12 Tips for Effective Email Marketing in 2022 | Digitalaka

E-mail marketing is still a very popular and widely used strategy in online marketing and it is hard to imagine corporate communication without it. The reason for this is obvious: You can target thousands of contacts with a single mailing. However, not every email campaign is equally well received by users. There are a few things to consider here in order to stand out from the flood of commercial e-mails, to win subscribers for yourself and – an important point – to retain them in the long term. 

In this article, we'll give you 12 tips to help you effectively advance your email marketing. 

1. A professional email marketing tool makes your processes easier

Ifyou want to successfully do e-mail marketing, you can't avoid an e-professional software. Because with an email marketing tool, you can simplify many recurring tasks. The saves valuable time and reduces clerical errors, which can quickly creep in when sending individual e-mails manually.  

An important point that is difficult to reach when sending e-mails manually via Outlook and Co. is data protection. The mailings must be sent in such a way that it is not apparent to any of the recipients whoare also receiving the newsletter. Professional Email marketing reseller plan tools have appropriate technical and organizational measures to encrypt customer data.    

Another bonus: The servers of these tools are listed on so-called whitelists and are therefore classified as trustworthy. If you use a professionalemail marketing provider, your risk of being classified as spam is minimized. 

A variety of free and paid tools are available on the market – it's easy to lose track of things. Therefore, when choosing the right newsletter software, pay attention to the following existing features:  

• responsive templates – ready-made designs for mobile use and desktop variants
• Segmentation features to target the email campaign to a specific audience
• Data protection compliance – integration of a douple opt-in procedure, imprint and unsubscribe links
• A/B testing – functions to test different variants
• Detailed reports to evaluate the performance of your campaigns

2. Play it safe with double opt-in procedures

Anyone who works with contact lists in e-mail marketing must ensure that they are legally compliant – recipients must have expressly and demonstrably consented to their inclusion in the newsletter distribution list. Contrary to popular belief, this basic rule also applies to the B2B sector. We expressly advise against purchased contact lists, because it is not possible to check whether consent has taken place beforehand. Sometimes the data quality of purchased e-mail addresses is very poor, as many contacts may not be reachable or not interested in your newsletter content.

If legal certainty is not taken into account, there is a risk of costly warnings since the introduction of the GDPR in May 2018 at the latest. With the double opt-in procedure in the newsletter registration form on your website, you are on the safe side here: The recipient not only grants his permission with a mouse click, but also confirms it by link in a confirmation e-mail sent by the e-mail marketing tool. This double protection ensures legal compliance and reduces your spam complaints. In addition, you ensure that your subscribers only receive the content that actually interests them – especially if there is a choice for certain topic content when registering. A real win-win situation!

In order to be able to agree to the subscription quickly and easily in the confirmation e-mail, it is advisable to set visible call-to-action buttons (CTAs).

Another tip: Show your prospects what they can expect from the newsletter and why this subscription is a good decision.

3. Maintain your email contact list

Often, the most important goal for email marketers is to keep the contact list as long as possible. However, it is not the pure mass of contacts that is decisive, but rather the quality of the mailing list – i.e. the question of the extent to which the mailings are responded to positively. The careful and continuous maintenance of the recipient list is thus another key to successful email marketing.

In principle, an e-mail contact list consists of three types of contacts:

1. Active contacts who open an email

2. Unsubscribed contacts who have unsubscribed themselves from the mailing list

3. Excluded contacts that you have unsubscribed or blacklisted.

A maintained contact list should only consist of email addresses that actually exist and want to receive your emails. Returns, inactive contacts and bounces should therefore be removed regularly. In the long term, you can ensure high deliverability and better campaign performance and avoid your messages being classified as spam. In order for subscribers to be able to unsubscribe from your newsletter without any problems, there must be an unsubscribe link in each of your e-mails.

Incidentally, it is particularly suitable for shop operators to link their e-commerce platform with the e-mail marketing software via a plug-in. As a result, the newsletter recipients are automatically synchronized and can be segmented by you according to certain filters and criteria such as .B purchase history.

