If all goes well, you’ll have built a robust list of subscribers and leads waiting to hear from you. But you can’t start emailing just yet unless you want to end up in a spam folder, or worse, a blocked list.
Here are a few important things to remember before you start emailing your list.
1. Implement email segmentation.
Once you’ve added people to your list, you must break them down into different segments.
That way, instead of having a monolithic email list of everybody, you’ll have easier-to-manage subcategories that pertain to your subscribers’ unique characteristics, interests, and preferences.
Our subscribers are humans, after all, and we should do our best to treat them as such. That means not sending generic email blasts.
Why should you segment your email list?
Each person who signs up to receive your emails is at a different level of readiness to convert into a customer (which is the ultimate goal of all this).
If you send a discount coupon for your product to subscribers that don’t even know how to diagnose their problem, you’ll probably lose them. That’s because you’re skipping the part where you build trust and develop the relationship.
Every email you send should treat your subscribers like humans you want to connect with, as opposed to a herd of leads you’re trying to corral into a one-size-fits-all box.
The more you segment your list, the more trust you build with your leads, and the easier it’ll be to convert them later.
How to Segment Email Lists
The first step in segmentation is creating separate lead magnets and opt-in forms for each part of the buyer’s journey. That way, your contacts are automatically divided into separate lists.
Beyond that, email marketing platforms allow you to segment your email list by contact data and behavior to help you send the right emails to the right people.
Here are some ways you could break up your list:
Geographical location.
Lifecycle stage.
Awareness, consideration, and decision stage.
Industry.
Previous engagement with your brand.
Language.
Job Title.
In reality, you can segment your list any way that you want. Just make sure to be as exclusive as possible when sending emails to each subgroup.
2. A/B test your marketing emails.
Not all email lists are created equal. Some audiences prefer personalization, and others will think it’s spammy. Some audiences will like bright, eye-catching CTA buttons. Others will prefer a more subtle call-to-action.
You’ll never know what type of people make up your email list until you test the variables. That’s where A/B testing comes in handy.
A/B testing, or split testing, is a way to see what type of email performs best with your audience by analyzing the results of email A against email B. This can be especially helpful when working with templates.
“Since emails often have the same template, A/B testing is smart because you can usually control variables outside of the test and get a solid signal on what performs better,”
Here’s the step-by-step process for A/B testing your emails:
Select one variable to test at a time, e.g., subject line, CTA, images.
Create two versions of the email: one with and one without the variable.
Allow your emails to be sent out simultaneously for a period of time.
Analyze your results and keep only the version that performed better.
Test a new variable and repeat the process.
When conducting an A/B test, consider these tips:
Test one element at a time.
“For example, try the same email with a different subject line. Or the same email and same subject line with a different CTA,”
“It might be tempting to make several changes at once, but that makes it harder to pinpoint the true cause of your wins or losses,”
Don’t try to “eyeball” an A/B test.
A/B test should be run with intention. Making quick changes and approaching results unscientifically can lead to incorrect conclusions.
“You might be tempted to run an informal A/B test by making a change and then casually paying attention to the responses that you get. This unscientific method can easily be skewed by factors outside your control (like seasonality or deliverability),” . “It also leaves out a ton of valuable data, like open rate, click-through rate, unsubscribe rate, or sharing/forwarding rate.”
3. Analyze your email marketing performance.
Once you’ve got your first few campaigns, it’s time to see how they’re performing.
By diving into your email marketing analytics, you‘ll be able to make better decisions that will help your business’s bottom line, resonate with your subscribers, readers, and customers, and justify your work to the rest of your company.
Here are the best ways to analyze the effectiveness of your email marketing campaigns.
4. Set email marketing KPIs.
There are four key metrics to pay attention to when evaluating the effectiveness of your email marketing campaign.
Deliverability measures the rate at which emails reach your intended subscribers’ inboxes.
Open rate is the percentage of people that open your email once it reaches their inbox.
Clickthrough rate (CTR) is the percentage of people that click on your CTAs.
Unsubscribes measures the number of people who opt out of your email list once they receive your email.
