Email Marketing Best Practices

270 Billion. That’s the number of emails sent everyday. Yeah, its a lot. However, despite the mind-boggling number, email marketing is still rated the number one channel for generating profit. The reason is simple, unlike any other means of advertising, email marketing is extremely low cost (practically free). Well, aside from what you pay the person to craft your email but hey, there’s always Fiverr. Furthermore, according to a survey done by Adobe, 50% of the respondents preferred to be contacted by brands via email.

Yeah, email marketing is great but the average worker receives 122 emails a day. That means their pretty much trained to ignore irrelevant things. So, how do you cut through the clutter and deliver your message effectively?

Here’s an email marketing checklist with 10 best practices to boosts your marketing efforts:

Keep your subject line below 25 characters.

While desktop browsers generally display 60 characters for a subject line, mobile browsers only display 25-30 characters and according to Adobe, 85% of people use their smartphones to check their emails regularly. Going over the 25 characters often shortens the subject line into something embarrassing. For example, I often receive an email from Google Analytics with the subject line “no-reply google anal…”.

Does your subject line use power words.

Research shows that certain words are more effective than others when used in email subject lines. These words are proven to boost email open rates. Some examples include captivate, challenge, overcome. Check out this list for more examples.

Personalization.

Research suggests 27% of consumers prefer emails that are personalised for them. An email that’s personalised also seems more genuine. This increases open-rates and reduces the likelihood that an email service provider would classify it as spam. Start with things like first names, birthdays and past purchases. However, some companies like Boden go as far as crafting personal stories with each individual customer.

Use Hierarchy in your emails.

With the large number of emails we receive, we’ve become more prone to skimming through email rather than reading them. Therefore, it’s important to structure your emails in such a way that highlights the key points so even if someone is skimming through your email, the message is still conveyed. Use different font typography, sizes and colour to highlight your key points. Use larger fonts and vibrant colours for important information like titles.

Include engaging visuals.

According to Adobe, 23% of users are frustrated with emails that are too wordy. Cut down on the words and try using photos instead. As the saying goes “A picture is worth a thousand words”. However, ensure your images complement, not detract from the content of your email. Your pictures need to be relevant.

Keep it short, succinct and simple.

Cut the fluff, people don’t have time. Every line should be meaningful, interesting or informative. Use simple words and make the content easy to digest with subheadings, short-paragraphs and bullet points. Also keep the email design simple.
Pro-tip: Use lots of white-space, it’s the most overlooked element in design.

Include a Call-To-Action

Adobe’s survey reported that 12% of consumers want to make a purchase from within the email itself. That’s right, customers love to take action after reading a good email. Ensure they can do so by including a good Call-To-Action button. Place it either above the fold or at the end of the email so it can’t be missed. Use a different, vibrant color to ensure it stands out. In fact, research suggests that changing the color of your CTA can increase conversion-rate by as much as 30%!

Mobile responsive.

As mentioned earlier, majority of consumers check their emails on their smartphones. Sending emails that are not optimised for mobile screens would make it too difficult for consumers to read the email. If anything, it’ll just frustrate them.

Include your brand personality.

Ensure you include things like your brand colors, logos and tone of voice. You want your customers to be able to recognise your email before even reading who its from.

Keep innovating.

Always be testing! There is no one size fits all email. It’s impossible to know what emails will work best with your audience. The only way to improve your emails is to experiment and see what works! Test out different images, content structures and subject lines. Never stop testing because the only way is up!

That’s it! Now you have the tools to craft the perfect email!

Don’t forget to download our email marketing checklist below to ensure every email you send out is the best it can be!

Download the Email Marketing Checklist!

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