email marketing tips Archives

Marketing and Transactional Emails: How to Leverage Both [VIDEO]

April 23, 2018/0 Comments/in Email Marketing /by Rebecca Matias

The inbox is a crowded place.

An office employee gets 121 emails each day.
Half of incoming mails are spam.
Only 38% of emails in the inbox are useful.

How do you make your emails rise above the noise?

First, here’s what’s inside a typical inbox:

Promotional Emails

0%

Transactional Emails

0%

Personal Emails

0%

It’s clear that to engage recipients,
you need the right mix of marketing and transactional emails.

While these two types of emails serve different uses,
combining both can boost marketing results through:

More ways to connect with prospects and customers
Deeper insight into prospect’s interest and intent
Extra opportunities for conversion

Here’s how to integrate marketing and transactional emails:

#1 Understand the difference

Marketing emails nurture leads, promote offers, and make a sale.
Transactional emails are sent to complete a process
Marketing emails include: cold emails, newsletters, event invites, promos, etc.
Transactional emails include: welcome emails, order confirmations, account updates, etc.

#2 Know what rules apply

Marketing emails must comply with applicable laws like the CAN-SPAM Act, CASL, GDPR, etc.
Transactional emails are mostly exempt from these legal standards.
For example, marketing emails require a valid postal address, but transactional emails don’t’.

#3 Separate them properly

Gmail suggests sending emails separately by purpose for better deliverability.
Use different sending IP addresses for each type.
Avoid using the same domain for marketing and transactional emails.

#4 Let the two types complement each other

Transactional emails typically fetch better engagement rates. Use them to:

Ask recipients to sign up for your newsletter and other marketing emails
Get referrals and recommendations
Carry out surveys and gather feedback
Point recipients to relevant resources like whitepapers, guides, webinars, etc.

Now, it’s time to improve your email results.
Leverage both marketing and transactional emails into your mix.

5 Email Opening Tips to Conquer Shorter Attention Spans [VIDEO]

February 27, 2018/0 Comments/in Email Marketing /by Rebecca Matias

Attention spans are getting shorter.
One study claims it’s shorter than a goldfish’s.

But this doesn’t mean people now have fishlike intelligence.
We simply got smarter at spending our attention.

That’s the key to getting your emails opened and read.
You have to show they’re worth people’s attention
… and you only have 8 seconds to do this.

Follow these proven tips to make each crucial second count.

#1 Figure out the best sending schedule

Send times affect email engagement rates.

Research shows mid-morning on weekdays work best.

Tweak your send times based on your own campaign and audience.

#2 Spend extra effort crafting your subject line

47% of recipients open emails based on subject lines alone.

Good subject lines use recipients’ curiosity and self-interest.

Come up with 2 to 3 subject line ideas and test each one.

#3 Avoid starting with “Hi, my name is…”

Opening lines affect whether your emails get read.

Your email won’t be worth reading if it starts off by talking about you.

Hook your prospects by making the opening about them.

#4 Show that you really did your homework

Personalized emails fetch 29% more opens and 41% higher CTRs than generic emails.

But deeper personalization improves conversion by up to 360%.

Open by mentioning a recent trigger event or a shared background.

#5 Pay attention to layout and formatting

Recipients spend only 5 seconds scanning an email.

In one glance, your prospect should know what the message is about.

Break the body into smaller chunks and make key items stand out.

But as attention spans continue to dwindle,
this is the best way to email prospects:

Seek respect, not attention.
It lasts longer.
–Z. Abdelnour

How to Make Sure Your Cold Emails Make it to the Inbox [VIDEO]

February 16, 2018/0 Comments/in Email Marketing /by Rebecca Matias

1 in 5 commercial emails sent never reaches the inbox.

6% end up in the spam folder
14% are blocked by ISPs entirely.

For cold emails, inbox placement becomes even more challenging.

That’s because…

You don’t have a relationship with your recipient yet.
You’re sending unsolicited messages.

But this doesn’t mean cold emails are spam.

That’s why they belong to the inbox, not the junk folder.

Follow these steps to make sure things stay that way…

Step 1: Scrub your list thoroughly

Your cold outreach’s success depends on the quality of your list.

Use list cleaning tools and services to remove bad addresses
Run a double opt-in campaign, especially when using a third-party list

Step 2: Check your copy for spam triggers

Your email’s content and design can set off spam alerts in dozens of ways.

Limit your use of known spam words
Maintain a 60-40 text-to-image ratio
Link exclusively to reputable domains

Step 3: Segment and personalize your campaign

In the eyes of ISPs, there’s a fine line between non-personalized bulk emails and spam.