5. Adjust email components to improve results.
Many factors impact your KPIs, and it will take some experimentation and guesswork to figure out which tweaks to your emails will yield the biggest significance.
If you aren’t getting the desired numbers, try playing with these variables to improve your email results.
Deliverability
Ensure that you’re following best practices regarding spam filters.
Remove inactive people from your email list to keep only engaged subscribers.
Check which emails have bounced and remove those email addresses from your list.
Open Rate
Play with the language in your subject line to entice people to click on your email.
Adjust the time and day that you send your email to see what works best.
Clickthrough Rate (CTR)
Evaluate your offer to ensure that it provides value to your segmented list.
Rewrite your copy to make sure that it’s clear what you want the reader to do.
Try different CTAs, e.g., graphic versus Inline copy, bold versus subtle.
Unsubscribes
First, consider if this is a blessing in disguise, as uninterested parties are removing themselves from your list.
Regularly send an email to inactive subscribers on your list asking if they still want to be a part of it
Evaluate whether the email you sent is aligned with your brand.
Ensure you haven’t performed a bait-and-switch by promising one thing and delivering another.
Make sure your emails are providing value to your audience before trying to upsell.
6. Use an email marketing report template.
Once you’ve got some campaigns under your belt, it’s time to look at how they performed. Your data does no good if you can’t report it in an organized fashion.
An email marketing report is a spreadsheet where you can record your results in one place to help you make inferences from your KPIs and take action to improve them.
Here’s how you should organize your report.
Metrics
Total number of emails sent
Number of emails delivered
Deliverability Rate
Bounce Rate
Open Rate
Clickthrough Rate (CTR)
Click-to-open Rate (CTOR)
Unsubscribe Rate
Data
Subject line
Length of the email body
Offer
CTA (inline or graphic)
List segment(s)
Questions To Ask:
Was your deliverability rate high in comparison to previous periods?
How did your CTR compare to your open rate?
Were your unsubscribe numbers consistent with other emails?
Did a certain subject line perform better than others?
Does the length of the email make a difference in CTR?
Could another style of CTA perform better?
Was the offer appropriate for the list segment?
Email Regulations You Should Know
Email regulations are important to follow as they regulate and protect consumers’ desires to know how and why their information is being used.
If there’s anything we care about, it’s complying with what our customers—or potential customers—want.
There are a few key ones that you should understand:
1. CAN-SPAM Compliance
Technically, CAN-SPAM is an acronym for Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (because sometimes the two go together).
In practice, it’s a way to protect your subscribers’ right to only receive emails that they’ve requested.
The law was passed in 2003 and applies to any commercial emails used for business purposes.
Here are the ways to ensure that your emails are CAN-SPAM compliant:
Include your company name and address in every email.
Place visible unsubscribe links within your emails.
Use real email addresses in the “From” and “Reply to” fields.
Write subject lines that indicate the contents of the email.
Please note: This is not to be confused with legal advice. See the FTC’s site for more specific legal information regarding CAN-SPAM laws.
2. GDPR Compliance
While some may view these newly implemented email regulations as burdensome and unnecessary, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) moves us closer to building long-lasting, trusting customer relationships.
GDPR is about giving your customers the right to choose. They choose your emails. They decide to hear from you. They choose your products. And that is exactly what inbound marketing is about.
It is important to note that GDPR only applies to businesses operating in the European Union and businesses that market to EU citizens.
Noncompliance will result in significant fees that aren’t worth the risk, so make sure to read the GDPR guidelines entirely.
Here’s an overview of how you can comply with GDPR laws:
Use precise language when requesting consent to store personal information.
Only collect contact data that is necessary for and relevant to your business.
Store contact data securely and only use it for the agreed-upon purpose.
Retain data for justifiable business purposes only.
Delete contact data on request.
Make it easy for contacts to unsubscribe from your list or update their preferences.
Comply promptly with a contact’s request for access to their data.
Keep company records to prove GDPR compliance.
These regulations will be taken seriously (as they should), so it’s a good idea to create a GDPR strategy for your business before sending emails.
