Boost Conversion Rates: 8 Email Marketing Tips for 2018

I’m always impressed by a creative email subject line—one that grabs my attention and makes me click and open. In the marketing business, that’s pure gold: The ability to make a brand connection with your audience and prompt the desired response.

Email is a great way to make those connections, while getting the most bang for your marketing buck: Not only do 72% of consumers prefer email as their primary means of communicating with brands, but email offers a $44 ROI for every $1 spent. (Campaign Monitor). When it comes to successful email marketing, there are a few very simple rules that can help boost your click-through rates:

1. Optimize for mobile. If your email platform isn’t mobile-friendly, you’re missing the boat. Statistics show that 56% of emails are opened and read on mobile devices—so if your email isn’t formatted for mobile, the reader will likely miss out on important content.
2. Segment your list. One-size email marketing is out; personalized brand connections are in. By segmenting your distribution list, you can tailor your email message to speak directly to your audience based on region, market, age, gender, etc. The result is a more relevant and personalized brand touch.
   
3. Automate your email. Automated or triggered emails deliver an astounding 624% higher conversion rate than everyday business emails (Venture Beat). A few ideas for triggered email content includes: Welcome, Thank you (post sale or post meeting), Upsell opportunity, or Milestone event.
   
4. Make your subject line sing. No matter how compelling your email content, you’ve got to get them to open it first: 33% of email recipients open email based on subject lines alone (Convince & Convert). And don’t be afraid to get personal: According to Campaign Monitor data, a personalized email subject line boosts open rates by 26%, and increases click-through rates by 14%.
   
5. Add video. We know by now that video helps drive people to your website. But according to eMarketer, video in emails can also increase clicks, shares, and forwards as much as 50%.
   
6. Include a call to action (CTA). Your email content needs to be compelling, relevant—and it also needs a strong CTA, even if it is as simple as asking the reader to share on twitter or click through to a landing page. Consider using words such as “now” or “today” or add an incentive to help boost participation.
   
7. Time it right. The day of the week and time of day your email is sent effects open rates. Research from GetResponse shows that Tuesday is the best day of the week to send emails (followed by Thursday and Wednesday); and 10 a.m. is the best time to hit send.
   
8. Know your audience. It sounds like an obvious rule of thumb, but too often marketers ignore their loyal base of customers, members or donors because they are too focused on chasing new prospects. Existing customers are one of the biggest untapped resources in marketing: The probability of selling to a customer is 60-70% (compared with 5-20% for new prospects).

Email marketing requires nuances, that when considered, can drastically improve your chances of making solid brand connections. If you’re interested in learning more about smart email marketing, or if you’d like to bounce your best subject line ideas off of me, I’m all ears: tconnor@shamrockcompanies.net

Good luck!
Tim Connor