Add some prospect-specific snippets to your email templates
Segment your list and customize the message for each group

Related: Say no to Spam! Ways to Avoid Putting your Email Marketing Campaign to the Dumpsite

Step 4: Let ISPs know you’re someone they can trust

Sender authentication tools and services can help you improve deliverability.

Setup SPF, DKIM, and DMARC anti-spoofing
Sign up for sender and email certification audits

Step 5: Watch how you use your sending IP

Once your sending IP and domain get blacklisted, your emails no longer reach recipients.

Send emails in small batches each day and gradually increase the volume
Use a dedicated IP for your sending server
Keep hard bounces below 5% and spam reports below 0.1%

Remember, cold emails are not spam unless you make them that way.

8 Ways 2017 Will Shape Your 2018 Email Marketing Campaigns

December 20, 2017/0 Comments/in Email Marketing /by Rebecca Matias

Email turns 47 next year. Despite countless obituaries declaring the death of email, email remains the most important tool in a B2B marketer’s arsenal. Research after research proves this, and the numbers all suggest a future where emails continue to drive marketing results.

But beneath the headline figures, a handful of trends have emerged in 2017 that hint at the shape of things to come in email marketing. Return Path’s “Email Marketing Performance in 2017” shares some pretty interesting findings that are bound to impact your email campaigns next year.

Let’s dive into the Return Path report and find out how this year’s email marketing trends will influence your email results in 2018. We’ll also consider insights from other 2017 email studies to get a fuller picture of what’s in store for your upcoming campaigns.

#1 Email performance is improving.

According to Return Path’s survey, a full 85% of respondents say email is getting better, with nearly two-thirds claiming the increase as significant. Only around 15% think email performance is getting worse.

Vertical Response points to the top five key drivers of email marketing improvement:

Better personalization and segmentation (more than 80% of marketers now use segmentation)
Interactivity (53% of marketers now include interactive content, such as embedded surveys and quizzes
More compelling copy (creative typography and branding-focused design)
Increased automation (automation boosts CTRs by as much as 119%)
Deeper integration with email triggers (transactional and nurture emails)

#2 Emails keep marketing goals within reach.

More than 90 percent of Return Path’s respondents think their email marketing strategy helps them reach key marketing objectives, while another 60% consider emails as a best-in-class tactic for hitting their targets. That leaves just 1 in 10 decision-makers unable to credit emails in achieving their goals.

According to several marketing research published in 2017, email plays a leading role in the following:

73% of marketers rank email as the top digital channel for lead generation (Marketingprofs)
Email marketing contributes to at least 22% of sales (Adestra)
54% of marketers use emails to improve engagement and nurture leads (Ascend)
Email remains the most effective channel for brand awareness, customer acquisition, and customer retention (Skyword)

Related: Curated: 13 Business Goals You Can Achieve Through Email Marketing

#3 Marketers maximize ROI with email, but…

Return Path found that 51% of respondents named increasing ROI as their top email marketing objective. The survey also uncovered that accelerating list growth and increasing conversions were both the top goal for 44% of executives.

While email marketing continues to deliver exceptional ROI, measuring returns on email investment remains a key challenge.

Email is the fastest-growing channel for ROI, with 73% of marketers rating the channel’s returns as “excellent” or “good” (Econsultancy and Adestra).
The median email marketing ROI is 122%, which is four times than those of other channels (eMarketer).
Only a small minority of marketers measure email performance beyond clicks, opens, and conversions (Adestra).

#4 Conversion is king.

According to Return Path, 67% of decision-makers believe conversions are the most useful KPI for measuring email marketing performance. Another 44% of respondents rate ROI as the top metric to keep an eye on, and 41% say it’s CTRs that matter the most.

Here’s how other 2017 studies break down email marketers’ metric usage:

CTRs (91%), open rates (80%), conversion rates (62%), bounce rate (41%), delivery rate (37%), and list growth rate (20%) (Adestra).
Customer acquisition (53%) and sales attributed to marketing campaigns (43%), (IEEE GlobalSpec).
Customer satisfaction (45%), customer retention (39%), leads (34%), upselling/cross-selling (33%) (IEEE GlobalSpec).

#5 Email shortens lengthy sales cycles.

The Return Path study confirms what most marketers know: sales cycles are lengthening. But the more important finding is that emails accelerate the sales process. Around 51% of decision-makers surveyed follow a complex sales cycle with multiple touches before closing a deal. Email improves conversions which, in turn, helps leads move through the sales funnel more quickly.

Earlier in the year, HubSpot ran an article that cited stats showing email’s impact on the sales/prospecting process:

On average, reps need to place 18 calls to connect with a prospect.
Only 24% of sales emails are opened.
90% of companies use at least two lead enrichment tools to know more about prospects.
Emails that contain 1 to 3 questions are 50% more likely to get a reply

#6 Outsourced + In-house = Effective Email Marketing

The formula for an effective email marketing campaign starts with the right combination of outsourced and in-house resources. Eighty-five percent of respondents in the Return Path study outsource all or part of their email marketing, while almost half think a collaboration of in-house resources and third-party expertise produces the best results.

