- Email marketing has an average return on investment of 4,400%.
- Welcoming new subscribers can help spark interest and encourage future engagement.
- Personalization will help you build trust with your audience by delivering targeted content.
- A/B testing can help you fine-tune your marketing strategy.
Email marketing is one of the most popular and effective ways to keep in touch with your target audience and existing customers. When you dive into the statistics, it quickly becomes apparent why so many business owners invest in email campaigns when trying to grow their brand.
For starters, a successful email marketing has, on average, an astounding 4,400% return on investment. In other words, for every dollar you spend on your campaign, you'll see a $44 return through sales and conversions. Couple that statistic with the fact that marketers can use emails to target customers based on how they interact with your brand, and it's easy to see why this strategy is so prevalent in the digital world.
We are going to explore four tips that will help you make the most of your campaign. Each piece of advice will take you through a different phase of the email marketing cycle. Let's start by talking about how to get people to subscribe to your list.
1. Start with a great offer.
You can't have a successful campaign without subscribers. Growing your lead list is one of the most challenging aspects of email marketing because it forces you to start from scratch, and many people struggle with the idea of starting with a blank slate. The good news is you can quickly gain subscribers by making some changes to your website.
First, you should think about creating a lead magnet that will convince people visiting your website to sign up. Lead magnets are pieces of content that provide tangible value to your target audience. The goal is to convince the visitor to enter their name and email address in exchange for the whitepaper, e-book, stat sheet, or promotion you've offered.
Let's say you're the lead marketer of a business that sells exercise equipment: You might consider creating an e-book that explores the changes your body goes through as you lose weight. When someone lands on your site looking for exercise equipment, they can pick up your book in exchange for subscribing to your email list.
The lead magnet in this example is targeted at people at the early and middle stages of the weight loss process, meaning people who don't have the equipment they need yet. Once they've subscribed, you can start building rapport and eventually turn that visitor into a customer.
Your lead magnet might be the complete opposite of our example, but the principle still stands. Consumers are willing to subscribe to brands that create content that's relevant to their lives. [Are you looking for help with your email campaign? Read our reviews of the best email marketing software.]
2. Send out a welcome email.
Now that you've started generating leads, it's time to send out a welcome email when someone subscribes to your list using automated email marketing software. Research shows that welcome emails have an impressive 82% open rate, making them one of the most important messages you'll send to your subscribers.
Why is the engagement so high on these emails? The main reason is people still vividly remember your brand because they just subscribed. They are more likely to continue engaging with your brand if you reach out right away.
When creating your welcome email, there are several elements all well-designed messages share:
- A meaningful "thank you" for subscribing
- The lead magnet you promised
- Expectations for future emails
- Alternate ways to reach your brand (social media, phone number, etc.)
Including all of these sections ensures that consumers will get precisely what they were expecting when they open your email. We know what you're thinking: 'How can I exceed those expectations?" We're glad you asked, because we are going to talk about stepping up your engagement with personalization.
3. Make your emails personal.
Personalization is a strategy used by many businesses on every marketing channel. In a nutshell, personalization marketing is a technique where you curate emails and content for your audience based on their pain points and information they provided when signing up.
The great part about personalizing your emails is you can add different layers of personalization that add uniqueness to every message your subscribers receive. Studies show that personalization can double your click-through rate, making it a valuable tool for marketers across all industries.
When people join your lead list, you can ask their name and what kind of content they are interested in receiving in the future. Using this information, you can craft emails for each person.
You can use their name in the email subject line and through your message. There's no question that using subscribers' names will convince more people to open your emails. Now here's the fun part: You can compile data about products they've purchased, or reference their signup form to create content within your email that is personalized.
Let's look at the fictional exercise equipment store we mentioned earlier. When the marketers are creating emails for their drip campaigns, they can compare and contrast what users selected to curate the perfect email. If someone signed up claiming that they are only interested in blog posts about weight loss, you could exclude posts about bodybuilding.
When the consumer in question checks their email, they will see that all of the content is personalized, and the brand used their name in the email. From that point forward, there's a better chance that they will engage with your brand and become lifelong customers.
4. A/B test your campaigns.
A/B testing, also known as split testing, is a strategy where you make changes to your emails in an attempt to improve your open and conversion rate. There are plenty of things you can change that could lead to significant results.
These are some of the most common factors marketers change:
- Email subject lines
- Time and day that messages are sent
- Formating and text changes
- Verbiage or color changes to call to action (CTA)
Once you start seeing success, you can fine-tune your campaign with split testing. For instance, if you've noticed that plenty of people are opening your email but very few are clicking your CTA, you might want to consider adding a contrasting color to the background of your CTA.
Small changes can yield significant results, but they take time to fully understand. When you start split testing, remember that you might not see a difference the first day, or even week. Sometimes, it takes several months to see if the A/B test had a positive result on sales, clicks and traffic.
Email marketing is here to stay. Currently, 90% of people in the United States over 15 years old have an active email account. Business owners and marketers are always looking for new ways to expand their reach or improve their email marketing campaigns.
Now you can use these tips to reach your target audience, connect instantly, and build rapport with subscribers. These elements all play a role in how customers perceive your brand and the value you offer. The end result of these healthy connections is a thriving business that sees new and returning customers interacting with your brand.