You Can't Just Hit Send
“Get the bee’s knees in your inbox”
It’s pretty tempting to just jump in with email marketing. It’s estimated that the return on investment can be as high as $42 for every $1 spent on it.
Yet, just jumping in can lead straight to failure. Below we’ll talk about some of the important factors that you should consider so that you can be successful in your email marketing campaigns.
Deliverability
Emails don’t mean anything unless you are getting them to your subscriber’s inbox. It’s more complicated than just sending an email and you need to ensure that you have good deliverability before starting an email campaign. Otherwise, you’re just wasting time and money.
ISPs Track IP Addresses to Prevent Spam.
Email service providers are like hawk-eyed gatekeepers, constantly monitoring IP addresses to determine the credibility of emails. When you send an email, they track the IP address and domain to see if it has a history of sending spam or legitimate content.
This means your reputation is always on the line, and maintaining a clean IP address and domain is crucial. If you, or your shared host, have a bad rep, your emails will likely end up in the spam folder. Therefore, it’s vital to keep your IP address clean and your email practices above board.
You can view the sending IP address of your emails if you don’t use a dedicated IP address, by looking at the HTML version of the email you are sending. How to do this will depend on what platform you are using to view your emails, but Gmail lets you do this in the options for the email.
Checking Senderscore to Ensure Deliverability
Your Senderscore is like a report card for your email-sending reputation. It’s a number between 0 and 100 that ISPs use to determine how trustworthy your emails are. To check your Senderscore, you can use tools like Senderscore.org. It’s a free service and you’ll have to jump through a few hoops each time you check for free, but it’s a great way to keep tabs on your rep.
If your Senderscore drops below 90, you’re in the danger zone and need to take action to improve it. Put your email campaign on pause, try to determine why you’re having issues and check stats like open rate, bounce rate, etc.
If you see that you have issues with your Senderscore, you can do some things to address it. One way to do this is by creating a subdomain specifically for marketing emails, which allows for direct monitoring and better control of your sender reputation. Remember, keeping your score above 90 is crucial for maintaining good deliverability. If it falls into the 80 ranges, stop what you are doing, if it falls below 70 you are almost guaranteed to be marked as spam.
Some Things You Can Do To Control Senderscore
Consistent Scheduling
In the world of email marketing, consistency is king. Sending emails on a regular schedule builds trust with your audience and email providers. This helps ensure your messages are expected and welcomed. Sporadic or unpredictable emailing can confuse subscribers and lead to higher unsubscribe rates or your emails being marked as spam. Consistent scheduling, whether it’s daily, weekly, or monthly, helps establish a rhythm that your subscribers can rely on, improving overall engagement and deliverability.
Purge Lists
Regularly purging your email lists is like spring cleaning for your inbox. Over time, email lists can accumulate inactive or invalid addresses, leading to higher bounce rates and damaging your sender reputation. By routinely cleaning your lists and removing these inactive subscribers, you ensure that your emails are being sent to engaged and interested recipients. This not only improves deliverability but also enhances the effectiveness of your email campaigns by focusing on a more receptive audience. There are tools that you can use to help you clean your email contact lists such as Jitbit can help with this.
Double Opt-In
Implementing a double opt-in process is a surefire way to ensure the quality of your email list. When subscribers go through a double opt-in, they confirm their subscription twice—once when they sign up and again through a confirmation email. This extra step helps verify that the subscriber is genuinely interested in receiving your emails, reducing the risk of spam complaints and ensuring a more engaged audience. Double opt-in might seem like an extra hurdle, but it pays off by building a high-quality email list. You may not grow your email list as fast, but your subscribers will actually want your emails.
Brand Your “From” Name
The “from” name in your email is like the caller ID on your phone—it’s the first thing recipients see, and it heavily influences whether they open your email or not. Using a recognizable and trustworthy name, whether it’s your brand, company, or a known individual, helps build credibility and trust with your audience. Consistency in your “from” name also aids in brand recognition, making it more likely that recipients will open your emails and engage with your content.
Engaging Emails
Sending emails that people actually want to reply to is a key component of successful email marketing. Engagement is a two-way street, and when recipients feel compelled to respond to your emails, it signals to ISPs that your emails are valuable and wanted. This can improve your deliverability and overall engagement rates. Crafting engaging content, asking questions, and encouraging replies can turn a one-sided communication into a lively conversation, building stronger relationships with your audience.
You Can Deliver, Now What?
We’ve covered actually getting emails out and into your subscriber’s in box, so now what. What kinds of things should I send them?
While it will be slightly different for every business, the following will give you a general idea of how email marketing and promotions are broken down.
Types of Offers For Email Marketing
In email marketing, offers can be classified as evergreen or manual. Evergreen offers are automated and continuously relevant, triggered by customer actions such as signing up for a newsletter or making a purchase. These offers are always good to go and require minimal maintenance.
On the other hand, manual offers are created and managed actively by your marketing team. These offers often leverage scarcity or urgency to drive immediate action, such as limited-time discounts or flash sales. Both types of offers play crucial roles in a balanced email marketing strategy.