Adestra’s “Email Marketing Census 2017” delves deeper into the responsibilities and activities involved in most organizations’ email campaigns. The report points out the following:

45% of organizations assign email responsibilities to a non-specialist in-house team, while only 8% of companies delegate email responsibilities to an internal individual email specialist.
As email marketing platforms improve, companies no longer need internal teams or individuals exclusively handling email activities.
61% of organizations spend at least 2 hours on email content and design, while only 39% of companies devote the same amount of time on strategy.
This can mean that companies will benefit from outsourcing content/design in order to focus more on strategy.

When it comes to email tactics, two best practices stand out. As much as 44% of Return Path’s respondents consider message personalization as the most effective email tactic, while another 41% think it’s social sharing.

Here’s what other email marketing studies have uncovered about email best practices:

80% of marketers use personalization, 73% optimize emails for mobile, and 57% clean their lists regularly (Adestra).
51% of marketers think list segmentation is the best tactic for lead nurturing (Ascend2).
Emails that contain social sharing buttons have 2.5 times higher CTRs (Nonprofit Hub).
Only 22% of marketers who use personalization describe their tactics as advanced (Adestra).

#8 Nothing good ever comes easily.

Another key finding from the Return Path study is that the most effective email marketing tactics also tend to be the most difficult to carry out. When asked to name the most challenging email practice, 41% of respondents cite list segmentation, 38% name testing and optimization, and 35% answer personalization.

The survey participants also point to three tactics whose effectiveness outweighs the difficulties of implementation. These are message personalization, social sharing, and CTA optimization.

Adestra reports the following obstacles to email marketing performance:

26% of companies say not having enough budget makes it difficult to optimize emails for different devices.
Other barriers to optimization include lack of company understanding (9%), difficulty measuring ROI (8%), and a lack of expertise (8%).
50% of organizations blame poor data integration for personalization difficulties, while others point to inadequate technology (32%) and skills gaps (16%).

The Takeaway

The biggest lesson to glean from Return Path’s findings (and other 2017 email marketing studies) is that email continues to bring both opportunities and challenges. Each year, email keeps getting better and better at driving results. But email marketing also becomes marginally harder to manage year after year.

We’ve seen that the most effective tactics are also the most difficult to carry out. That’s on top of hard-to-resolve deliverability issues, increased inbox overcrowding, and changing audience preferences.

There’s simply no magic formula for email marketing success. What we’ve learned from all the research done into email marketing this year is to test and iterate. That’s what every email marketer’s mindset should be for 2018 and beyond.

7 Types of Emails Your Business Should Send

December 11, 2017/0 Comments/in Email Marketing /by Contributor

So, you’ve been collecting email addresses through your various campaigns. You’ve dished out free e-books, sign-up bonuses, discounts to your store and just told your readers and followers why it’s so important they give you their email addresses, so they don’t miss out on what you’ve got.

But, have you considered what you have got? If you have a full email subscriber list, but nothing to send then your list isn’t worth anything! So, you’ve got to send something, but what?

Today, we’ll explore seven of the key types of email that you should be sending to your subscribers, giving you the ability to turn them into profitable leads that will help to make your business a success!

1) The ‘Hello’ Email

This should be the first email that your subscribers ever receive from you. In a welcome email, you’re basically saying hello to them and welcoming them to your community. To create this kind of email, think about how you’d welcome a new friend to your house or treat someone in a new relationship.

You want them to feel happy, comfortable and invited into your community. You want them to read your email and think ‘Awesome; I’m happy I signed up!’ That doesn’t mean that you should start bombarding them with promotional, advertising content telling them to part with your money.

Instead, tell them a little bit about yourself, introduce yourself and your business and let them get to know you and what they can expect in the future. Always remember that the fact you’ve already got their email address is a good sign, you don’t want to push your luck.

Related: Lead Generation Tip: Make your Email Newsletter more ‘Fetching’

2) The ‘Newsletter’ Email

You can create a newsletter just for your email subscribers to make them feel so special! This is completely up to you what you choose to do with it. You could email it daily (although this isn’t recommended), or much more likely, on a weekly or monthly basis.

You can interact with your readers, tell them what’s going on in your business, what products and services have been popular and any offers or competitions that you’re running. It’s really up to you!

Don’t forget that your newsletter is probably going to have a lot of content in it, so you need to make sure that it’s high-quality before you press send.

Always proofread and edit it several times to make sure there are no silly spelling mistakes or grammatical errors that could damage your business’s reputation. You can use services such as Via Writing or State of Writing to help you carry out this process effectively. Customers trust is correlated with website’s grammar.

