How to Improve Email Marketing for Higher Conversions
The first ever email sent looked like mere numbers and letters rather than a message. When people started using emails consistently, they became a sought-after communication channel for businesses and individuals.
Today, consumers, on average, receive 121 emails per day. This makes it all the more challenging to cut through the inbox clutter, especially with evolving consumer behaviors.
So, how to improve email marketing without coming off as spammy or salesy?
This guide will be your one-stop shop for essential email marketing strategies and tactics to improve performance and increase opens and conversions. We’ll discuss how to craft compelling content, leverage personalization, optimize deliverability, and achieve ultimate email marketing results.
Improving Email Marketing Performance 101
Email marketing is a powerful tool to engage audiences and increase sales. However, to interest people and encourage action, it’s essential to understand the key marketing strategies for improving email performance.
This section will delve into actionable strategies to build, manage, and enhance your email list.
| Email Marketing Approach | What to do |
|---|---|
| Know your audiences | ‣ Segment your email list based on demographics, psychographics, behavior, etc. |
| Craft compelling content | ‣ Write clear, concise, and engaging subject lines ‣ Include clear call-to-actions |
| Optimize email design | ‣ Use mobile-friendly email templates ‣ Use a simple layout ‣ Ensure the email design aligns with your brand identity |
| Timing and frequency | ‣ Analyze the best time to send emails ‣ Establish a consistent email sending schedule ‣ Avoid sending too many emails |
| Measure and analyze metrics | ‣ Track key metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, and conversions ‣ A/B test campaigns to notice content differences |
| Follow email marketing regulations | ‣ Adhere to CAN-SPAM and GDPR laws ‣ Include clear unsubscribe options in emails ‣ Keep emails professional and include verifiable and correct information |
| Leverage automation | ‣ Set up automated email campaigns for personalized email sequences ‣ Use dynamic content to tailor messages |
When you have a strong email marketing base, it becomes easier to build loyal customers. We’ll go through the above strategies in detail to give you an idea of how to implement and manage your email marketing efforts.
Email Marketing Approach #1: Know Your Audiences
Your email marketing subscribers are the ultimate decision-makers — they determine if your brand is worthy of their time and money. You can gain their trust by telling them what they need to hear and showing them the results.
Email personalization and segmentation strategy are your trump cards for building credibility and retaining customers. When you showcase solutions related to customer pain points, they are likelier to create a long-lasting relationship with your business.
For example, you can implement local email marketing and invite residents of a region to experience a product or service.
The following 4 strategies will help you maximize email marketing impact:
- Segment audiences: Divide subscribers based on demographic segmentation, psychographic segmentation, and behavioral segmentation to understand the audience’s values and lifestyles.
- Identify marketing stage: Comprehend where your customers are in the email marketing journey. Someone entering the email marketing funnel will need in-depth brand information rather than a person ready to convert.
- Create buyer personas: When there’s a lack of data, create buyer personas to accurately reflect the audiences’ tastes and needs.
- Provide personalized recommendations: Recommend products based on a recipient’s purchase history or website browsing data. You can also enable replies and encourage feedback from users.
Email Marketing Approach #2: Craft Compelling Email Content
Persuasive email content is key to engaging audiences and driving conversions. Start by creating intriguing email subject lines that stir curiosity and persuade users to open emails.
Focus on the email header and email preheader, as they complement the subject lines and increase impact. Once you create a solid first impression, you can lead recipients to the email body copy with valuable information.
Sometimes, no matter how well done your texts are, you might not see the expected results. Consumer habits evolve and often demand you to be on top of email marketing trends. This, combined with consumer psychology, can level up your offers and set a unique standard for your brand.
Here are creative ways to engage recipients through various types of emails:
- Educational content: Provide tips, how-to guides, and insider information through email marketing newsletters.
- Exclusive offers: Share special discounts, offers, and email coupons to make subscribers feel valued.
- Storytelling: Tell stories to connect with customers on a deeper level. They can be customer success stories, behind-the-scenes, or the brand’s journey.
If your emails are interesting and provide value, recipients will likely forward them to their close circle, increasing exposure and maximizing engagement.
Email Marketing Approach #3: Optimize Email Design
While email copy is responsible for convincing customers to act, your email design decides whether they’ll interact with that information. Design and layout are among the first things people notice. Keeping them clean and legible is critical to capturing and maintaining the reader’s attention.