4. Targeted email subject lines spark curiosity

Already have a full contact list? Now it is important to keep the recipients and feed them regularly with interesting topics. Whether your e-mails disappear unread in the trash or are opened is often decided by the first impression of the e-mail, i.e. the subject line. If this is well thought out, you arouse curiosity and skillfully draw attention to your e-mail campaign. An appealing subject should be short and crisp – no longer than 30 to 50 characters to be fully displayed in the mobile view. If it fits your brand image, you can formulate part or all of the subject line in the same wording to ensure a recognition value. In addition, use the personalized address (name and salutation of the recipient), show that you have a personal relationship with the recipient. This also increases the likelihood that your emails will be opened by the recipients.

Whichever tactic you choose, it is always advisable to check several variants to find out which formulations in the subject line you will get the most attention with. If you use a professional tool for e-mail marketing, so-called A/B tests are available to you. You test different subject lines by sending them to small contact groups. By means of various parameters, e.B. highest open rate or lowest logoff rate, it is possible to quickly determine which line works best. This is then sent to all other contacts.

5. Consistent branding and clean design increase the success of your email marketing campaign

Whether in the supermarket queue or on the train – many people nowadays read their e-mails on their smartphone or tablet. It is therefore important to optimize newsletters for mobile devices – a responsive design is mandatory for e-mail templates.

Long blocks of text, into which subscribers have to read in order to filter out the relevant information, are rather daunting and counterproductive here. Instead, rely on clear structures and several paragraphs. Structure the body meaningfully through bulleted lists, images, appealing call-to-action buttons (CTAs), and consistent headings.

Speaking of uniformity: This is particularly important for the brand image of your company. Because the e-mail campaigns look different, this leaves a less than professional impression on the readers. Colors, font, design and tone of voice of the emails should therefore be kept in a uniform style.

By the way, most popular newsletter tools offer the ability to consistently save certain sections and parts of the design for the next email marketing campaign.

6. Create newsletters – too much content is counterproductive

"Less is more" – this principle also applies to the e-mail newsletter and should always be kept in mind when creating. If the recipient is bombarded with too much interactive content and long texts, his interest shrinks. A possible result: Delete the newsletter or unsubscribe from the list.

Therefore, avoid an excess of information and instead prefer valuable, exclusive content for your subscribers. Put your readers first and offer them the added value they expect from your newsletter.

Of course, the exact content of your newsletter campaign depends on your business model and your target group. As an e-commerce company in the B2C sector, the following content is suitable for classic newsletters with product recommendations:

• Promotion of your own products (e.B. cross-selling)
• Instructions and assistance for your products
• Shopping recommendations for specific occasions (e.B Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, etc.)
• Individual notifications and vouchers (e.B. for birthdays)
• Promotions for existing customers

In addition, you can also provide transactional e-mails (e.B. with a shipping confirmation) with further products and special promotions (up-selling). Shopping cart abandoners can also remind you of the purchase in a friendly way and create new purchase incentives with similar products.

In the B2B sector, different rules apply than in B2C: The challenge is often to convince the recipients of highly complex products and services. The target group does not demand discount promotions and product placements. Instead, she wants to be impressed with high-quality content and know-how. Ideal here are e.B.:

• Current industry news and future trends
• User tips e.B. in the form of a detailed blog post
• Knowledge advantages, e.B. in the form of a white paper
• Video tutorials from experts
• Service Notes
• A look behind the scenes of your company or production facility
• Invitations to events (trade fairs, conferences, webinars, etc.)

7. Take advantage of strong call-to-action buttons

Ideally, your subscribers will not only scan the newsletter roughly, but also become directly active, browse your blog or shop in your online shop. Redirecting to your products or services works best through highly visible call-to-action (CTAs) buttons with a clear call to action. The placement has proven itself on the one hand in the upper area, since no scrolling is required here, and additionally at the bottom of the e-mail. Once the reader has arrived at the bottom, give an impulse to action directly here.

