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Email marketing is one of the most effective strategies to nurture casual visitors into loyal customers. 91% of consumers use their emails at least once a day. And, email marketing has the average ROI of 3800%. These numbers mean that this is a platform you don’t want to miss out on.
While you should be on social media, it is only “rented” space. Any social media channel could be gone tomorrow along with your content and followers. Your email list, however, is your own.
Do you want to make the most out of your email marketing? Follow the step by step guide below.
Table of Contents
Step 1. Use a lead magnet to grow your email list
You can call it a bribe, quid pro quo, or an exchange. Whatever you want to call it, lead magnets are simply something you give away for free in exchange for someone’s email address.
The important word to remember here is ‘magnet’. This means that it has to be something that your visitors are interested in getting. It also needs to be relevant to your business. This way, the leads that will opt into your email list will be the ones who are likely interested in your products or services.
Lead magnets don’t need to be expensive. A lot of the times, you can create them for free. Free ebooks, webinars, cheat sheets, or consultation are some of the effective lead magnets that you can use. The type of lead magnet you want to use is up to you as long as it is effective.
Step 2. Use email segmentation to send personalized emails
Segmenting your email lists involves placing your email subscribers in different groups based on specific criteria. For example, new subscribers can be one segment and inactive subscribers can be another. This way, you can tailor your messages and only send emails that are relevant to its recipients.
Other segments that you can create are based on location, age range, interests, shopping cart abandonment, or which lead magnet they opted in for.
Segments make it very easy for you to know what subject lines, messages, or offers to send. Once you are able to segment your email lists properly, you will see an increase in open rates, click rates, and engagement to your calls-to-action. Sending relevant messages through email segmentation will also keep your audiences from hitting unsubscribe.
Step 3. Improve your email open rates
There are different factors at play as to why your emails are opened or ignored. Let’s look at them closely.
Avoid spam filters
You may have obtained permission from subscribers to send them emails but they may never see your messages if it goes straight to spam. Sending emails from a good IP address (IP address that hasn’t been used to send spam), using verified domains, including your location, and making it easy to unsubscribe are some of the best practices that you can follow.
Using words that are too sale-sy such as “cash”, “buy”, and “discount” may send your emails to spam. Using deceptive subject titles will do that too.
A/B test your send times
Timing is everything. There is a lot of data online that suggests the best days and times to send emails. You can use these guidelines but make sure to look into your own data. Perform some A/B tests to see which timeframes have better open rates among your own audience.
Write content that provides value
Getting an email opened is only half the battle. You have to make sure that your subscribers open your emails in the future as well. When you send an email just for the sake of sending them, or when you seem to eager to make a sale, your subscribers will quickly sense that. As a result, your subscribers will start ignoring your emails or hit unsubscribe.
Remember, your subscribers will always ask, ‘What’s in it for me?”. Write emails that answer this question.
Additionally, write as if you are writing to one person. What is your ideal customer like? What problems are they looking to solve? What are their values? What are their likes? Their dislikes?
Keep your email list fresh
An inactive subscriber is someone that has not engaged with your emails for more than 6 months. Move them into your inactive segment.
Make your emails mobile-friendly
67.2% of consumers check their emails on their smartphones. Test your emails by sending it to yourself and opening it from a desktop and from your mobile phone. Make sure your email is readable on both devices. If you are including a call-to-action button, make sure it is easy to click.
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Step 4. Create email autoresponders by segments
An autoresponder is an email sequence that is triggered by a particular event. For example, a trigger can be someone joining your list for the first time. As a part of your email marketing efforts, you can send them a welcome email followed by a follow-up email then, a special offer.
Another example is subscribers that recently joined your webinar. You can send them a thank you email with webinar notes then, a reminder on an exclusive discount that they are entitled to by attending.
Whatever your triggers and email sequences are, they will help you nurture your leads so you can turn your prospects into customers. And, since autoresponders are prepared in advance, it will save you a lot of time.
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