What do the pandemic facts mean for digital communications? Conferences and conventions are on hold, business travel is at a standstill, in-person meetings are scarce, and offices are empty. Those who can work remotely are still doing so as the pandemic reality settles in beyond the one-year mark. 

This means an explosion in the widespread use of digital tools and platforms. 

Aside from the giant impact of Zoom and its several lookalike cousins. One of the mild surprises of daily life has been the subtle but unquestionably strong rise of email. It’s not as though email ever went out of fashion. People have been using emails for so long that they have almost forgotten. That it’s actually a digital platform and an important marketing channel. 

The numbers are extraordinary and continually rising. In 2020, roughly 306.4 billion emails were sent and received each day, which’s equal to about 39 emails per person per day considering the world’s population of 7.8 billion people. That comparison includes non-users of course. So, for those of us actually using email all day, every day, the actual numbers are much, much higher. 

Despite the growth in messaging and chat apps, and putting aside personal communications, emails have remained a simple, less expensive, and effective marketing tool for essential B2B and B2C connections. 

With the flood of emails in the digital space, getting noticed by the customer is the single most important requirement for your email marketing campaign to be successful. After all, we all know that “delete” is only a quick tap away, right?

Check out seven simple and effective recommendations to make sure your email meets two primary objectives: a) It is opened and b) It is worth the recipient’s time to read: 

  1. Clean up your list and segment it regularly

    Do your subscribers still want to hear from you? You probably know that it’s important to send emails regularly to keep your subscribers engaged. Well, that may not be true if you have a stale email list with inactive subscribers. People change email accounts, switch jobs, and especially now during the pandemic, many people have been either furloughed or laid off. So, frequent clean up of your list is crucial. Subscribers who haven’t opened your email in the past six months should be considered inactive. However, before you remove them, you may want to consider a “win-back offer” or “we miss you” email.

    Are you experiencing lower open rates and higher unsubscribes?

    Segmentation of an email list is very important to target the right customers. For instance, an existing customer should not be hearing about a first-time user offer. And a flash sale for tomorrow should not be sent to out-of-state customers.

  2. Timetable your emails

    Timing is everything — The cliché holds true for email communications, too. Sending an email during off-hours and weekends may not garner the same attention as it may during business hours. And depending on the nature of the business, the opposite could be true. Email marketing platforms allow send-time optimization so that users in different time zones will receive the email at the right time, not the same time. For instance, if you schedule the deployment of an email at 11 a.m., it will reach the user’s inbox at 11 a.m. local time for each individual.

    How frequently are you sending emails? Ask yourself whether you’re overly aggressive or underutilizing this powerful channel. The answer lies within your own analytics, so listen to your customers.

    Analytics and metrics, patterns, and trends are revealed for open rates, unsubscribes, call-to-action, sources, and more to develop a balanced, well-planned email marketing strategy.

  3. Avoid spam filters

    Despite sophisticated spam filter enhancements, they’re not flawless. Even the best email filters will dump your email into the spam folder if a hiccup is detected. It’s recommended to:

    • Avoid deceptive subject lines
    • Ensure your subscribers are not from a purchased list
    • Use a reputable email marketing company that pre-screens for IP addresses, verified domains, and authentic email addresses
    • Avoid using excessive spam trigger keywords i.e discount, free, buy, etc.
    • Don’t “scream” headlines in all capital letters and crazy punctuation
    • Allow subscribers to easily opt-out of your emails

  4. Craft your subject line and preview message carefully

    Your first impression is everything, and as they say, you only get one opportunity to make it.You can’t tell your story if you can’t get the email opened. Given the number of promotional emails in the subscriber’s inbox, it’s very important to have a subject line that develops curiosity and interest.Pay close attention to the preview preheader text as well. Similar to search engine results which are driven by the meta descriptions, this preview text in the preheader helps the subscriber to determine what the email is about and quickly decide to open your email. If you are not given this preview text option by your provider, ask about it.

  5. Balance content, KISS (Keep it short and simple)

    In recent times, customer experience (CX) or user experience (UX) has become a widely recognized world of study within the field of digital marketing. For email marketing, this covers everything from personalization to privacy. A customer’s perception of your brand and the emotion it reflects on them are among the most important factors of CX. Always remember to write with your audience in mind. Nobody wants to read a long email lacking structure…and they won’t. Just like a good story with a beginning, middle, and an end, content needs a compelling title, short paragraphs, and a call-to-action closing. Strategic placement of click-through actions (CTA) such as “learn more,” “book now,” or “save money,” and a sprinkling of appropriate images and compelling video content are the keys for long-lasting customer engagement and loyalty.

  6. Personalize your tone of voice

    Simply put, don’t be boring. To capture an authentic tone of voice, read your email aloud and imagine you’re talking to a friend. If it sounds stilted, try again. The right touch of humor, emoji, or GIFs is welcome but tread lightly and carefully depending on what is appropriate for your product or service.

  7. Leverage A/B testing

    Before you click send, test and test again. The re-arrangement of just one or two words in an email subject line can make a big difference in the open rate. Rather than sending the same email to everyone and hoping for the best, use a strategic approach and try different subject lines, images vs. animations, schedule different delivery times, and track the analytics to help understand your recipients more intimately. This exercise is key to identify your most effective email marketing strategy for the best ROI.

Go through the link for more information: https://spritzsf.com/spritzbits/dont-just-spray-pray-email-marketing-is-here-to-stay/

Clearly, email and email marketing are here to stay. Simply put, our job is to make sure you are using this powerful tool in all the right ways to ensure your business is also here to stay. Let us know how we can help because it’s always a good idea to “Just Add Spritz.”