Not knowing how email marketing works is a real challenge, but we believe it's an even bigger curse if you understand it just fine but don't know what to put into your emails. Pulling off proper email marketing is an art — one that definitely requires some skill and practice to master.
Imagine spending all that time and effort trying to put together a list of subscribers interested in your emails. They seem more than eager to receive regular emails and know more, but at the last moment everything falls apart because of poor email marketing practices.
We don't want that to happen to anyone if we can help it, which is why we put together a list of email marketing dos and don'ts for email marketers new and old.
In this section, we'll talk about some of the things we recommend people try to do in their email marketing campaign.
When writing emails for subscribers, we find it best to envision what our ideal customer or target audience is like. Knowing who the email is going to can help writers tailor content to the reader's needs and requirements.
While trying to reach an audience consisting mainly of middle aged women, it might not be a good idea to add the latest slang into the body of the email, but meme references and light jokes are a great way to connect with a younger audience.
Before hitting that "send" button, it's important to consider what purpose the emails serve. The reason email marketing is so popular is because of how many things it can help marketers do, including but not limited to:
It's not wise to send the same email to all subscribers on an email list. A more useful technique would be to divide receivers into groups and decide who gets what email according to what seems best.
For example, an email marketing a particular product shouldn't be sent to customers who have already purchased that product. In the same way, not all of the subscribers in a particular email list have the same needs or even the same engagement.
An attention grabbing subject line is an email marketing must-have. People will open an email only if the subject seems interesting or of use to them, and giving them a reason to read what the email says is half the work email marketers need to do.
A good email subject line has the following qualities.
An email must have a short, to-the-point main body that doesn't beat around the bush too much. Making an email too long causes readers to lose interest, not only in that particular email but also in the product of service being marketed to them.
Keep the email short and concise, but at the same time we recommend not making it sound too abrupt or impersonal either. Every email should have the right balance between a warm, personalized introduction, the main body, and a final call to action to get the most out of it.
Now that we've covered most email marketing best practices, it's time to talk about things you absolutely shouldn't do.
In a bid to limit data usage, many mobile phone users disable images on their phone, and it's no secret that most people now-a-days use their phones to check their emails, view websites and much more.
If the message of your email relies heavily on images and other media content, it won't be very effective. Including one or two images is fine, but avoid adding too much clutter.
A good marketing email must-have is the finally call to action. Without that, your email marketing campaign will fall flat no matter how good it is.
By including a call to action at the end of an email, marketers make it easier for readers to reach their business, make inquiries, and increase their overall engagement. Without a final call to action, email readers will most likely be left unsure about how to proceed, and simply see it as too much effort to open a web browser and actively seek your service out themselves.
We believe that a good marketing strategy is one that makes it easier for future customers to find your products and services.
These were the most important dos and don'ts of writing an email in our eyes, but writing the right kind of marketing emails that give bloggers and organizations the results they want takes time, practice, and some degree of trial and error.