Crucial components of successful email marketing campaigns

Although traditional and considered as outdated by some marketers today, email marketing can still be just as effective today. In the past, we explored the importance of email marketing for modern businesses. Today, we are expanding further on the subject by defining some of the essential components that make up successful email marketing campaigns. Once you grasp the relevance of implementing email marketing, you need to master it. And this article can bring you one step closer to that, making your email campaigns more cost-effective and impactful.

What is the point of a successful email campaign?

According to current statistics, the number of email users in 2019 amounted to roughly 3.9 billion people. By the end of 2020, that number is estimated to go over 4 billion. Therefore, email use continues to be an integral part of everyday life. With more than 90 percent of adults using emails today, the importance of using email campaigns for marketing purposes can be a great way to attract the right crowd to your business.

Creating and running a proper email marketing campaign can boost a business in a variety of ways. Whether you are looking to understand your target audience, outreach to other business owners and websites, retain existing customers and ones that never converted, etc. – emails are the way to reach all those groups, as well as others. And with some A/B testing, a little detailed research, several studies, and a list of essential components – you can get there.

12 crucial components of a successful email marketing campaign

Every successful project starts with a well-developed plan of action. When you are looking to invest in your digital marketing efforts through SEO, you first need to plan out your perfect SEO strategy. If you are investing in PPC or social media advertising, you want to create a tailored approach to it first. And the same rule applies to email marketing campaigns. A good starting point would be to craft a content strategy on the basis of the interests of your target audience. Once you outline the focus points of your content, you need to schedule all your marketing projects several weeks in advance. Two things to bear in mind here:

• Establish a frequency of sending out email campaigns. Start with two per month and go from there, slowly testing and improving those campaigns as time passes, eventually introducing more frequent ones.
• Adapt to the state of events in your niche and company. Although having a plan is definitely the right approach, you need to leave room for flexibility. There will be certain events, trends, news, etc. that will change the way your and other companies operate. Your campaigns should be able to deviate from any predetermined plan in accordance with current market trends.

Another thing to remember or learn – no matter how good your emails might be, they can always be better. So, consider the following twelve elements and see where it is that your email marketing tactics stand.

1. Subscribing

People that never signed up to receive emails from your business shouldn’t be part of your email campaigns as a rule of thumb. It’s perfectly understandable for you to want to target as many people as possible with your email campaign, but there are certain boundaries. And reaching out to consumers that never opted in for emails from you is not only unethical but can also be illegal under certain circumstances.

That is why you should never purchase email lists and should always get permission from people before sending them emails. As a fundamental component of successful email marketing campaigns, opt-in’s need to be verified. Sometimes, subscribers can accidentally sign up to receive emails or have second thoughts about your company. So, take the time to offer a 2-step verification for subscribers to confirm their interest to receive emails from your business. That will help you avoid dealing with potentially low open rates and high bounce rates.

2. Responsive design for all devices

Modern marketing research shows that nearly 50 percent of people use mobile devices to open emails. So, it is perfectly understandable how responsive design is one of the crucial components of successful email marketing campaigns. When you have mobile-friendly templates for your campaigns, you are able to reach more potential users. That is one of the many ways how web design affects conversion rates.

However, a template is only one part of the process. To provide mobile users with the optimal marketing experience via emails, you need to create user-friendly content as well. Consider that content for mobile devices is not the same as the one for desktops. So, to find the perfect balance in your content creation process, consider the following guidelines:

• Always make sure to position all crucial information above the fold. That way, you will immediately gain the attention of subscribers and have higher chances of getting your point across. When you force them to scroll for information, you already lose part of their interest.
• Include less text and more visual elements. Consumers today dislike having to go through bundles of content, especially on smaller devices. It puts an unpleasant strain on people, which is why you will have higher success rates with images and concise copy in your email campaigns.
• Find the perfect balance between your copy and calls to action (CTA). Having an empty email with a few undefined taglines and a single CTA can be confusing to users. On the other hand, cluttering your campaign with copy and numerous CTAs can appear too aggressive and turn off users.
• Make sure that your CTAs are large enough to use. Consider small devices and wide fingers when designing the buttons in your email marketing campaigns.

3. Follow-through

If you want to grow the influence and strength of your brand, you need to portray it in all your advertising efforts. Start by remembering that your word should be your bond, especially in direct email communication with clients. That means that you need to follow-through with the promises you made to subscribes and deliver on the content they expect from you. Whether we’re talking about promotional deals, coupons, industry-related news and articles, professional tips and advice, reminders, or anything else – your business has to deliver. Make transparency a component of your email campaigns to make them successful.

When you offer less than you promised, customers are more likely to not only unsubscribe but also never come back or refer others to you. Clear your priorities by putting the expectations of email subscribers first and your sales pitch second. And you need to maintain this by ensuring consistency in your email strategy. Once you do, users will be able to connect more to your brand, resulting in long-term relationships with your company.

4. Clear objectives

The key to all successful marketing campaigns and strategies is an organized and well-defined approach. You start by making your objectives clear. Define what it is that each of your email campaigns will target. Consider the focus points of different emails and align all other components with that objective. Some usual examples would include:

• Promoting articles from your blog.
• Sharing online resources and guides.
• Making a purchase from your website.
• Scheduling a consultation with your team.
• Donating to a cause.
• Participating in a promotional deal.
• Signing up for other mailing lists, etc.