If you also follow the following tips when designing your CTAs, your chances of a successful newsletter will increase:

• Design: The color of the button should match the brand image of the company and stand out as a contrast from the background.
• Language: The formulations should be short, active and, in particular, concise. "Click here" or "Read more" is short, but not really meaningful. Successful CTAs are e.B"Download e-book now" or "Get 20% discount immediately".
• Number: Don't put too many CTAs – a good balance is important.

• 8. Design an e-mail newsletter – score points with personalization

  Give your e-mails an individual touch – this conveys closeness, creates a personal bond between you and your subscribers and thus also increases the open rate.

  From the subject line to the signature, there are various options available to you to customize an e-mail newsletter:
  1. Address your readers personally by name in the subject and also in the welcome line (there are different types of address – from formal to personal)
  2. Send newsletters for special events, such as birthdays
  3. Use the signature and e-mail address of an employee instead of the company name to send the newsletter
  4. Segment your customer list in advance, e.B. according to similar interests, behaviors, age, location, favorite products, etc.

  9. Correct frequency and optimal shipping time

  Regularity pays off – also in email marketing. But how often should newsletters actually be sent? Not so easy to answer: On the one hand, your subscribers want to be informed promptly about current news, offers and discounts, on the other hand, many readers unsubscribe from the newsletter when the mailbox literally overflows.

  A general statement as to which day or time is optimal for shipping cannot be easily made. Experience has shown, however, that the opening rate is highest between the early morning hours and the morning, with the day of the week playing a subordinate role. Only the weekend is rather unsuitable to reach the subscribers.

  Your option: Ask members of your target group about the time periods in which they receive the newsletter and what topics they would like to be notified about.

  10. Control is better – Checklist & Test Emails

  In order to avoid unpleasant clerical errors in the newsletter, which only become apparent afterwards and can no longer be corrected, you should thoroughly test each e-mail before the actual dispatch. Check the following points:
  • Spelling and typos
  • Correct display of images
  • mobile view / desktop display
  • Contact
  • Sender's address
  • Links & CTAs (e.B redirects to the landing page)
  • Unsubscribe link and imprint

  Since a second or third pair of eyes often also sees the errors that the creator missed when texting, it is advisable to send the newsletter as a test email to one or two team members for correction. If possible, also to different email clients to ensure that your emails are successfully delivered and displayed correctly everywhere.

  11. How to bypass the spam folder

  Deliverability is a good keyword at this point, because if your e-mails are stored directly in the spam folder with your subscribers, this is not very promising for your e-mail marketing campaign. Therefore, it is important to avoid the classification as spam at all costs. How does that work?

  With these three steps, you minimize the risk significantly:
  1. Don't buy an email contact list, but create it yourself. This will attract customers who actively opt for your email newsletter and do not mark it as spam.
  2. Make the content appealing and relevant to your target group.
  3. Avoid keywords and word combinations that trigger a direct spam alarm, e.B. "millions", "guaranteed", "you have won", "xxx", "no rip-off", "do not delete" etc.

  12. Last but not least – check the performance of the campaign

  After the campaign is before the campaign. Once you've checked and sent your email newsletter, it's now a matter of reviewing the performance of your campaign to make your next email even better. Therefore, keep an eye on your statistics such as delivery rate, open rates, click-through rates, bounces and A/B test results and schedule routine checks. This allows you to draw conclusions and narrow down your own hypotheses that you have thought of in advance. This helps you to optimize future email campaigns in a targeted manner.

  

  
  

  It is not always easy to classify and evaluate company-specific values. To get a feel for the goals and success of email marketing campaigns, it's worth taking a look at the Email marketing reseller program. Accordingly, the average opening rate in the DACH sector across all industries is around 29 percent. The click-through rate for messages, on the other hand, averages 6.5 percent overall.

  Our conclusion: With little effort to successful e-mail marketing

  Email marketing is an effective strategy for reaching customers easily and directly – and with little effort, using the right tricks. When designing your email campaigns, heed the tips from this post and always keep in mind that your newsletter is not a catalog or sales letter, but rather the front door to more content, nothing stands in the way of your start in effective email marketing. Give it a try!

  If you would like professional support at your side, the team of white label email marketing reseller will be happy to assist you. Just give us a call or leave us a message – we look forward to your inquiry!