Email marketing can be one of the most cost-effective aspects of your marketing strategy, but it's important to get it right. It's easy to get lost in all the details, but if you keep these 4 key tips in mind, you will be starting out on the right foot.
The best time to send an email can vary from company to company, and user to user. However, there are few generally accepted concepts when it comes to answering that "When to send?" question.
It's a good idea to avoid weekends, as users are typically out running errands etc. Another day to avoid is Monday, as many users are getting caught up on important work emails that they may have missed at the end of the previous week. Some internal analysis done by our data team shows that 9-12AM on other weekdays is a sweet spot in terms of conversions. MailChimp offers some supporting data on this as well.
Social media and email are the two largest traffic drivers on the internet today. Joining these two mediums is an absolute must. There may be people who follow you on a social media platform, but are not on your email list, and vice versa. Ideally you're engaging with customers, in some fashion, daily. Cross-contacting between different mediums is the best way to get this done. Start by sending an email that summarizes recent Tweets or Facebook posts with members of your mailing list. Then use Twitter or Facebook lead tools to sign followers up for your newsletter lists. Your goal should be 100% parity between your social followers and email subscribers.
Responsive design simply means that the design and dimensions of your email "responds" accordingly to the size of the screen on which it is being viewed. It is crucial that your email campaign can be read on a smart-phone. Today, more than 50% of all emails are opened on a mobile device. If you lack the technical know-how to produce responsive email templates, use software like MailChimp, Constant Contact or one of the many other options available.
Convey your message with clear, to-the-point language. Furthermore, keep your call-to-action visible and unobstructed.
Your subject line should intrigue your subscribers first and foremost. Remember that mobile devices may truncate subject lines, so it is important to be concise as well. Lastly, experiment with different subject lines for each campaign. Keep track of the winning subject line for each, and over time you will have generated a list of best performing subject lines for your business. Remember, the job of a marketing email's subject line is to generate an open!