3) The ‘Gift’ Email

This is always a favorite among subscribers, but it’s the email where you give something away. This could be a discount to your e-commerce store. It could be a free e-book or even an entry into a prize draw. It’s up to you but this always the email that the majority of subscribers are waiting for.

After all, these readers are your loyal customers, and they deserve a little treat from you every now and then. This gives your readers a nice little surprise when they open their inbox, and you’re sure to benefit in countless ways.

4) The ‘Getting to Know You’ Email

Like we said before, you don’t want to jump straight in and seem to forward, remember this is like nurturing a new friendship or relationship with your subscribers. You might even want to wait until this second email to start telling your readers a bit about yourself.

In this email, there’s a couple of things you should mention, but obviously, it depends on what you want to say. For example, you should tell your readers how often you’re going to email them. Again, you don’t want to be pushy and say we’re going to email you every day, it’s simply too much.

You could tell them some of the content they can expect from your emails, such as trending posts and topics that have happened throughout the week or any competitions you’ve got coming up and any other relevant information that your users may want to know.

For a guide on how to craft the ideal Getting to Know You email, you can use online writing guides, such as Academadvisor or Paper Fellows, who can guide you through the process.

5) The ‘Commanding’ Email

This doesn’t mean that you need to bark orders at your subscribers but, using emails, you can easily ask your subscribers for favors using calls to action.

For example, maybe you’re mailing the people that have bought products from you. Maybe you’d like to ask them to leave a review?

Maybe you’re looking for new ways to boost your social media follower counts? If you don’t ask, you don’t get.

What’s more, people are much more likely to respond and take action because they’re reading your emails and it feels like a lot more of a personal experience than if they’re reading from your social media page where you’re addressing everybody.

Related: The Great Email vs. Social Media Bakeoff (2018 Edition)

6) The ‘Only for Email’ Email

Sometimes, it’s nice to reward people for signing up to your mailing lists. There’s no better way to do this than giving your email readers exclusive content that only they can read.

Of course, this means you can’t post your content all over your website, it actually has to be for your email subscribers, but, there’s a lot of ways you can make this special.

Firstly, you have the names of your subscribers; this means you can talk to them directly. If they’ve been to your website and purchased something or used your services, you can create custom content because you know exactly what they are looking for and what kind of people they are.

If you’ve got some prize-winning content on your website, remember that not all users will be checking your website all the time. This means you’re going to need to keep them in the loop. So, why not provide them with an exclusive summary of everything that’s going on?

7) The ‘Hype’ Email

This one is one of my personal favourites since it is one of the most effective. If you’ve got something big coming up in the near-future, let your email subscribers know about it. But, you don’t have to tell them so bluntly. Instead, tease them with little bits of information and let them get excited.

It could be a new product launch, a new service launch, an upcoming competition or a feature; it could be anything you can think of!

The aim of this kind of email is to get people excited about your business. If they’re excited, they’re thinking about you, and if they’re thinking about you, they’re more likely to act, and your campaign has been successful!

Author Bio:

Brenda Berg is a professional with over 15 years of experience in business management, marketing, and entrepreneurship. Consultant and tutor for college students and entrepreneurs at Oxessays. She believes that constant learning is the only way to success. You can visit her personal blog at Letsgoandlearn.com

Sending Emails on Sunday? Are you Kidding me?!

April 23, 2018/0 Comments/in Email Marketing /by Rebecca Matias

Email marketing has to be one of the best lead generation strategies out there. Because, for one, it is reliable. CampaignMonitor has noted that “Email is 40 times more effective at acquiring new customers than Facebook or Twitter.” (Combining email with other channels maximizes its turnout as well)

Marketing Sherpa on the other hand has found out that 72% of people prefer engaging promotional content via email.

We can actually make a compilation the size of a phone book for all the praise email marketing has been getting through the years. Still, there is a need for businesses (especially those in the B2B industry) to apply the right methods in managing and implementing an email campaign.

Now, we can ramble on about writing effective copy, offering something new each day, and featuring content with a seasonal vibe (think cliche Christmas cards).

But, as marketers, we should always look at our campaigns through different perspectives. Instead of focusing solely on content, let us look at how we send our emails.

It is very likely that your campaign follows a schedule for sending emails. And it is very likely you follow the same old rule: “Tuesdays to Thursdays. 8 AM to 11 PM.”

There are reasons why marketers follow this. One of them is that decision-makers are at their most active during these days and these timeslots. Besides, it doesn’t make any sense to send during the weekends. As if some blog would tell us otherwise.

