Email Campaign is one of the most effective marketing channels. The pandemic has seen an increase in engagement. For example, open rates have increased by 31% in the last year while unsubscribes have fallen 50%. People are increasingly turning to email for information and entertainment as there is less to do and more time at home.
Are all brands making the most out of the email marketing attention? If you feel like your email marketing isn’t working, consider the tactics below – they may be just what you need to reignite your engagement.
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Why is email engagement important?
Email engagement is important for many reasons. It’s also part of an algorithm that you may have noticed on social media. The more people see a post, the more they react to it.
Email works in the same way: The number of opens, clicks and replies you receive are all indicators that your content is great. Internet service providers (ISPs), who are committed to making email more accessible for all, support those who engage with their messages. You’ll soon notice this:
- Your sender reputation will improve and more emails will land in the inboxes of people.
- Your open rates will increase.
- You’ll be happier with your conversion rate.
But how do you get there? Let’s take a look at some things that you can do today to make your life easier.
How fresh is your email listing?
A healthy, fresh database is the most important thing to have in order to improve your email results. If emails are sent to fake or invalid addresses or to spammers, even the best of emails can fail.
For Email Campaign, we recommend the double opt-in method to build your email list using tools such as Mailchimp or Datarac email list, as they have a higher engagement rate than single opt-in.
Many companies struggle with data decay. Buy Email list, especially in B2B, degrade each month. In the past year, due to the pandemic, as much as 25% of your business email list may have gotten risky, data scientist Christopher Penn suggests.
If you send to low-quality contacts, it is an indication that you are not following email marketing best practices. ISPs may direct your emails to junk folders. Your email service provider might suspend your account if you fail to address bad data quickly. Your sending IP or domain could be added to a blacklist. This can make matters worse.
Before you send your next newsletter stop and take a second to think about when the last time you validated your list. Is it more than three months since you last validated your list? Next, take some time to verify it with an email verifier. Then remove any bad addresses. You may lose some contacts but it is not a bad idea to keep them on your contact list.
How engaging is your content?
If your database is up-to-date and you’re still not seeing a boost in email engagement, your content may need a revamp.
It can be difficult for business owners to determine if their content strategy is on a correct path. While your company may believe that it should be focused on your products and services, your audience might expect more. Your subscribers might be more interested in educational or entertaining content.
Take a look at the campaigns you have run in the last six months. What are your subject lines? Are they enticing? Would you click on those emails if you received them?
You might be unsure if you did not do the following exercise: Out of all the emails sent over the past six months, how many were self-promotional in nature? If it’s more than 20%, you may need to change to a less aggressive approach.
Use the Pareto principle and make sure 80% of your emails – or more – include content that’s useful to your subscribers. Instead of sending self-promotional emails, instead share tips and insights that can help people overcome their problems.
Keep it fresh and interesting, be helpful, and you’ll see open rates and click rates increase.
How often do your emails get sent?
This is the biggest mistake I see in email marketing. Companies send engaging content, but only once in a while.
This strategy (lack thereof) won’t get them far for two reasons.
First, how do you increase email engagement if your emails don’t get opened? It’s like trying to build stronger muscles while lying on the couch.
The average person receives 122 emails a day. Our brains are constantly being bombarded by information and can easily erase outdated data to make way for newer ones. Many people forget who they are and will delete or mark your email as spam when they return to their inbox.
Think of email marketing as a marathon, not a sprint. A single email every three months will not help your subscribers, nor will it help you.
Start by trying different scheduling options, depending on your industry and business. For many businesses, one email per week is sufficient. However, your audience might prefer to hear from you more frequently. To ensure that you keep in touch, you should send at least one email per month if you are unable to commit to sending a weekly message.
No matter what frequency you choose, it is important to stick with it. Regular emailing is a great way to build trust, familiarity and engagement.