Email marketing has been around for a while now, but in that time the game has changed and technology has evolved to give us some brilliant tools.
I’m sure you know that most of these exist, but are you using them properly?
1. A/B Split Testing
Marketing is all about testing and this is a constant process. The A/B split test is something you should be utilized in almost every email you send out. Why would you not take advantage of testing times, or headlines to see which will give you the best response?
Test your headline, test the time you send it out, depending on the software you use, you can sometimes also test creative content. If your email program doesn’t allow A/B split testing, it might be worth changing providers. Mail Chimp is a fairly cost-effective service and very easy to use! There are also other programs that will go so far as to allow A/B/C/D split testing.
*Note: If you still have a small database, your split test might need to be 50% of your database, but when your database is over 2,000 you can go to the usual 5%-10% split test.
2. Personalisation + Segments
If you aren’t segmenting your database, you are going to lose subscribers far more quickly. Have different lists for different aspects of your business. There will be times when it is appropriate to send everyone the same blanket email, but it certainly shouldn’t be the norm.
Also, make sure you always address an email Dear |*FNAME*|, and test using their name in the headline. If you don’t know how to insert your customer’s actual name into an email, please email me, I’ll be more than happy to help!
As an example of how important this is = A friend today just posted an email he received that said Dear 290383, which was his client ID. I was horrified, please don’t do this to your customers and sales leads! Your customers are far too important for them to be addressed as a number or as ‘friends’, especially when it is so easy to personalize.
3. Track Open and Click-Through Rates
Make sure you keep an eye on open rates and click-through rates. I’m yet to see a piece of software that doesn’t give you easy access to this information. Even if you have a quick look every week to see which emails perform well, and which don’t so that you can be constantly trying to improve. After all, marketing is always about testing and improving.
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4. We Missed You – You haven’t seen our emails
Many email marketing programs also allow you to create custom audiences, with the option for those who opened or didn’t open certain emails.
If a customer hasn’t opened the last few emails or missed out on a big announcement, it is worth creating a set of emails to try to reactivate these potentially lost clients.
Whether you go along the lines of “We Missed You” or you try new headlines and specials, it’s worth investing time to get those clients back on board.
5. Trigger Campaigns
Trigger campaigns are a brilliant tool, especially for new clients! Whenever someone subscribes to your database, they should receive an automated email (easily set up with a trigger campaign). These can then be automated to send every week or day without any extra work from you.
The other kind of trigger campaign that is very successful, is to send Happy Birthday messages. It’s always nice to feel ‘remembered’ – obviously, it is a computer program, but it still elicits the happy feeling of receiving a present.
I hope these 5 tips helped you, and as always I’m only an email away if you have any questions!
My name is Dahna and I’m the founder of Bright Red Marketing. I live and breathe marketing, I can’t see an advertisement without analyzing it, or pass by a Marketing Book without reading it. Most of all I love helping businesses with their marketing and I love to chat.
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