5 Killer Email Marketing Tips and Tricks

As one of the principal modes of outbound marketing, the power and potential of successful email marketing is endless, if implemented correctly.

In a world of over-crowded inboxes and overflowing spam folders, the question therefore becomes; “how can you make sure your email marketing is effective?”

Whether your email marketing goals are lead generation, demand generation, lead nurturing, or simply to win back clients, this article is for you.

Below we explore 5 tips and tricks to help you combat low open rates and succeed with your next email marketing campaign.

1. Segment Your Audience

One of the first steps to avoiding your carefully word-smithed emails from being dismissed or deleted is ensuring that your email marketing is adequately targeted.

This starts by segmenting your audience.

The key to segmentation is a broad selection of accurate data from which you can draw insights to fuel your email lists and later, your content.

Consider implementing multiple segmentation methods to ascertain more information about your target audience that will allow you to create multiple targeted campaigns.

One of the most traditional methods of segmentation is by demographics. Data such as age, job title, and annual income can be the foundation of your segmentation efforts.

However, as these variables are static and often don’t reflect the nuances that might influence or drive a buying decision, it is prudent to diversify with other segmentation techniques.

For example, methods such as behavioral or psychographic segmentation can be used to determine a prospect’s interests, actions, and patterns in behavior that can guide final strategies.

2. Understand Your Audience

After collecting critical data about the target audience for your campaign, it is imperative to invest time in getting to know them and understanding them.

Conduct market research and determine the information that goes beyond the variables that define their company size, industry, or the type of content they prefer. Find out their needs, their most common pain points, and if they are with a competitor.

You can then leverage this information to create and understanding that can be used to drive your campaign’s main selling points and power the content of your emails.

Knowledge of the language used by target accounts and other experts in the industry can help to establish your brand as an insider and convey your expertise to prospects. This can be collected with surveys or ideally, virtual meetings and calls.

Trouble finding people to take part?

Motivate participants with an incentive; any insights gleaned will be well worth the investment.

3. Create Strong Email Content

Just like the first two tips and tricks, it is no surprise that the key to creating great email content is an emphasis on the client. Keep both the body of an email and the subject line short in length and to the point.

By cutting out any filler, you promote honesty that prospects respect, while putting the valuable offer of the email front and center. This will also help emails load on and adjust to mobile devices.

Include and leverage the offer of the email in a subject line of no more than 8 words. Recipients judge emails in a matter of seconds, so be sure to get straight to the point. Including a prospect’s name also helps with open rates.

As for the body of the text, an easy structure to follow is:

• Short introduction (particularly if this is the first time reaching out)
• An offer with credibility
• An easy ask (CTA)

Start by addressing the uncomfortable nature of first contact to diffuse any awkwardness and bring focus to your offer. To effectively hook the reader and drive engagement, an offer needs to be genuine and centered on helping the prospect.

As such, email marketing is an ideal distribution mechanism for content marketing on subjects that can be tailor-made for campaigns, or more likely, existing content chosen based on its relevance.

Depending on the offer, be sure to feature credibility that supports your claims, without boring readers with easily forgettable statistics. Be tactful and be sure to keep the focus on the reader, not you.

Next, include a call to action (CTA) that doesn’t require much from the prospect. A good CTA determines their interest and promotes interaction with content if included.

Remember, prospects appreciate and respond better to outreach that is motivated by establishing a long-term relationship with them.

Finally, as trivial as it sounds, remember to include a touch of personality to your email marketing. This may be the form of light humor, references to trends and pop culture (when appropriate for both), or simply leveraging prospect language.

These small touches help to diffuse the awkwardness of cold emails, while reminding the reader that you are in fact, also a human.

4. To Automate, or Not to Automate?

Email automation is a fantastic way of cutting down on the workload for sales teams tasked with developing relationships with prospects (SDRs). However, it’s important not to rely on automation, as an integral element of setting an email strategy is determining the correct moments to implement automation.

Regardless of the automation tools and software being used, how you automate your email marketing cadences, however short, should be mapped out with your target audience in mind.

When creating the blueprint for your email cadences, be sure to keep key emails unautomated. These might include introductory emails, emails designed to re-engage, or to “break up” with prospects to prompt a response.

Taking the time to adjust and improve personalization in emails so that they remain effective and true to their function is crucial. The remainder of the emails in your cadence can be automated if appropriate for the objectives of the campaign.

5. Pay Attention to Your Mindset

While it is crucial to keep an ear to the ground for changing trends, it is also important to maintain a healthy mindset.

Prospects are not only bombarded daily with demanding emails but also typically sit in different stages of the buyer’s journey and often answer to a complex multi-layered buying committee.

Therefore, even after detailed research of target audiences, there is still a strong possibility of emails not performing as desired. Remember prospects may not yet be ready to make a purchase or are unable to leave a current agreement.

With that in mind, it is fundamental to maintain an abundance mindset, rather than assigning an inflated importance to closing every account. This connects back to the heart of the messaging and body of content included in emails as adopting this way of thought will result in naturally genuine emails that are less pushy.

Not only is this great for morale but also it encourages positive reactions to emails as they stand out from the sales crowd. This can help to build demand and a great foundation for a relationship with a prospective client, even if their answer is no for now.

Final Thoughts

It is no mistake that the key theme connecting these tips and tricks is a client-centric approach. Prospects want to feel known and understood, while also feeling like your priority.

In today’s day and age delivering a personalized experience is not only expected but is also necessary. Therefore, when constructing your email marketing campaign, be sure to start with your target audience and focus on their needs and interests as a foundation for your emails.