“…Even though the weekend was not the most popular time to send emails, those who opened were much more likely to engage with it and click through or purchase.” – VerticalResponse.com

Hold on one second. You’re telling me that it actually works to send emails on Saturdays and Sundays? Sundays?!

Well, there has been numerous studies pointing out the benefits of weekend email campaigns. And while it may look like an outrageous idea, marketers who do implement this kind of approach have noted tremendous increases in conversions.

According to Yesware’s analysis of over 500,000 sales emails, email open and reply rates are higher on the weekends.

It may have something to do with the fact that managers and decision-makers are more relaxed during the weekends. The stressful conditions provided by regular workdays impel them to ignore promotional material and focus on the tasks they set out to do during these days. The weekend gives them respite from all this hassle and eventually, make them more responsive.

In fact, managers are more likely to read through their mail since they have a lot of free time in their hands, especially on Sundays. This would explain why conversion rates are so high on these days.

However, just like any other marketing theory, you will need to test the waters first before deciding on taking your email campaign out on a weekend. Experimentation and A/B testing are crucial. And if it does work, then consider taking the road less traveled.

Here are more mind blowing email marketing stats from Salesforce:

25 Mind Blowing Email Marketing Stats from Salesforce

Here’s How to Have a Successful Email Marketing Campaign with Callbox

Learn more tips on generating leads

Check out The Savvy Marketer’s Blog or watch more Callbox videos now

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Marketing and Transactional Emails: How to Leverage Both [VIDEO]

April 23, 2018/0 Comments/in Email Marketing /by Rebecca Matias

The inbox is a crowded place.

An office employee gets 121 emails each day.
Half of incoming mails are spam.
Only 38% of emails in the inbox are useful.

How do you make your emails rise above the noise?

First, here’s what’s inside a typical inbox:

Promotional Emails

0%

Transactional Emails

0%

Personal Emails

0%

It’s clear that to engage recipients,
you need the right mix of marketing and transactional emails.

While these two types of emails serve different uses,
combining both can boost marketing results through:

More ways to connect with prospects and customers
Deeper insight into prospect’s interest and intent
Extra opportunities for conversion

Here’s how to integrate marketing and transactional emails:

#1 Understand the difference

Marketing emails nurture leads, promote offers, and make a sale.
Transactional emails are sent to complete a process
Marketing emails include: cold emails, newsletters, event invites, promos, etc.
Transactional emails include: welcome emails, order confirmations, account updates, etc.

#2 Know what rules apply

Marketing emails must comply with applicable laws like the CAN-SPAM Act, CASL, GDPR, etc.
Transactional emails are mostly exempt from these legal standards.
For example, marketing emails require a valid postal address, but transactional emails don’t’.

#3 Separate them properly

Gmail suggests sending emails separately by purpose for better deliverability.
Use different sending IP addresses for each type.
Avoid using the same domain for marketing and transactional emails.

#4 Let the two types complement each other

Transactional emails typically fetch better engagement rates. Use them to:

Ask recipients to sign up for your newsletter and other marketing emails
Get referrals and recommendations
Carry out surveys and gather feedback
Point recipients to relevant resources like whitepapers, guides, webinars, etc.

Now, it’s time to improve your email results.
Leverage both marketing and transactional emails into your mix.

5 Email Opening Tips to Conquer Shorter Attention Spans [VIDEO]

February 27, 2018/0 Comments/in Email Marketing /by Rebecca Matias

Attention spans are getting shorter.
One study claims it’s shorter than a goldfish’s.

But this doesn’t mean people now have fishlike intelligence.
We simply got smarter at spending our attention.

That’s the key to getting your emails opened and read.
You have to show they’re worth people’s attention
… and you only have 8 seconds to do this.

Follow these proven tips to make each crucial second count.

#1 Figure out the best sending schedule

Send times affect email engagement rates.

Research shows mid-morning on weekdays work best.

Tweak your send times based on your own campaign and audience.

#2 Spend extra effort crafting your subject line

47% of recipients open emails based on subject lines alone.

Good subject lines use recipients’ curiosity and self-interest.

Come up with 2 to 3 subject line ideas and test each one.

#3 Avoid starting with “Hi, my name is…”

Opening lines affect whether your emails get read.

Your email won’t be worth reading if it starts off by talking about you.

Hook your prospects by making the opening about them.

#4 Show that you really did your homework

Personalized emails fetch 29% more opens and 41% higher CTRs than generic emails.

But deeper personalization improves conversion by up to 360%.

Open by mentioning a recent trigger event or a shared background.

#5 Pay attention to layout and formatting

Recipients spend only 5 seconds scanning an email.

In one glance, your prospect should know what the message is about.

Break the body into smaller chunks and make key items stand out.

