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Is email a part of your 2020 digital marketing strategy? Despite the rise of social media, email should not be ignored. Besides the ability to own your own data, email marketing provides so many benefits to marketers and business owners alike, from building trust to providing some of the biggest ROIs of any digital channel.

On average, 111.1 billion consumer emails are sent and received every day. If you’re looking for a way to stand out in your customer’s inbox, check out my top 7 tips to get killer email marketing results!

So, What’s the Sitch?

When it comes to e-mail marketing, there may be some lingo that you’re familiar with. Before we get started, here’s a quick list of definitions and shorthands!

Clickthrough Rate (CTR) A metric that measures how many people clicked on an image, hyperlink, or CTA in an email.
Rate The percentage of the total number of subscribers who opened an email campaign.
Call to Action (CTA) A word or phrase used to incite the subscriber to do something.
Conversion Rate A percentage that shows how many people completed a specific action.
Personalization Customization of content based on the subscriber’s data. (For example, first name, birthdays, etc.)
Segmentation The way in which a list is broken up into different segments.
Automation The process of email marketing software sending email campaigns to your customers based on a set of triggers.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) Specific, numerical marketing metrics that organizations track in order to measure their progress towards a defined goal within your marketing channels.
Tools
You’re only as good as the tools you use. Some platforms I personally recommend include:
Constant Contact
Drip
HubSpot
MailChimp

Not ready to invest in a new platform? You can even use native email platforms like Squarespace!

Audience + Targeting

Think about how do you define your ideal customer. Now, think about what you’re doing to engage and re-engage them with your email marketing strategy. How and why are you collecting emails?

Ways to Build your Email List

Organic social media
Paid social media and lead generation through Facebook + Instagram Ads
Referral campaigns and incentives for current customers
In-person sign-ups.

Once you’ve built your list, it’s important to remember not everyone in your audience is the same. That’s why you have to segment your audience. Different messaging, offers and even the different ways in which you’ve collected their information must all be considered when creating segments.

Recipients are 75% more likely to click on emails from segmented campaigns than non-segmented campaigns. (MailChimp, 2017)

Timing

“Hey Alexa, what’s the best time to send an email?” Luckily for me, and for those who love voice assistants, a quick search will give you pretty similar results. (Most point to Tuesday and Thursday as the best days to send your email communications.)

In regards to time, late morning (10-11 AM) emails are the most popular. The second most popular time slot is late night (8 PM-12 AM), followed by mid-afternoon, post-lunch (2 PM).

It’s also important to note that the Eastern Time zone is the most popular time zone to consider when sending emails. Keep in mind this is where testing is key for your audience. If you’re customers and business are west coast based, stick with the Pacific Time zone.

Strategy

Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s talk strategy. To build a successful email marketing strategy, you first need to determine your KPIs. What is your main goal for your email campaign? What about a secondary goal? By determining these before you start writing you’ll be able to build a more cohesive strategy.

Track your KPIs on your website and analytics dashboards, be aware of traffic spikes during email campaigns and general clicks around the site. What do your emails prompt your audience to do?

To save yourself some time, you may want to use email automations. These automations can be triggered when someone new subscribes, when an order is placed or when a contact form is filled out. Think through what the first, second and third email looks like when you get a new subscriber.

Not only do automations help save you time, but they also make sure you have consistent communication with your email list. Automations are also a great way to repurpose other content you have so you don’t have to spend more time writing email copy.

Personalization

Emails that included the first name of the recipient in their subject line had higher clickthrough rates than emails that did not. (HubSpot, 2014)

While you’re testing headlines, CTAs and different messaging, be sure to add elements that showcase your brand personality. Even if your emails are automated and scheduled, they should still feel personal and real.

56% of brands using an emoji in their email subject line had a higher open rate than those that did not. (Forbes, 2017)

Feel free to think outside of the box when thinking about your personalization elements! Most emails use “first name” as a customization token, but dig deeper! Use personal knowledge like what they’d bought last, what segment list they’re on, etc. to make the email more impactful.

7 Tips To Get Killer Email Marketing Results

Choose your tools wisely! There are a ton of email platforms out there. And yes, some are better than others, but all that matters is that you can use that platform and you can see some form of analytics.
Segment your email list! No two customers are the same, so why are you using the same messaging? Dividing your master email list into smaller subsections can result in higher CTR and better engagement.
Timing is everything! Knowing what day and times are best for email campaign sends can positively affect your email marketing strategy. Look out for trends and patterns in your own data as you start to send more emails.
Set your KPIs early (and use your analytics)! Always, always, always look to your KPIs first. Data-driven decisions can make all the difference when thinking about strategy changes.
Automations are your friend! Who wouldn’t like to save a little more time? Email doesn’t have to be this scary, all-consuming monster. Setting some automations within your email funnel can keep your communication consistent.
Personalization is key! A little bit of personalization can go a very long way. Use your creativity to break out of the [first-name] token and show your audience that you’re really listening.
Test, test, test! Last but not least, testing is embedded in the core of email marketing strategy. Just because something works once, doesn’t mean it always will. Be ready to implement new strategies within your email campaigns when your metrics aren’t matching up.

How To Stand Out With Email Marketing