Five Ways to Ensure Your Email Marketing Rocks in 2016

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Compared to content marketing and social media marketing, email marketing can appear exasperatingly tedious, for both marketing department and customers alike. However, it doesn’t have to be this way. With new software trends at the end of last year, email marketing in 2016 looks to be not only one of the most valuable channels of marketing, but also perhaps the most enjoyable.

Use a Lightbox

Every company wants their subscribers list to grow as much as possible; there are multiple ways of doing this, some unobtrusive, some not. Few things are more irritating than landing on a web page and before you have even had a chance to browse any of the content, a pop-up blocks the screen asking you to insert your email address. The number one concern of a webmaster is to give site-visitors a pleasant experience on the site; if that means losing a couple of subscribers to your email list, so be it.

Software such as SumoMe (parts of which we use on WebDesignDev) allows you to implement a ‘Welcome Mat’, which instigates the pop-up box to only appear when a site-visitor has shown signs of interest. For example when they have been scrolling down an article for a minute or two, or when they reach the end of that article. What’s more, email services like this allow for up to five mailboxes – perfect for a small team of employees to increase efficiency.

There are more creative methods of accruing email addresses. For example, by setting up an online survey or competition where people have to submit their email address to take part. Of course, if you do choose this method, send the initial emails with tact, so that the recipients do not feel that they have been duped, and regret giving you their email address.
Personalization

More and more commonly people are anticipating customization and personalization. No longer do they expect to be just a number on a list. There are two ways that you can (and should) personalize your emails. Implicit personalization is sending certain emails to certain demographics or customer groups, whether that is dependent on age, gender or customer history. Explicit personalization is sending follow up emails to individual customers in response to past sales. For example: “Hi Jimmy! How did you enjoy the Modern Family box set? Are you ready for Season Two?”
Readability and Responsiveness

Today, more emails are read via a smartphone than on a laptop or desktop computer. This means that you need to ensure that your emails are readable, functional and aesthetically pleasing on all kinds of screens. Responsive design is no longer a bonus for email marketing, it is a necessity. Review your own emails on various devices and check that the subject line isn’t cut off, that text line breaks are logical and do not disrupt the reading process, the call to action is evident, pictures are clear and sharp and do not take too long to load, and that any menu options within the email should function as normal. Have a look at some of the best email templates that we recommend.
Timing

Think carefully about when to send your emails. Be aware that most companies try and get to the top of a person’s inbox by sending emails early in the morning. This however, can lead to your email being lost in the crowd, and an impatient recipient will quickly cull any emails that are neither personal nor urgent. So alternatively, you can consider sending emails later in the day so to be read in the recipients lunch break, or around break times when many office workers are looking for ways to procrastinate.
Crying Wolf

It can be a fine line to create subject lines that both attract and stir the curiosity of the recipient, without appearing too much like click bait. Anyone who has spent any time on the internet over the last couple of years, is only too familiar with click bait, and understandably have no time for it. If you promise something in the subject line and are unable to deliver the goods in the contents of the email, then recipients will feel duped and will be less likely to open messages in the future that actually do contain the goods. Similarly, do not undersell the email, or give away all the special stuff in the subject line.