Email marketing remains one of the most effective marketing strategies. A Wordstream study found that email campaigns produced a 4.29% conversion rate, which is higher than the average conversion rates of social media, paid search, and direct marketing campaigns. Hubspot also reports that marketers gain an impressive $38 for every $1 spent on emailing customers.

Email marketing also helps to create a stronger connection with customers, thereby increasing customer engagement and loyalty.

However, the first step in a successful email marketing campaign is getting the recipients to open them. That is why the open rate is one of the most meaningful metrics measured for any email marketing campaign. Research suggests that a 16% or higher open rate is optimum for most businesses. However, reaching that 16% or higher is not always easy. The following suggestions can help.

Read on for ten tips that can help improve your company’s email marketing engagement.

1. Hook with a catchy subject line and add value

The first thing a user sees of any email is the subject line. That is why it’s imperative to have a catchy subject line that immediately hooks the reader and captures their attention. A few tips for executing a catchy subject line are to ensure it offers value to the reader, two, make it personable and friendly, and most importantly, ensure that it’s clear and concise.

2. Remember the 70/30 ratio and keep things simple

Don’t overcomplicate your emails because you may lose the reader’s interest. The 70/30 ratio states that an ideal marketing email should be 70% helpful content and 30% promotional content.

Focus on how your offer adds value to the reader’s life. Why should they care about it, and why should they desire it?

• This value must be communicated as clearly and concisely as possible.
• Do not overwhelm the reader with fancy graphics and images that take forever to load, which may only frustrate them.
• Ensure the text is clean, which includes breaking up paragraphs, using bullet points or numbering, as well as bolded headlines.

3. Be mindful of events and tell a story

Ensure the timeliness of your emails and the likelihood of a positive response by being mindful of current events. Having a detailed content schedule will help. It will inform you of relevant holidays to keep in mind, brand or industry-specific dates, etc. It will also help you to personalize the email, and tell a compelling story that will keep the reader hooked till the end.

4. Segment customers and craft emails accordingly

Most companies have multiple target audiences. And even companies with one target audience can still have variants or niches within that one audience. Therefore, it would be counterproductive to send one standard email to all your customers. As a result, companies must segment customers by whatever criteria is most crucial to their success and craft emails that are likely to resonate with each specific segment.

5. Never use @noreply email addresses

It is counterproductive because what you try to do is build a relationship. @noreply from address can often make your messages come across as impersonal. It can also makes the recipient feeling as the email is auto-generated and created by a bot, even if there may be some personalized touches, such as addressing the email to the receiver by their first name.

6. Optimize emails for mobile

Litmus reports that 43.5% of emails get read on mobile devices, with Apple’s iPhone leading the charge. That means optimizing your business emails for mobile is an absolute must.

A few tips for optimizing emails for mobile include:
* Keeping the subject lines short.
* Using pre-header text, as well as a 12 point font.
* Ensure the most relevant information is near the top of the email for those recipients who may not want to scroll down further.

And finally, viewing your emails on different screens (cellphone, tablet) before submitting them is an excellent way to ensure that they are viewed correctly no matter what device the recipient is using.

7. Keep email list updated

People change their email addresses all the time for a variety of reasons – new job title, company, etc. As a result, companies must regularly review and update their email list to ensure they are not still sending emails to addresses that are no longer valid. Too many email bounces can result in the email software tool you use flagging your company address as spam.

The following are a few actions to ensure your email list is up to date:
* Remove unsubscribed email addresses
* Remove email addresses where emails have previously bounced
* Remove individuals who have not opened or engaged with your emails in over a year
* Do not use lists that you haven’t communicated with, in over a year.

It’s also crucial to avoid emailing individuals who did not opt-in for accepting your emails. That is especially important to avoid the potential of violating any CASL and GDPR rules and regulations.

8. Make It Easy to Unsubscribe

Interested customers can sometimes lose interest in accepting emails from your company for several reasons. Making it easy for them to unsubscribe can benefit you in the long run. Because some of these customers may return in the future and they will be more receptive to opting in again, with the knowledge that the option to leave at any time is a simple process. Overcomplicating the unsubscribing process can turn a customer who had only lost some interest into one who will make a spam complaint and will never return.

9. Use Clear Call to Action (CTA)

You should never assume your email recipient will know what action you want them to take. Whether it is clicking to learn more about a product offer, opting in to receive a promotion, or downloading a free eBook, etc. It’s essential that you clearly outline your call to action in the email. A few rules to remember are to keep it clear and precise but still catchy and memorable.

10. Get Prospects to Email You

A subtle and clever way to get into potential customers’ inboxes and therefore reduce the likelihood of your email going to their spam folder is to offer the recipient an option to reply to your email. A simple way to achieve this is by asking a question. For example, what is their most significant pain point that you can help resolve, what questions do they have about your product or brand, etc.? If they reply, it will ensure that your email address will automatically be added to their contacts.

The above ten tips only scratch the surface of email marketing. However, they are excellent and highly effective tips, which means just starting with them can help ensure you get more engagement out of your organisation’s marketing emails.

You have your own tricks to stimulate engagement? Send us an email so we can share them in a further post!

‍