But as attention spans continue to dwindle,
this is the best way to email prospects:

Seek respect, not attention.
It lasts longer.
–Z. Abdelnour

How to Make Sure Your Cold Emails Make it to the Inbox [VIDEO]

February 16, 2018/0 Comments/in Email Marketing /by Rebecca Matias

1 in 5 commercial emails sent never reaches the inbox.

6% end up in the spam folder
14% are blocked by ISPs entirely.

For cold emails, inbox placement becomes even more challenging.

That’s because…

You don’t have a relationship with your recipient yet.
You’re sending unsolicited messages.

But this doesn’t mean cold emails are spam.

That’s why they belong to the inbox, not the junk folder.

Follow these steps to make sure things stay that way…

Step 1: Scrub your list thoroughly

Your cold outreach’s success depends on the quality of your list.

Use list cleaning tools and services to remove bad addresses
Run a double opt-in campaign, especially when using a third-party list

Step 2: Check your copy for spam triggers

Your email’s content and design can set off spam alerts in dozens of ways.

Limit your use of known spam words
Maintain a 60-40 text-to-image ratio
Link exclusively to reputable domains

Step 3: Segment and personalize your campaign

In the eyes of ISPs, there’s a fine line between non-personalized bulk emails and spam.

Add some prospect-specific snippets to your email templates
Segment your list and customize the message for each group

Related: Say no to Spam! Ways to Avoid Putting your Email Marketing Campaign to the Dumpsite

Step 4: Let ISPs know you’re someone they can trust

Sender authentication tools and services can help you improve deliverability.

Setup SPF, DKIM, and DMARC anti-spoofing
Sign up for sender and email certification audits

Step 5: Watch how you use your sending IP

Once your sending IP and domain get blacklisted, your emails no longer reach recipients.

Send emails in small batches each day and gradually increase the volume
Use a dedicated IP for your sending server
Keep hard bounces below 5% and spam reports below 0.1%

Remember, cold emails are not spam unless you make them that way.

8 Ways 2017 Will Shape Your 2018 Email Marketing Campaigns

December 20, 2017/0 Comments/in Email Marketing /by Rebecca Matias

Email turns 47 next year. Despite countless obituaries declaring the death of email, email remains the most important tool in a B2B marketer’s arsenal. Research after research proves this, and the numbers all suggest a future where emails continue to drive marketing results.

But beneath the headline figures, a handful of trends have emerged in 2017 that hint at the shape of things to come in email marketing. Return Path’s “Email Marketing Performance in 2017” shares some pretty interesting findings that are bound to impact your email campaigns next year.

Let’s dive into the Return Path report and find out how this year’s email marketing trends will influence your email results in 2018. We’ll also consider insights from other 2017 email studies to get a fuller picture of what’s in store for your upcoming campaigns.

#1 Email performance is improving.

According to Return Path’s survey, a full 85% of respondents say email is getting better, with nearly two-thirds claiming the increase as significant. Only around 15% think email performance is getting worse.

Vertical Response points to the top five key drivers of email marketing improvement:

Better personalization and segmentation (more than 80% of marketers now use segmentation)
Interactivity (53% of marketers now include interactive content, such as embedded surveys and quizzes
More compelling copy (creative typography and branding-focused design)
Increased automation (automation boosts CTRs by as much as 119%)
Deeper integration with email triggers (transactional and nurture emails)

#2 Emails keep marketing goals within reach.

More than 90 percent of Return Path’s respondents think their email marketing strategy helps them reach key marketing objectives, while another 60% consider emails as a best-in-class tactic for hitting their targets. That leaves just 1 in 10 decision-makers unable to credit emails in achieving their goals.

According to several marketing research published in 2017, email plays a leading role in the following:

73% of marketers rank email as the top digital channel for lead generation (Marketingprofs)
Email marketing contributes to at least 22% of sales (Adestra)
54% of marketers use emails to improve engagement and nurture leads (Ascend)
Email remains the most effective channel for brand awareness, customer acquisition, and customer retention (Skyword)

Related: Curated: 13 Business Goals You Can Achieve Through Email Marketing

#3 Marketers maximize ROI with email, but…

Return Path found that 51% of respondents named increasing ROI as their top email marketing objective. The survey also uncovered that accelerating list growth and increasing conversions were both the top goal for 44% of executives.

While email marketing continues to deliver exceptional ROI, measuring returns on email investment remains a key challenge.

Email is the fastest-growing channel for ROI, with 73% of marketers rating the channel’s returns as “excellent” or “good” (Econsultancy and Adestra).
The median email marketing ROI is 122%, which is four times than those of other channels (eMarketer).
Only a small minority of marketers measure email performance beyond clicks, opens, and conversions (Adestra).

#4 Conversion is king.

According to Return Path, 67% of decision-makers believe conversions are the most useful KPI for measuring email marketing performance. Another 44% of respondents rate ROI as the top metric to keep an eye on, and 41% say it’s CTRs that matter the most.

