Email Marketing Best Practices: Tips, Tricks, and Tools To Try
Email marketing best practices are the cornerstone of any successful marketing campaign. While it may not seem as flashy as traditional ads or even social media ads, emails offer direct access to potential customers that isn’t controlled by fluctuating algorithms. Compared to other marketing strategies, Adobe for Business also cites it as “cost-effective,” a way to engage with potential clients that is a mere fraction of the cost of other forms of marketing.
In this blog, we discuss email marketing basics, email marketing tools that are worth trying, and how The Write Direction can help you create email campaigns that are worth reading!
Email Marketing Best Practices
So, what exactly are email marketing best practices? According to the American Marketing Association, it’s an effective way to acquire customers by leveraging the oldest and biggest digital communication channels, which are emails.
Some email marketing basics to consider are that this type of marketing strategy is “permission-based” in the context of building your audience list. It also requires you to craft compelling content in order to retain readership, and the messaging should resonate with your readers. The AMA emphasized that emails can serve several purposes, like promotion and education, which most companies or brands leverage by sharing information about their latest products, sharing discounts, and highlighting their unique value propositions. There are a variety of email campaigns businesses can launch, like welcome emails, promo offers, newsletters, and abandoned cart reminders.
If you’re looking to implement this marketing strategy, here are some of the email marketing best practices shared by the AMA:
- Direct Access To Potential Customers
The great thing about having an email campaign for your business is that it’s a direct way to access your target audience. Your email lands directly in their inboxes, and it ensures your message reaches its intended readers. - Greater Control
Unlike other marketing strategies, using emails in your marketing strategy isn’t subject to changing algorithms, thus providing brands more control over their communication, both in messaging and channel. - Enhanced Personalization
Most ads that are published through more traditional marketing strategies are meant to attract a wider audience, given that you can’t exactly pinpoint who will get to see i,t but the opposite is true for emails. It’s a way to personalize a marketing campaign that can increase a business’s revenue by up to 760%. - Measurable Results
There are tools available that help track how well email campaigns are through click-through rates and conversions. By using these valuable datasets, businesses can further analyze and optimize their campaigns for better results and engagement. - Cost Effectiveness and Higher Return On Investment
Email campaigns can offer impressive ROIs to businesses that learn how to leverage them while being extremely cost-effective, as well as compared to other forms of marketing.
Email Marketing Tools
One of the email marketing best practices is leveraging email marketing software because of its ability to provide important metrics. To further prove the cost-effectiveness of email campaigns for marketing, here are some free marketing tools that have been recommended by Zapier.
- Brevo (formerly known as Sendinblue)
If you’re looking to make transactional emails and conduct SMS marketing, this platform is worth a try. It offers a comprehensive suite of tools that are designed for businesses that need multi-channel communications. - MailerLite
MailerLite might be best for those just beginning their email campaign marketing efforts because of its user-friendly interface. It provides an automation feature, and editing is made easy with its drag-and-drop option. A true accessible option for those just starting out. - Sender
Sender is best for brands that conduct their business through e-commerce platforms since it’s optimized for newsletter creation and sending promotional emails. It’ll even provide advanced analytics for potential adjustments. - Loops
Loops is a platform that was designed to be simple and focus on automation, making it perfect for startups. Loops help new businesses streamline their email campaigns. - EmailOctopusFor an option that offers affordability and scalability, EmailOctopus is a viable option that was built on Amazon SES, another suitable option that is best for growing businesses.
- Kit (formerly known as ConvertKit)Kit is a platform that was designed for content creators and bloggers, as it emphasizes automation and audience segmentation to enhance engagement.
- OmnisendAnother option specifically for e-commerce, Omnisend can integrate email, SMS, and push notifications, which is a holistic marketing approach.
- AudiencefulAudienceful is a newer platform that also focuses on simplicity and speed and caters mostly to startup businesses or small teams.
How To Write A Marketing Email
An effective marketing email boils down to both art and relying on data. There’s a winning recipe for writing one that will drive conversions by retaining readers, and here’s how to do email marketing and email marketing best practices you can try based on an insightful article by SiteGround!
