When it comes to start up marketing, many business owners focus solely on social media marketing. They assume that email marketing is outdated and futile, but in reality this is far from the truth. Email marketing is actually still one of the most effective ways to advertise your brand; if you do it right, you will grow your audience and develop a strong base of loyal customers.
So if you don’t have an email marketing strategy for your business, you may want to consider setting one up – and even if you already have one, there could be room for improvement!
Here are five simple ways you can improve your email marketing strategy.
1. Create Segmented Email Lists
Most businesses have a wide range of customers, so it can be beneficial to create segmented email lists. This means customers will only receive emails that interest them specifically; for instance, one time buyers may only be interested in receiving discounts and coupons, while long term customers may also want to receive news and updates about the business.
This will improve your overall sales and engagement, but that isn’t all; segmented lists will also boost your open rate and click-through rate, so your emails are less likely to be marked as spam.
2. Use A Mobile Friendly Design
It is also important to use a mobile friendly design. Around 40% of internet users nowadays are mobile, so if those users can’t view your emails you will lose a significant chunk of your audience. We suggest using a single column design that looks good when users scroll vertically, and avoid using giant images that could ruin the flow of the email.
Once you’ve designed your email, send a copy to yourself and open it using your mobile. This means you can ensure it looks great before sending it out to potential customers.
3. Use A Great Subject Line
We all know that first impressions are important – and this is especially true when it comes to email marketing! So try to use eye-catching subject lines that will intrigue your customers. We suggest keeping it short; research has found that people are more likely to open an email that has a subject line with less than 50 characters. It can also be useful to create a sense of urgency without being pushy – for instance, you could include an offer that expires within 24 hours.
4. Be A Real Person
It can also be useful to send the email from a real account, rather than a ‘noreply’ such as dontreply@sparemytime.com. This is because ‘noreply’ email addresses often seem inauthentic and pushy, and they also make it very difficult for customers to engage with your business. For instance, the customer may have a question about the discount code you are offering – but if they can’t actually contact you to ask, they will probably just ignore the email.
So avoid a ‘noreply’ email address, and instead send your emails from your own address or a customer service team. This will seem more genuine, and if users have queries you can actually answer them!
5. Test Different Designs
Finally it can be useful to test different designs to see which are more effective. Lots of people choose an email layout and then use it for months or even years, but if you actually want to improve engagement it can be useful to switch it up and try new designs. For instance, you could try a more modern, sleek design, or maybe you could tailor your emails to your audience; for example, if you have an older audience, you may want to increase the font size to boost readability.
