Blog Post

Make Email Marketing the Hero of Your Strategy   

  • By Mark Baker
  • 20 Oct, 2016
With all the technological innovations in the marketing world, email can sometimes feel like old news. You get hundreds of emails per day and if you’re not careful, this platform can feel like an over-used and under-performing tool. However, by 2015 there were 4.3 billion email users worldwide, and studies show for every $1 spent, the average return on an email marketing investment is $44.25. Email marketing has proven time and time again that it is a valuable opportunity for companies – if used intentionally and correctly. Optimizing your content and producing a successful email marketing strategy is one of the most efficient and effective ways to generate new leads, push leads through your sales funnel, and turn customers into fans. Here are a few tips to ensure that your emails work effortlessly and efficiently to achieve your marketing goals.

1. Segment your contacts 

Nothing is worse than receiving an email that doesn’t apply to you and just fills up your inbox. Throwing all of your subscribers into one database, and sending them all the same emails is one surefire way to lose subscribers and annoy your customer base. Segmenting your contacts allows you to send messages that are more useful and applicable to your recipients. Start by separating the email addresses you receive into categories, such as subscribed, leads, and customers. This allows you to speak to people depending on where they are in the buyers’ journey and offers them more appealing deals and information.

Segmenting your contacts also allows you to write emails that feel more personal. Addressing people by where they are in the buyer’s journey will create a more enjoyable customer experience for the recipient. The more you are able to segment your list, the more freedom you have to compose specific messages to address the recipient’s experience, so try to segment as much as possible.

2. Determine your primary goal before you write the email

One important best practice when composing emails is to determine your primary goal before you write the email. The most effective emails have just one purpose, and succinctly tie all information back to that goal. Determine what your call to action is before you compose the message so you can be sure no time is wasted leading readers in different directions and scattering their attention. Also, remember, metrics aren’t goals. While it is important to consider things like open rates and click through rates, they shouldn’t be the goal of your email. Instead land on an actionable item that will compel your reader to act.

3. Consider design and functionality 

Design and functionality are paramount to the success of your email. However, it’s not an exact science, and what works for one business might not work for another. With this in mind, there are a few best practices that should always be considered when designing your email. First, keep the subject line short and try to use any longtail keywords included in your content. The subject line represents one opportunity for you to show some personality and originality—try to be attention grabbing (in the right way of course). Next, write the email purposefully for scanning. Most people won’t read every line of your copy, but if you have chosen a clear goal and write with the knowledge that most recipients won’t read every word, your message should still be accessible to the reader. It’s also important to make sure you keep things short and sweet; emails that have long blocks of copy can drag.

Most importantly, don’t be afraid to show a little personality in your copy and design. People find originality refreshing so don’t be afraid to step outside of the box when composing emails. Here are a few examples of successfully unique and well-written email campaigns to get your creative juices flowing.

4. Remember mobile devices 

According to a Hubspot poll, 51% of emails are read on mobile devices, and 74% of people say that they primarily use their smart phone for email. Therefore, optimizing your emails for mobile devices is vital to an effective email marketing strategy. As a company, you must ensure that all marketing emails sent can be easily read and understood on a myriad of devices. You can’t just stop at mobile devices however, consider tablets and mid-size screens as well as the smaller mobile device screens when producing emails. Also, a good practice is to test your emails on these devices before you send them so you can fix any irregularities or inconsistencies before they become problematic.


5. Use analytics to measure success

Finally, don’t forget to use your analytics to measure your success and test your email marketing campaigns. Again, email marketing is not an exact science, so it’s very important to review what’s working for you and what isn’t. A few statistics to make sure you review are your delivered rate, your open rate, your click through rate, and your conversion rate. Also, when you’re making adjustments to your emails, change just one element at a time and then look at your analytics to see how effective your adjustments were. If you change too much at once, you’ll never be able to identify the effects of individual revisions.



Following these best practices will help you keep your email marketing campaigns successful and unique. If you segment your contacts so that your emails are contextual, and create content that is compelling, email can be an invaluable tool in your marketing strategy.




Mark Baker

Mark Baker is a natural artist. Since starting his first business hand painting graphics onto vehicles in high school, Mark gained experience in the entertainment, sports, and retail industries before founding this company in 1993. Honest and pragmatic, Mark knows that anything can be accomplished with a great communication plan and creative thinking. 

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