Here’s how other 2017 studies break down email marketers’ metric usage:

CTRs (91%), open rates (80%), conversion rates (62%), bounce rate (41%), delivery rate (37%), and list growth rate (20%) (Adestra).
Customer acquisition (53%) and sales attributed to marketing campaigns (43%), (IEEE GlobalSpec).
Customer satisfaction (45%), customer retention (39%), leads (34%), upselling/cross-selling (33%) (IEEE GlobalSpec).

#5 Email shortens lengthy sales cycles.

The Return Path study confirms what most marketers know: sales cycles are lengthening. But the more important finding is that emails accelerate the sales process. Around 51% of decision-makers surveyed follow a complex sales cycle with multiple touches before closing a deal. Email improves conversions which, in turn, helps leads move through the sales funnel more quickly.

Earlier in the year, HubSpot ran an article that cited stats showing email’s impact on the sales/prospecting process:

On average, reps need to place 18 calls to connect with a prospect.
Only 24% of sales emails are opened.
90% of companies use at least two lead enrichment tools to know more about prospects.
Emails that contain 1 to 3 questions are 50% more likely to get a reply

#6 Outsourced + In-house = Effective Email Marketing

The formula for an effective email marketing campaign starts with the right combination of outsourced and in-house resources. Eighty-five percent of respondents in the Return Path study outsource all or part of their email marketing, while almost half think a collaboration of in-house resources and third-party expertise produces the best results.

Adestra’s “Email Marketing Census 2017” delves deeper into the responsibilities and activities involved in most organizations’ email campaigns. The report points out the following:

45% of organizations assign email responsibilities to a non-specialist in-house team, while only 8% of companies delegate email responsibilities to an internal individual email specialist.
As email marketing platforms improve, companies no longer need internal teams or individuals exclusively handling email activities.
61% of organizations spend at least 2 hours on email content and design, while only 39% of companies devote the same amount of time on strategy.
This can mean that companies will benefit from outsourcing content/design in order to focus more on strategy.

When it comes to email tactics, two best practices stand out. As much as 44% of Return Path’s respondents consider message personalization as the most effective email tactic, while another 41% think it’s social sharing.

Here’s what other email marketing studies have uncovered about email best practices:

80% of marketers use personalization, 73% optimize emails for mobile, and 57% clean their lists regularly (Adestra).
51% of marketers think list segmentation is the best tactic for lead nurturing (Ascend2).
Emails that contain social sharing buttons have 2.5 times higher CTRs (Nonprofit Hub).
Only 22% of marketers who use personalization describe their tactics as advanced (Adestra).

#8 Nothing good ever comes easily.

Another key finding from the Return Path study is that the most effective email marketing tactics also tend to be the most difficult to carry out. When asked to name the most challenging email practice, 41% of respondents cite list segmentation, 38% name testing and optimization, and 35% answer personalization.

The survey participants also point to three tactics whose effectiveness outweighs the difficulties of implementation. These are message personalization, social sharing, and CTA optimization.

Adestra reports the following obstacles to email marketing performance:

26% of companies say not having enough budget makes it difficult to optimize emails for different devices.
Other barriers to optimization include lack of company understanding (9%), difficulty measuring ROI (8%), and a lack of expertise (8%).
50% of organizations blame poor data integration for personalization difficulties, while others point to inadequate technology (32%) and skills gaps (16%).

The Takeaway

The biggest lesson to glean from Return Path’s findings (and other 2017 email marketing studies) is that email continues to bring both opportunities and challenges. Each year, email keeps getting better and better at driving results. But email marketing also becomes marginally harder to manage year after year.

We’ve seen that the most effective tactics are also the most difficult to carry out. That’s on top of hard-to-resolve deliverability issues, increased inbox overcrowding, and changing audience preferences.

There’s simply no magic formula for email marketing success. What we’ve learned from all the research done into email marketing this year is to test and iterate. That’s what every email marketer’s mindset should be for 2018 and beyond.

7 Types of Emails Your Business Should Send

December 11, 2017/0 Comments/in Email Marketing /by Contributor

So, you’ve been collecting email addresses through your various campaigns. You’ve dished out free e-books, sign-up bonuses, discounts to your store and just told your readers and followers why it’s so important they give you their email addresses, so they don’t miss out on what you’ve got.

But, have you considered what you have got? If you have a full email subscriber list, but nothing to send then your list isn’t worth anything! So, you’ve got to send something, but what?

Today, we’ll explore seven of the key types of email that you should be sending to your subscribers, giving you the ability to turn them into profitable leads that will help to make your business a success!