3. Avoid Spam Filters
You spend time creating the perfect email and adhering to regulations, so the last thing you want is to end up in a spam folder.
You’ll want to avoid the spam folder because:
It hurts your deliverability rates across the board.
Your contacts will likely miss all of your emails.
You won’t be able to measure your email marketing effectiveness accurately.
Your analytics will be skewed.
You can avoid being deduced to spam with the following.
Get whitelisted.
A whitelist is a list of approved senders that can reach the subscriber’s inbox. The easiest way to accomplish this is to have your new subscriber add your email address to their address book.
Include directions on how to do this in your welcome email.
Mind your copy.
Avoid using all caps and multiple exclamation points, as well as spam trigger words, like “opt-in,” “click below,” and “order,” that are easily detected and marked down by Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
Use a reliable email service provider.
Your email service provider’s reputation affects your deliverability, so stick to established, well-known companies.
Implement a double opt-in.
Once someone opts in to your email list, send an email asking them to confirm. This ensures that your new subscriber is genuinely interested in your emails and will likely be more engaged.
(Check out more ways you can avoid the spam filter.)
And last but certainly not least, you need to consistently measure the success of your email marketing efforts. There are a number of options you can choose from when it comes to your business’s email marketing analytics.
Email Marketing Tips
While you probably don’t think twice about the formatting or subject line of an email you send to a friend, email marketing requires a lot more consideration.
Everything from the time you send your email to the devices on which your email could be opened matters.
Your goal with every email is to generate more leads, which makes crafting a marketing email a more involved process than other emails you’ve written.
Let’s touch on the components of a successful marketing email:
Copy: The copy in the body of your email should be consistent with your voice and stick to only one topic.
Images: Choose images that are optimized for all devices, eye-catching, and relevant.
CTA: Your call-to-action should lead to a relevant offer and stand out from the rest of the email.
Timing: Based on a study that observed response rates of 20 million emails, Tuesday at 11 AM ET is the best day and time to send your email.
Responsiveness: 55% of emails are opened on mobile. Your email should, therefore, be optimized for this as well as all other devices.
Personalization: Write every email like you’re sending it to a friend. Be personable and address your reader in a familiar tone.
Subject Line: Use clear, actionable, enticing language that is personalized and aligned with the body of the email.
Featured Resource
100 Email Subject Lines We Actually Clicked
Pro tip: Leverage AI for email marketing. By using tools like our AI Email Writer, you can generate copy that suits your goals, saving time along the way.
Personalize your email marketing.
“Personalization isn’t just about adding a contact’s name to the subject line anymore but is all about creating personalized experiences that demonstrate you understand them and have insider knowledge about how they can use your products to succeed,”
Now that you know who you’re emailing and what’s important to them, sending emails with personalized touches will be much easier.
Sure, you’re speaking to 100+ people at one time, but your leads don’t need to know it.
Personalized emails have higher open rates. In addition, 83% of customers are willing to share their data to create a more personalized experience.
You’ve gathered all this unique data. Your email marketing software allows for personalization tokens. You have no excuse for sending generic emails that don’t make your leads feel special.
“It’s more impactful to base email personalization on two or three factors instead of just what a contact is engaging with on your side,”
“Consider personalizing emails based on what you know about your contact, such as their location, industry, employee size, etc., alongside how they engage with your content.”
Here are a few ways to personalize your emails:
Add a first name field in your subject line and/or greeting.
Include region-specific information when appropriate.
Send content that is relevant to your lead’s lifecycle stage.
Only send emails that pertain to the last engagement a lead has had with your brand.
Write about relevant and/or personal events, like region-specific holidays or birthdays.
End your emails with a personal signature from a human (not your company).
Use a relevant call-to-action to an offer that the reader will find useful.
Beginning Email Marketing
While there are many rules to sending a marketing email, the most important is this: Treat the reader on the other end like you’re writing to a friend.
Trust me, you can achieve all of your email marketing goals if you keep this golden rule top of mind in every autoresponder, lead magnet, and subject line.
And remember, the more you help your subscribers, the more they will want to hear from you and look forward to opening emails that you send.
Autumn 