An Overview of Email Marketing and The Best Practices
Introduction
In this blog I am going to give some insight into email marketing, the best way to use it, what to avoid and why is has become so essential. Email marketing first started being used in 1978 with the first ever email being sent in 1971 by a man named Gary Thuerk. Over the past 40+ years it has become an incredibly popular and highly efficient method of marketing due to it being fast, cost effective and having a high engagement rate. ‘In 2022, 4.03 billion people around the world use email.’ (Kinsta, 2022). It had definitely become an essential part of how we promote our businesses and share information.
Best Practices
Mastering Email Marketing and Establishing Your Goals
When determining an email campaign there are some very crucial tasks that need to set up from the get go. It is critical that time is spent defining your overall goals, your target audience, taking time to build your subscribers list and, clearing out subscribers that do not engage well with the content. ‘Having users opt in means they want to hear from you.’ (HubSpot Marketing, 2021) As highlighted in HubSpot’sYoutube guide, if your audience does not engage or open your content then the more likely the email providers will define these emails as being spam which will reduce your overall open rate. Another point they touch on is around segmentation and behavioural segmentation which are both about separating your audience members/buyers into different groups when it comes to targeting specific content.
How to Master Email Marketing in 2021 (Guide)
Tracking and monitoring email metrics and tracking how the content is engaged with means that you then understand ow effective your campaigns and emails are and if you are reaching the goals you have set out to do. As Campaign Monitor highlights:
‘Before you delve too deep into learning everything there is to know about email marketing, take a step back, determine what your goals are for email marketing, and then decide how you will measure your success.’ (Campaign Monitor, 2021)
Use a Strong and Clear Call to Action
Having a strong and clear CTA in every email you send out to your audience means that everything you are sending has a purpose and will help to reach your audience needs. Unlayer, has a brilliant guide that highlights the significance everything needs to for demonstrating a smart and consistent call-to-action.
Call To Action in Emails: The only Guide You’ll Ever Need
‘According to Unbounce, 90% of people (Unbounce, 2020) who read your email’sheadlines also read the call to action. From the header to the footer, the entire emailmust play its part in convincing the reader to convert — only then will your CTAs work.’(Unlayer, 2021)
Brilliant Design and Content
One of the most important elements and best practice of email marketing is holding the viewers attention and ensuring that they engage well with the content. As Jack, from Designmodo explains in fig 1, custom designs and ready made templates can really grab your audiences attention. It is also a great point to remember that less is more and that emails are not to text heavy. Adding interactive elements can really improve the message you are trying to convey with your newsletters, mail out blasts and other emails.
Email Design: How to Create Newsletters for Best Marketing Results (2020)
Mistakes to Avoid
After describing what it takes to produce effective marketing emails, it is clear that without clear goals, a call-to-action and well-designed content that anyone viewing it may find your emails uninteresting. As Optinmonster describes:
‘You’re trying to make it as easy as possible for your reader to go straight from the email to your website or product. Repeating the call to action multiple times allows your reader more opportunities to notice and interact with it.’ (Optinmonster 2020)
Another very important element to consider is that the subject line is the deciding factor of whether your audience member will even open the email in the first place so this needs to be considered as a high priority. The last vital element I will mention is not spamming your audience with two many emails, ‘Studies have shown that, on average, a person receives about 121 emails every day.’ (Enginemailer 2021)