No matter which objectives you are looking at, you need to tailor your campaign to match it completely. From clear & direct CTAs to concise and simple copy, you need to clear the path for your subscribers. Basically, you want to make it as simple as possible for them to realize what you expect them to do as soon as they see the email.

5. List segmentation

Sending out generic email campaigns to all subscribers is an outdated approach to email marketing. People today prefer a more personal approach from businesses that reach out via emails to them. Therefore, one of the components that you will want to use to ensure the success of your email campaign is list segmentation. By separating your target audiences according to various filters, you can make slight modifications that will cater to the needs of specific categories of users. As a result of this, companies are able to ensure better alignment with customer needs and higher performance.

This approach is also one that is very popular among social media advertising companies. You start by using basic segmentation factors such as age, gender, location, ethnicity, etc. You can further personalize your email campaigns by using filters such as interests/hobbies, political beliefs, religious beliefs, etc. Another approach that you can take here is to use purchase history and cookies to create email campaigns tailored to help you retain customers or remarked to lost leads, etc.

6. Personalization

We mentioned in the previous component the importance of personalizing your email campaigns. Most people think that by simply including one’s name and phone number/email in an email covers this tactic. However, personalization in email advertising has raised the bar further in the past several years. Today, consumers respond best to emails that match perfectly their interests.

When you use personalization as one of the components of successful email campaigns, you need to take the time to customize it thoroughly. And that means taking past purchases, preferences, comments, and engagements from customers and integrating it all in the email campaigns you send them. That is why the above-mentioned list segmentation plays such a crucial role. It saves you time and expenses to categorize your target audience into smaller groups and create personalized emails for each group.

7. Impeccable copy

What users see in your campaigns is what they use to form opinions about your brand. From the vocabulary, style, and tone that you use in your email content…to spelling and grammatical mistakes in your copy – subscribers notice all of it. And once they do, they are not as likely to neglect it. Yes, everybody makes mistakes and this is true enough. However, the closer you get to perfection in your way of addressing subscribers, the higher the success rate of your email campaign will be. Consider taking the following measures:

• Always have someone spellcheck the campaigns before they go out.
• Use an email marketing checklist to make sure that you have all your bases covered.
• Ensure that you leave no empty spaces to mislead readers.
• Remember to always include an option for people to unsubscribe from your emails.

8. The value test

It really comes down to answering one simple question to those reading the email – “So what?“. Why should readers care about your email? What is the value that you are offering subscribers through the email you are sending them? These are the questions that you need to consider when preparing your email campaign. And if you are unable to answer that simple question of “So what?” while reading the email you prepared, then you need to revisit the campaign again.

By answering this question, you are in fact offering your target audience the value they are looking for when they open an email from your company. It doesn’t need to convince them through the use of a sales pitch or other promotional efforts. It simply needs to focus on value from start to end, to ensure high engagement metrics.

9. Shareability

Sometimes, even the slightest subliminal suggestion tactic can offer high-performance results for the content your provide. Similar to blog articles and social media posts, offering people the option of sharing the email they receive from you can expand the overall reach of your campaign. Not only can you boost your reach, but you can also gain more online presence, which will help you generate more leads and boost brand awareness.

And all it takes to accomplish this is to push your subscribers in the right direction of forwarding your email to others. Whether you will include a simpler reminder in the email, social media sharing buttons, or offer a reward thorough a referral marketing program – the goal is to get as much inbox time as possible.

10. Pre-send tests

There is no harm in conducting a last-minute check when it comes to your email campaign functionality and performance. Send out a test email to yourself or one of your co-workers and have them double-check the content for errors, the CTAs, the URL in the links, etc. You need to make sure that everything is perfect order once the email reaches its recipient. And, of course, make sure to check the email on different devices – desktop, tablet, and phone – to see how it appears. Testing is a fundamental component for creating a successful email campaign for your business.

11. Good deliverability

Once you’ve gone through all the component that makes the email campaign itself appear ready, you need to ensure that all your subscribers will be able to receive it. And that is where boosting email deliverability comes into play. The obstacle you need to pass is your email ending up in the spam folder. Your best bet here would be to run your email through a spam filter test. The usual reasons why emails end up in spam folders are:

• Use of spam words such as ‘free’, ‘buy now’, etc.
• Unnecessary use of capital lettering and punctuation.
• Repetitive promotional taglines such as “Discounts”, “Limited Offer”, “Last-Minute Deal”, etc.

12. Follow-up analysis

Sending the email campaign is just the start of ensuring the overall success of it. Now comes the next step – monitoring how it impacts subscribers, collecting data, and using that data to perfect future campaigns. That way, you can constantly improve your email marketing efforts and grow the influence of your brand on your target audience. Additionally, using competitive analysis can help you remain competitive in your market.

Start working on your email marketing efforts today

Creating successful email campaigns can be daunting and take time and effort. The process itself requires research, testing, case studies, and an innovative mindset. In addition to it all, it can be very time-consuming and draining if you don’t have the proper team to guide you through it all.

As a professional digital marketing agency, Digital Dot has extensive experience when it comes to digital marketing solutions for moving companies and we are always glad to offer professional advice and consultations. Contact our team today to schedule a professional consultation or explore some of our other articles to help boost your email campaigns!