November 20, 2019

10 Tips for Effective Email Marketing

By Stuart Barker, Vice President EMEA at Movable Ink

1.Use Images to Make Your Emails Pop

Humans process visuals 60,000 times faster than text. And this translates into higher visual engagement; blog posts with images have 650 per cent higher engagement than posts without images.

We are visual creatures. Leverage this in your email campaigns by including images — and not just generic header or product images. To experiment with creating personalised visual content, you can start with simple use cases (e.g. adding a name to the header image), and then try something more advanced like curated product images that include real-time pricing and inventory information. Using images to connect with consumers is starting to make a real difference in email marketing!

 2. Personalise to Build Loyalty

Sometimes marketers make everything about converting email campaigns into sales. While ROI is absolutely important, remember that loyalty is critical to boosting CLV (Customer Lifetime Value).

Two thirds of consumers are loyal to companies that personalise campaigns, yet only 24 per cent of organisations are primarily focused on personalisation.

Personalisation isn’t just about showing relevant products — it’s also about understanding and responding to customer needs wherever and whenever they engage. If you expand your emails beyond blatant sales promotions to include helpful information based on relevant data, you will earn the trust and attention of your customers.

3. Use Visualisation to Communicate Boring Data

Getting an email from your bank that includes account information is hardly captivating stuff. But what if your bank was able to send you content that displayed your spending patterns in an interactive infographic? That’s not just useful, it’s interesting!

The benefits of presenting data in a visual manner is that it makes data accessible and interesting to anyone. If you have any data you need to convey via email, use data visualisation to increase its utility and effectiveness.

4. Draw Inspiration from Visual Brands

There are so many inspirational stories of brands that are using visuals to boost their email marketing! Use their creativity to inspire your next campaign.

For instance, UK-based retailer Next wanted to create a visually engaging campaign to promote its Marvel-themed products, coinciding with the release of Avengers: End Game. They sent customers an email that showcased the latest Marvel products in real time as they were released but also personalised the content by displaying each customer’s recently viewed or abandoned products. They saw a 68 per cent lift in conversions and 140 per cent lift in email revenue as a result.

 5. Understand Your Customer’s Context

With a digital channel like email, marketers have the ability to know where that consumer is engaging with the message, at what time, on what device, and even things like what the weather is like outside.

If you have consumer opt-in, all of this highly valuable contextual data can be used to provide the consumer with the most relevant experience in real time. This could include visual content that includes things like local maps, weather forecasts (for travel brands), and countdown clocks.

 6. Use Email to Enhance Cross-Channel Experiences

Today brands need to think about providing consumers with seamless experiences across all channels and touchpoints. Email is a great hub for pulling in behavioural data from other digital channels.

Email can play a critical role in either driving people to a brand’s website or mobile app, and even to a physical store or bank branch. Use email as a place to reflect the customer’s latest interaction with your brand so that experiences are in real time and consistent across channels.

7. Don’t Undervalue the Preheader

A preheader is the summary text that follows the subject line when viewed in the inbox. The problem is that it is not always used to its fullest potential and that has consequences.

According to a Litmus-Fluent survey, 24 per cent of respondents look at preheaders first when deciding to open an email. This is a large enough percentage to turn a successful email campaign into a failure or vice versa.

When used correctly, the preheader doesn’t just summarise the email, it provides further context. It should also create a call to action that builds from and complements the subject line. Ultimately, the preheader should compel the consumer to act by providing immediate utility or value.

8. Don’t Send Too Many Emails!

According to a recent study, 69 per cent of respondents said they had unsubscribed from an email list because they were receiving too many emails.

Generally speaking, however, it is better to err on the side of sending too many emails than sending too few — as long as they are relevant and timely. In most cases, the value gained by putting more content in front of subscribers will outweigh the losses of unsubscribers.

That said, if you are seeing high unsubscribe rates, it is likely due to sending too many emails. Watch your metrics closely to fine-tune your email frequency and possibly set frequency caps to ensure you aren’t inundating your subscribers.

9. Use the Double Opens Strategy

What is the double opens strategy? Precisely what it sounds like.

The double opens strategy simply calls for you to send the same email twice — but only to those who didn’t open the first time. Even if you have great open rates, that still means that seven in ten people are not opening your emails. By sending the same email with a different subject line to non-openers, you can increase your open rate by as much as 30 per cent.

10. Use Email to Maximise ROI for Existing Data and MarTech Investments

Brand marketers have invested a lot over the years in data platforms and various martech solutions but are still challenged to maximise the value of all of that existing data. Email is a great channel to leverage all existing data coming in from other platforms, combining that data with visual content that is personalised for every customer at every moment of engagement.

Movable Ink’s visual experience platform helps marketers access and use all of their data, ultimately creating more value for the brand and the consumer.


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By Stuart Barker, Vice President EMEA at Movable Ink