easier to read. Most people don’t have a lot of time to read newsletters, they just skim them. Therefore, the text should be structured as well as possible.

The design should be as simple as possible so that the newsletter does not look cluttered. Include enough white space to visually support the outline. This also makes it easier to read for smartphone users.

8. Call-to-action

Offer your readers another step in your email outreach. Do you have an interesting ebook or are you offering a seminar soon that might be of interest to your target audience? Include this in your newsletter using a Call To Action to solidify connections with your contact.

You can make the CTA appealing, e.g.: with an image, this way you increase the click-through rate. Use words that emphasize urgency and prompt action, such as “download now”.

Focus on one CTA in your mail, for an offer that seems most important to you at the moment. Too many offers can quickly become overwhelming.

9. The Timing Matters

There are a few basic rules regarding when to send out emails. For example, newsletters should not be sent out on weekends, or after 17:00, as few people work at these times. Monday and Friday are also not good days, as there is usually a lot to do on Monday and many go home early on Friday.

However, every company has different target groups. Therefore, it is not possible to define a “right time”. The easiest way to determine when the right time is for your business is to test, test and test again. This is the only way to find out when your newsletter has the highest open or click-through rate.

10. Optimize for Smartphones

Nowadays, many people only read their emails on their smartphones. Therefore, it is especially important to optimize your newsletter for it. Make sure your email displays correctly on smartphones and is easy to read. Links should not be placed too close together to avoid wrong clicks on the small display. Make sure photos are good quality and the right size. Often photos are displayed distorted and this can look unprofessional very quickly.

11. Test, test, test

There is nothing more annoying than sending a mail to a large number of people and only realizing after the button has been pressed that there are errors in it. That’s why the newsletter can’t be tested often enough before it’s sent out. Have your colleagues check the content for spelling errors and send test mails to different mail addresses.

We also like to use spelling tools to make sure that there are no mistakes. Often small things can be overlooked. This is the only way to avoid mistakes and you can be sure that the newsletter is displayed correctly. Here it is especially important to test the email on smartphones and tablets.

12. Possibility to Unsubscribe

Even though no one wants a contact to unsubscribe from their newsletter, it is still necessary to offer the possibility to do so. This should be made as easy as possible for your contact without having to search for it for a long time. However, if you follow all the tips, then the unsubscribe rate should be as low as possible.

13. Use an Email Marketing Tool

Even if your email list is still small and you are just starting with email marketing, you should already use a tool for it. It will allow you to automate and analyze your processes and save you a lot of time. There are numerous free as well as paid email marketing tools on the market. It always depends on your strategy which one you choose.

Take some time at the beginning to find out which one suits you best. The tools offer different options for personalization, automation and subsequent analysis.

14. Analyze Your Emails Regularly

To determine if the tips are working for you, the key is to analyze them at the end of each newsletter or other email sendout. With the help of an email marketing tool, you can take a closer look at the open and click-through rates of your emails. This is the only way to optimize your email strategy. If your open rate is too low, think again if maybe the wrong subject was chosen? If your click-through rate is dropping, reconsider the content and the offers in it. Only through ongoing analysis can you improve.

Tips for Email Marketing: Conclusion

Email is still an integral part of any marketing strategy. Even though it has been declared dead so many times. Through professional email marketing tools, you can accurately measure and analyze the success of your campaigns and thus continuously optimize your strategy. Start your next mailing with these 14 email marketing tips and see for yourself if you can improve as a result.