Follow these email design tips to maintain clarity:
- Maintain visual hierarchy: Use consistent email campaign templates, high-quality images, and videos. Organize the email content using headings, sub-headings, and bullet points. Use the best fonts for email to increase legibility.
- Use lots of white space: Break up the content using white space for increased clarity and cohesiveness.
- Highlight call-to-action: Place your CTA buttons in prominent places to increase visibility and access. In addition, ensure email accessibility for all types of readers.
- Use effective sign-offs: Write compelling email sign-offs to increase the likelihood of email responses.
If you use email abbreviations, ensure audiences understand them. You could also include a small description next to those abbreviations. This can guard your emails from being marked as spam when they’re waiting in the outbox to be delivered to the recipients.
Email Marketing Approach #4: Pay Attention to Timing and Frequency
Having an email content calendar is a great way to organize and send emails at the right time. Generally, the best time to send emails is Mondays and Tuesdays around 10 a.m.- 1 a.m. The timing and frequency also depend on the type of email campaign.
For example, newsletters will be more frequent than an event invitation email.
If you’re unsure of the right time to send emails, A/B test different timings to understand when audiences are the most active.
Email Marketing Approach #5: Measure and Analyze Metrics
Email campaign metrics indicate the overall email performance and the areas for improvement. Use the right tools to track results accurately. An email service provider will offer more in terms of analytics than an email client.
However, if there are budget constraints, you can start with free storage, such as Gmail and upgrade as you see fit.
Analyze the following basic metrics to get deeper insights into campaign performance:
Email Marketing Approach #6: Follow Email Marketing Regulations
Email marketing is one of the safest means to disseminate information to audiences. With different laws such as GDPR and CAN-SPAM Acts, subscribers can know the email sender name and decide if they want to interact.
Keep up with the latest email security best practices and trends to maintain IP reputation. Using security protocols can safeguard your sender reputation as well as give recipients peace of mind.
Email marketing regulations can vary with each industry. It’s best to check with your industry practices to avoid becoming a spam email sender or getting your email domain blacklisted.
Email Marketing Approach #7: Use Automation
Email marketing automation is the backbone of your email marketing. It helps you send relevant emails at the right time after a specific customer action.
Use email personalization techniques such as including recipient names and past purchase history to make customers feel close to your brand. You can also use dynamic email content to send relevant details specific to each user.
Email marketing is a broad term that requires attention to key details such as buyer personas, time zone considerations, and data analysis. Your email marketing funnel can contain audiences that belong to varied customer journey points. Your strategies should add value to each step of the funnel and build trust.
This can happen when you’re aware of the common pitfalls in email marketing and how to rectify them to enhance email marketing conversions.
Common Email Marketing Issues and How to Troubleshoot Them
If you haven’t yet recognized the full potential of email marketing, it’s common to make email marketing mistakes that can ruin your brand reputation and customer experience.
We’ll go over email marketing issues and how to rectify them.
| Email Marketing Problem | Solution |
|---|---|
| Poor email deliverability | ‣ Verify email list hygiene ‣ Check sender reputation ‣ Authenticate your emails ‣ Avoid spam triggers |
| Low open rates | ‣ Craft compelling subject lines ‣ Optimize email send times ‣ A/B test email content and subject lines |
| Low click-through rates | ‣ Optimize email design ‣ Create clear and compelling CTAs ‣ Craft relevant email content |
| High unsubscribes | ‣ Segment your email list ‣ Give customers control over emails ‣ Provide value |
| Technical issues | ‣ Test your emails on different email clients ‣ Use responsive design ‣ Avoid complex HTML |
| Lack of personalization | ‣ Segment email list ‣ Use dynamic content ‣ Curate products based on previous purchase history or website behavior |
Now, we’ll look at the issues in detail to give you better context.
Email Marketing Problem #1: Poor Email Deliverability
Email deliverability ensures your emails reach recipients’ primary inboxes. It’s a mechanism that impacts the probability of customers taking action inside their inboxes. If your emails constantly land in the spam folder, it’s highly unlikely the users will open or engage with them.
This is especially true if you’re a high-volume sender handling mass email campaigns. While email blasts can be helpful to send information simultaneously to a larger audience group, it poses security threats to your sender reputation.
For example, if you haven’t verified your sending domain and send mass emails frequently, ISPs can think of it as spam sending and blacklist your domain.
