Ten Email Marketing Tips You Can Implement Now
I recently listened to a webinar by Dan Zarrella from HubSpot. As marketers wanting to keep up with the changes going on in the industry, if you are not reading or listening to content from HubSpot, you are missing out. They have some great marketing resources on their website.
The title of his webinar was "The Science of Email Marketing." This is one of the best webinars I have listened to because it was filled with ideas that any company could implement now. Here are some of the takeaways from the research performed:
1. Businesses are consumers.
Myth: B2B and B2C email marketing is very different. Fact: Did you know that only 12 percent of business people use separate inboxes for work and personal emails? That means 88 percent of business people are also reading personal emails throughout the day. So you are essentially emailing their consumer inboxes. Therefore, there is no reason to treat B2B email marketing any differently.
2. Saturdays and Sundays had the highest click-through-rate of any other days of the week.
They also had pretty low unsubscribe rates. Thursday's unsubscribe rate was the lowest, while Tuesday's was the highest. The research showed Monday and Tuesday as being the two highest days for unsubscribe rates because it is the beginning of the week and people are really busy, so they don't have the time to read through email marketing messages. So the next time you send your email, consider sending it on the weekends and be sure to stay away from sending early in the week.
3. Most users report reading emails in the morning.
Six a.m. had by far the highest click-through-rate of the day. Try sending your next email marketing message early in the morning.
4. Over 80 percent of users reported reading email on a mobile device.
Make sure your email campaigns are optimized for the smaller screen.
5. Use several links in your emails.
The research shows that as the number of links goes up, so does the click-through-rate. The unsubscribe rate also decreases as the number of links increases.
6. To increase the chances of your email being archived and viewed again, include reference information.
Most people use their inbox as an archive. If they want information on their industry, business or something personally relevant to them, they check their inbox first. They consider it elite data because it is personalized to them. Think about how you can make your email worthy of archiving. What can you include to make people want to come back and access it later.
7. Subject line words.
Most clicked: posts, jobs, survey, week's, e-newsletter, issue, digest, bulletin, edition
Most abuse reported: confirm, features, upgrade, magic, raffle, requested, rewards, christ, follow-up
Your subject line is an incredibly important part of your email message. This is what helps subscribers determine whether or not they will read your email. Choose your words carefully.
8. Give your subscribers exclusivity.
People want to know what's in it for them. Make your subscribers feel special, like they are getting something no one else is. Give them special access to your company.
9. Send your email from someone subscribers have heard of.
The first thing most people check to decide whether or not they want to read your email is the Sender. If they don't know the Sender, they more than likely are not going to open your email.
10. Don't be afraid to send emails more than once per month.
Although sending one email per month has the highest click-through-rate at six percent, sending out three, four, eleven or even 22 or 27 still have click-through-rates of slightly more than four percent. And, as the number of emails sent per month increases, the unsubscribe rate decreases. However, this situation is going to vary from industry to industry and company to company. It might require some testing before you figure out what number is appropriate for your subscribers.
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