Email marketing may seem outdated to some because it has existed for so long. However, it remains the king of digital marketing because it retains its incredibly high return on investment. Yet there is room for improvement, whether it is reducing how many of your messages get caught in someone’s spam filter or simply get deleted without more than a glance at the title line. Here are a few tips on how to increase conversion rates on your email campaigns.
Make Them Mobile Friendly
A majority of web searches are done via mobile devices nowadays, and a large percentage of your email marketing messages are read on mobile devices as well. In fact, they’re more likely to be read on a mobile screen than a PC. But how do you make the emails mobile friendly?
Start with a short subject line that fits on any screen. The upper limit is 35 characters, but 30 or less is better. A larger font will improve readability, though you need to select a standard font that will work on any device and in any browser. Use short paragraphs broken up by sections of white space to enable scrolling. Remember that no one likes scrolling, so keep your emails as short as possible. Always use a single column layout, because they don’t want to scroll back and forth.
Make call to action buttons flawless and obvious. If any images are used in the message, keep them as small as possible both in size and file size.
Make It Personal
One way to improve the odds that people open an email is to personalize it. Personalized messages make readers feel like you care about them. However, you need to make sure the message is actually targeted at them, instead of simply starting the message with their name. And don’t make the mistake of using their email address as the customer name. This will absolutely boost your email campaign in terms of email open rate.
Segment email marketing lists based on demographics, engagement with the brand, purchase history, behavior and other relevant information. You can create de facto personalized emails based on their attribute conditions. Then you will only show them marketing content that is relevant to them personally and their stage in the sales funnel.
If you have a limited budget, then create a separate mailing list of high potential subscribers and focus on them, while personalizing the subject line and content to their interests.
Clean Up Your Mailing List
The quality of your email marketing program depends on the quality of the list. It isn’t the number of people on the list that matters – it is the click through rate of those who open the message and move on to buying your product. The process of updating the email list starts by adding all those new subscribers who said they were interested in hearing from you. Then start culling the inactive ones. Set up a plan to closely manage the list. Monitor the bounce rate in case email services or ISPs are flagging your email server as a source of spam.
Utilize the Double Opt-In
A double-opt in message asks them to confirm that they’ve signed up for your marketing content or newsletter. The only step they need to take is to click on a confirmation link in the email. This process eliminates emails that are incorrect or junk. It helps your messages avoid the spam folder, since someone opened and acted on the first message that they received from you. It increases the odds they’ll open other messages later on. Don’t forget to use this process as a way to move them down the sales funnel, such as sending them discount codes or coupons as a thanks for agreeing to receive content.
Be Consistent
One way to avoid having your emails flagged as spam is to always use the same email sender for all of your messages. Use the same company email address for post-enrollment confirmation as their invitation to sign up. All follow-up emails should also come from the same sender. Use a similar format and color scheme on all of your official emails, too.
Use A/B Testing to Determine the Best Messages to Send
Data analysis tools allow you to test everything from subject lines to content to call to action buttons. Experiment with different subject lines. Every subject line has to include at least one element off the “Curve” list: curiosity, urgency, relevance, value and/or emotion. Learn from your own hard data which subject lines get people to return to their shopping cart and buy the item and which messages get people back in the store after a long time away. The best email marketing systems track response data so that they send better tailored marketing emails to each customer based on their behavior. Then it truly is a personalized marketing email.
Conversion rates can be affected by many little things. However, making a few minor changes could significantly increase the response rate by prospects and dramatically increase the return on investment you see from your email marketing efforts.