Evergreen: Always Ready
Evergreen offers are the bees’ knees in email marketing. These automated campaigns are triggered by customer behaviors, ensuring that the right offer is presented at the right time. For example, a welcome series for new subscribers or a thank-you email for recent purchasers can be set up once and continue to deliver value indefinitely.
Evergreen offers save time and resources while maintaining consistent engagement with your audience, making them an essential tool in any marketer’s arsenal.
Manual: You Take Action
Manual offers, unlike evergreen ones, are crafted based on specific marketing actions or events. These offers are designed to create a sense of urgency or scarcity, prompting immediate action from recipients. Examples include flash sales, limited-time discounts, and special event promotions. Because they are tailored and timely, manual offers can significantly boost engagement and conversions. However, they require more hands-on management and careful planning to execute effectively.
Different Kinds of Promotions
Promotions in email marketing are the cat’s pajamas for driving engagement and sales. They can be categorized into activation, monetization, and acquisition.
Activation promotions aim to turn non-buyers into buyers with enticing offers like tripwires or flash sales.
Monetization promotions focus on maximizing revenue from your existing list through upsells, cross-sells, and new product launches.
Acquisition promotions are designed to grow your email list through lead magnets, giveaways, and other list-building tactics. Each type of promotion serves a specific purpose in your marketing strategy, helping you achieve various business goals.
Know Your Goals
Every email campaign should have clear goals, whether it’s turning non-buyers into buyers, generating revenue from an engaged list, or building your subscriber base.
For non-buyers, activation promotions like tripwire offers, flash sales, free plus shipping deals, and trial memberships can be highly effective.
To monetize your engaged list, focus on core offers, upsells, cross-sells, new products, and affiliate offers.
When it comes to building your list, consider using giveaway offers, lead magnets, application offers, or surveys/quizzes to attract new subscribers. Setting specific goals helps measure the success of your campaigns and refine your strategies.
Getting It Right
Getting it right in email marketing means targeting the right audience with the right offer. Properly segmenting your audience ensures that your emails are relevant and personalized, increasing the likelihood of engagement. Understanding why subscribers joined your list, what they have purchased, and what content they engage with helps tailor your offers to their interests and needs.
Offering discounts, bonuses, and setting deadlines can create a sense of urgency and drive action. Good email copy is essential, but the right offer for the right audience is the key to success. This combination leads to higher email sales and overall campaign effectiveness.
Email Copywriting
Now that we have the foundation down we can get into actually writing your emails and designing them.
Length
The length of your email copy can vary based on the nature of your brand and the message you want to convey.
Short emails, around 50 words, are ideal for brands with strong branding that can communicate effectively with brevity or simple messages that don’t need to be long. If you are regularly communicating with your audience, you might also be able to use shorter emails.
Medium-length emails, approximately 500 words, work well for personal brands and those that require a more direct and personal touch.
Long emails, over 500 words, are suited for high-ticket items or in-depth promotions where more information is needed to persuade the recipient. Tailoring the length of your email to your audience and the message ensures it resonates and achieves its purpose.
Promo Emails
Promotional emails can be divided into two main types: initial and recap. The initial promo email is the first one that goes out to announce the start of a promotion, grabbing attention and generating excitement. Recap emails are follow-ups that remind recipients about the ongoing promotion, reinforcing the offer and encouraging those who haven’t taken action yet. By strategically sending initial and recap emails, you keep the momentum going and maximize the chances of your promotion’s success.
Types of Emails by Length and Purpose
Email marketing campaigns often use six types of emails to maintain engagement and drive conversions.
These include short initial emails to quickly announce a promotion, short recap emails to remind subscribers.
Medium initial emails for more detailed announcements, medium recap emails for additional reminders.
Long initial emails to thoroughly explain high-ticket offers, and long recap emails for final pushes.
Each type serves a specific purpose in keeping your audience informed and motivated to take action throughout the campaign.
Anatomy of a Good Email
Crafting a compelling email involves several key elements. The subject line is your first chance to grab attention, and it should stand out by leveraging emotional triggers like greed, fear, anger, curiosity, and urgency.
The intro or lead must motivate the recipient to take action, often achieved through a strong call to action and positioning mechanisms like curiosity, advantage, scarcity, and testimonials.
The body of the email delivers the main message, the close wraps things up with a clear directive, and the P.S. offers a final nudge.
Each part plays a crucial role in engaging the reader and driving the desired action.
Bonus Tip: Build a Swipe File
Building a swipe file is a savvy way to gather inspiration and improve your email copywriting.
Create a dedicated email account to sign up for as many relevant lists as possible, including those of your competitors. Organize and categorize the emails you receive, and study one promo each day to identify effective strategies and tactics.
Add the best emails to your swipe file for reference when crafting your own campaigns. This practice helps you stay on top of industry trends and continually refine your email marketing skills.
Email Marketing Dose Not Have to Be a Challenge
While there is more to email marketing than just hitting send, getting started is not difficult. There are plenty of tools and resources available to get you started and if you need help with your email marketing or digital marketing campaigns contact us and we’ll create a customized plan for your success.