1) The ‘Hello’ Email

This should be the first email that your subscribers ever receive from you. In a welcome email, you’re basically saying hello to them and welcoming them to your community. To create this kind of email, think about how you’d welcome a new friend to your house or treat someone in a new relationship.

You want them to feel happy, comfortable and invited into your community. You want them to read your email and think ‘Awesome; I’m happy I signed up!’ That doesn’t mean that you should start bombarding them with promotional, advertising content telling them to part with your money.

Instead, tell them a little bit about yourself, introduce yourself and your business and let them get to know you and what they can expect in the future. Always remember that the fact you’ve already got their email address is a good sign, you don’t want to push your luck.

Related: Lead Generation Tip: Make your Email Newsletter more ‘Fetching’

2) The ‘Newsletter’ Email

You can create a newsletter just for your email subscribers to make them feel so special! This is completely up to you what you choose to do with it. You could email it daily (although this isn’t recommended), or much more likely, on a weekly or monthly basis.

You can interact with your readers, tell them what’s going on in your business, what products and services have been popular and any offers or competitions that you’re running. It’s really up to you!

Don’t forget that your newsletter is probably going to have a lot of content in it, so you need to make sure that it’s high-quality before you press send.

Always proofread and edit it several times to make sure there are no silly spelling mistakes or grammatical errors that could damage your business’s reputation. You can use services such as Via Writing or State of Writing to help you carry out this process effectively. Customers trust is correlated with website’s grammar.

3) The ‘Gift’ Email

This is always a favorite among subscribers, but it’s the email where you give something away. This could be a discount to your e-commerce store. It could be a free e-book or even an entry into a prize draw. It’s up to you but this always the email that the majority of subscribers are waiting for.

After all, these readers are your loyal customers, and they deserve a little treat from you every now and then. This gives your readers a nice little surprise when they open their inbox, and you’re sure to benefit in countless ways.

4) The ‘Getting to Know You’ Email

Like we said before, you don’t want to jump straight in and seem to forward, remember this is like nurturing a new friendship or relationship with your subscribers. You might even want to wait until this second email to start telling your readers a bit about yourself.

In this email, there’s a couple of things you should mention, but obviously, it depends on what you want to say. For example, you should tell your readers how often you’re going to email them. Again, you don’t want to be pushy and say we’re going to email you every day, it’s simply too much.

You could tell them some of the content they can expect from your emails, such as trending posts and topics that have happened throughout the week or any competitions you’ve got coming up and any other relevant information that your users may want to know.

For a guide on how to craft the ideal Getting to Know You email, you can use online writing guides, such as Academadvisor or Paper Fellows, who can guide you through the process.

5) The ‘Commanding’ Email

This doesn’t mean that you need to bark orders at your subscribers but, using emails, you can easily ask your subscribers for favors using calls to action.

For example, maybe you’re mailing the people that have bought products from you. Maybe you’d like to ask them to leave a review?

Maybe you’re looking for new ways to boost your social media follower counts? If you don’t ask, you don’t get.

What’s more, people are much more likely to respond and take action because they’re reading your emails and it feels like a lot more of a personal experience than if they’re reading from your social media page where you’re addressing everybody.

Related: The Great Email vs. Social Media Bakeoff (2018 Edition)

6) The ‘Only for Email’ Email

Sometimes, it’s nice to reward people for signing up to your mailing lists. There’s no better way to do this than giving your email readers exclusive content that only they can read.

Of course, this means you can’t post your content all over your website, it actually has to be for your email subscribers, but, there’s a lot of ways you can make this special.

Firstly, you have the names of your subscribers; this means you can talk to them directly. If they’ve been to your website and purchased something or used your services, you can create custom content because you know exactly what they are looking for and what kind of people they are.

If you’ve got some prize-winning content on your website, remember that not all users will be checking your website all the time. This means you’re going to need to keep them in the loop. So, why not provide them with an exclusive summary of everything that’s going on?

7) The ‘Hype’ Email

This one is one of my personal favourites since it is one of the most effective. If you’ve got something big coming up in the near-future, let your email subscribers know about it. But, you don’t have to tell them so bluntly. Instead, tease them with little bits of information and let them get excited.

It could be a new product launch, a new service launch, an upcoming competition or a feature; it could be anything you can think of!

The aim of this kind of email is to get people excited about your business. If they’re excited, they’re thinking about you, and if they’re thinking about you, they’re more likely to act, and your campaign has been successful!

Author Bio:

Brenda Berg is a professional with over 15 years of experience in business management, marketing, and entrepreneurship. Consultant and tutor for college students and entrepreneurs at Oxessays. She believes that constant learning is the only way to success. You can visit her personal blog at Letsgoandlearn.com

Sending Emails on Sunday? Are you Kidding me?!

May 17, 2017/1 Comment/in Email Marketing /by Judy Caroll