- Be Clear With Your Intentions
A good email campaign is intentional and sent with a purpose. Be clear with your goals, whether you are promoting a product, sharing new content, or announcing promotions. When you are clear with your intentions, you can refine the message and give your readers actionable next steps. - Start With A Compelling Subject Line
The email subject line is the first thing your readers will see, and it can mean the difference between them marking it as spam or opening it, so make it count! It should be concise but relevant and equally intriguing enough that it prompts them to see the rest of the email’s content. Don’t mislead your readers with clickbait either, rather, you should accurately reflect the content of the email in the title so you can start building that relationship with trust. - Tailor Your Content To Your Audience
Yes, email templates are available online and best practices you can be inspired by, but make your campaigns personal! No, we don’t just mean inserting every recipient’s name. What matters is tailoring the message of your email to the readers’ preferences. You can leverage past customer data to do this, whether it’s past online interactions or purchase histories. By tailoring your content for your intended audience, the chances of them engaging become exponentially higher. - Keep The Messaging Fun, Focused, and Concise
Your audience most likely gets a bunch of other emails, whether their personal or other campaigns for other brands. If they do open your campaign, make that time count by keeping your message clear with a logical structure. You should make it fun, easy-to-read, and most of all, clear so that your readers are more likely to agree with your messaging. - Don’t Underestimate The Power of CTA
Don’t just give information overload to your readers, give them actionable next steps through powerful call-to-actions! This is in line with our first tip of having clear goals, whether you want the readers to visit your website, purchase your product, or sign up for promos, make that known with a powerful CTA. Let the CTA stand out and make sure it’s strategically placed. It also helps to add direct links to make the desired action easier for your readers. - Optimize Email Campaigns For All Devices
Readability is crucial for email marketing campaigns to be successful and not just in their messaging but in the way they’re optimized for the devices your readers use. Whether they’re using their mobile devices or computers, make sure you also take into consideration responsive design. Your readers are more likely to stay when the email is designed to fit their screens for a more seamless experience. - Continue Testing And ImprovingWith the help of email marketing tools, you can analyze your campaigns’ metrics through various factors like click-through rates and conversions. To make the best out of email marketing, continue experimenting through A/B testing and regularly switch up subject lines, content, and layouts to find out what works best and resonates the most with your audience.
How To Create An Email Newsletter
Some of the tips we share for writing a marketing email are carried over in this section on how to create an email newsletter. Email newsletter marketing is a way for brands to provide updates, news, and valuable content either about the company or their industry. This is how companies stay connected with their readers. It’s a great way to build relationships while simultaneously promoting their products or services in a more personalized and non-advertisement way.
To create a newsletter that is engaging, well-crafted, and follows email marketing best practices, here are some of these insights from Mailchimp that you can apply to your future email campaigns.
- Have A Clear Strategy
Similar to step one of how to create a marketing email, you’ve got to have a strategy for your newsletters. Your goals could either be to drive website traffic, promote your products and services, share content, or all of the above! Defining your newsletter’s goal will help when you’re creating content. - Build And Segment Your Audience
You’d be surprised how many people will want to sign up for your audience list once you create a contact form! Make sure you leverage this by creating different audience segments based on their demographics and behavior to create more personalized emails and to make the most of this communication channel. - Create A Cohesive Design
Your newsletters should accurately reflect your brand identity! From your logo to your unique color scheme, make sure the design reflects who you are as a brand or company. Not only that, a cohesive design is more likely to retain readers as it’s meant to be easy to navigate and read through. - Create Valuable Content
More than intriguing titles and colorful designs, what will truly retain readership is valuable content. While it’s important to share updates on your business as well as exclusive deals and updates, make sure to add value to the message you share with your audience that is hard to find anywhere else. - Optimize For Deliverability and Engagement
Depending on the audience segments you build, the time you send your newsletter is also very crucial, as certain times within a day will make their responsiveness to the email vary. Make the most of the metrics and data you gather from past campaigns, and always be willing to adjust your strategy.
For professional help, you can also choose to get assistance from The Write Direction with newsletter writing services!
The Write Direction’s Email Marketing Services
At The Write Direction, we understand how saturated the digital landscape is and what it takes to make a successful marketing campaign. In order to stand out, you need to have a variety of factors like a compelling narrative, strategic content, and so much more. With The Write Direction’s Marketing and Content Strategy Subscription Service, you get comprehensive solutions that are designed to elevate your brand awareness and ensure your voice, messaging, and content reach its intended audience.
What To Expect From The Write Direction’s Marketing and Content Strategy Subscription
The Write Direction’s goal is to be a dedicated partner for businesses that need assistance with creating content and impactful marketing materials. We excel most at writing engaging and persuasive content that is meant to capture and foster brand loyalty. Whether you need website copy, blog posts, social media content, or email marketing content, The Write Direction is the way to go!
- Strategic Content Placement
When you subscribe to The Write Direction’s service, you can expect us to apply our deep understanding of content placement. Understanding where and when to share content is half the work to achieve visibility. The Write Direction can create a strategy that aligns with your unique marketing goals and take care of creating impactful content. - Brand Voice Development
Consistency is important for brand communication. With The Write Direction’s team’s combined experience of 20 years, they are well-versed in refining and maintaining brand voice and identity across various marketing materials. The Write Direction ensures the content is not only coherent by recognizable by strengthening brand identity. - SEO Optimization
The Write Direction’s subscription service also prioritizes SEO optimization to enhance the reach and visibility of the content. By integrating SEO best practices, you can expect content to rank well in search engines and drive more website traffic.
It’s one thing to apply email marketing best practices, but subscribing to The Write Direction’s marketing and content strategy service, you can almost ensure business success through delivering consistent and high-quality marketing emails to engage your audience and drive results!
