Do you know how to use the latest email marketing best practices to improve response rates? Here are some new ones, as well as time-tested practices you should continue to use.
Mobile-friendly emails
Develop an email format that's mobile-friendly, as more and more of us use tablets and smart phones to keep up with email.
As technology evolves, so must email marketing. With many consumers and prospects using tablets and smart phones as primary devices, creating and sending appealing emails that are easy to read and interact with on mobile systems is critical.
But while this is a fairly new development, there are other, fundamental practices that still hold true today, and these are the ones you want to keep.
Use the double opt-in
It's great, because people who do it really want emails from you. But be aware, if you don't emphasize that after the first signup, there's another confirmation coming, recipients may miss this. Let them know to check their spam or junk mail folder to confirm. The double opt-in method is good if you have competitors who would love to hear anything negative about you, including "spam" email tactics!
Use the single opt-in
This is much easier, just one click, but it's very easy to abuse. I can use your email and sign you up for all kinds of crap. You may be better off using double opt-in to reduce the number of spam complaints that could be filed against you.
Include more images than text
Those who receive emails for marketing purposes prefer more images vs. text, but you need a balance. Is a picture really worth a thousand words? Only if you back it up with text emphasizing benefits, features and a call to action (CTA).
4 More Email Marketing Best Practices
Discover the best time
Discover the best time of day/day of week to send your email campaign out - it's going to take some A/B testing, so put forth the effort and see what the sweet spot is for your email campaigns. Segment your list to go out at different times, different days. What's the open rate like for each?
Balance promotions with content
Aspire to sell less and communicate more. Freely give away valuable, useful information, but don't forget to include the CTA to your landing page, or the most important service/product page. Make sure it relates to the content in the email.
Test
Test your email campaign before sending them - Nothing will make a mockery of your efforts and hit home how much time and energy was wasted if you send the email out to your list without having first tested it. It must be perfect when you send it, because the first impression is the one that stays in your prospect's mind.
Personalize your email campaign
Not just with the name; that's pretty standard. Technology is such that you can get personalization when recipients open your email, feature live social media streams, live offers, updated weather and geo-targeting.
There's more than just these tips for implementing email marketing best practices. Are your campaigns stuck? What was the most recent open rate like? Call MRM at 571-606-3106, and let's talk about how to make some improvements and test them out. Learn more about our other services here.