Often emails deviate to the spam folder due to the following reasons:
- You’re using spam-trigger words or phrases,
- You haven’t authenticated emails properly,
- You’re facing high complaint rates.
Here’s how to correct low email deliverability rates:
- Avoid spam-trigger words: Steer clear of words and symbols commonly associated with spam.
- Authenticate emails: Use SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to verify email domains and authenticate emails.
- Monitor sender reputation: Use email deliverability tools to constantly monitor results and reputation.
Achieve the Highest Email Deliverability on the Market With Campaign Refinery
Campaign Refinery is a versatile email marketing platform offering the highest inbox placement rate on the market. We understand it’s crucial for your emails to reach customer inboxes for any success.
We implement strict authentication protocols and use a high-speed email sending engine to ensure your emails reach customers on time, every time. Every new client is vetted and goes through a mandatory domain authentication process, ensuring safe sending practices.
That’s how we have a pool of responsible senders experiencing increased revenue through the platform.
You can also become one of the top 1% of senders with Campaign Refinery — just apply to become our client and our team will be in touch soon!
Email Marketing Problem #2: Low Open Rates
Lower open rates can be the cause of multiple issues, such as low deliverability rates, unappealing subject lines, or sending emails at the wrong time.
Use these tips to fix low open rates:
- Optimize email subject lines: Experiment with different subject lines and include a preview of the email content. Pay attention to the subject line length since it impacts viewing on various devices.
- Improve email deliverability: As more of your emails reach customers’ inboxes, you’ll naturally see an increase in the open rates.
- Analyze timing: Examine when your readers are the most active to send emails at that time.
Email Marketing Problem #3: Low Click-through Rates
Low click-through rates indicate poor email content or CTAs. For example, if your email looks cluttered with low-quality images or confusing call-to-action, consumers might not take the desired action.
At other times, using too many links in emails can be mistaken for spam and lead to deliverability issues.
Here are best practices to encourage more people to click on your CTAs:
- Enhance CTAs: Make your CTA buttons prominent and action-oriented. For example, say, “Get access to [Product name]” instead of “Download now.”
- Personalize CTAs: Give consumers what they are looking for. You can understand their needs by segmentation methods and researching their past purchase behavior.
- Test and reiterate: Constantly test different layouts, colors, and CTAs to determine the best fit.
Email Marketing Problem #4: High Unsubscribe Rates
If recipients rapidly unsubscribe from your email list, it’s time to check if your emails are valuable enough. Sometimes, sending too many emails or poorly targeted campaigns can cause people to opt out of your emails.
You can troubleshoot this issue by using the following tips:
- Frequency management: Find the right balance in your email sending frequency to avoid overwhelming customers. Give them the option to choose how often they would like to receive your emails.
- Content quality: Regularly improve content quality using dynamic content and similar to provide the best resources for users.
- Implement better targeting: Use segmentation to target each consumer’s specific needs and offer personalized content.
Email Marketing Problem #5: Technical Issues
Whether it’s festive-spirited holiday campaigns or promotional content, it’s common to occasionally face technical issues such as inconsistent rendering across email clients or images not loading properly.
Following proper email format is vital to improving email campaign performance. In addition, watch RFC 5322, an internet standard that defines the correct format for email messages.
Here are more tips to fix such errors:
- Use responsive templates: Ensure you use a responsive email template and it looks good across all devices.
- Test across platforms: Use tools to preview emails on different email clients to avoid rendering issues.
- Optimize images: Use the correct file formats and links. Customers may have enabled image blocking on their email clients. Ensure you use the proper image size and quality.
Understand the differences between HTML and plain text emails and use simple coding to avoid rendering issues.
Email Marketing Problem #6: Lack of Personalization
Overly complex automation sequences and a lack of personalized elements in emails can lead to lower engagement rates and email responses.
Above all, not understanding your customers’ needs can make them quickly lose interest in your business.
Fix those errors by implementing the tips below:
- Simplify automation: Keep your automation workflows simple. Many free mass email service platforms offer simple automation recipes to get you started.
- Personalize content: Track customer behavior on websites and keep a tab on their purchase histories. This will allow you to tailor email content and offers accordingly.
- Review and adjust: Monitor and manage your email marketing campaigns to adjust any inconsistencies.
If you’re uncertain about creating content from scratch, you can use AI in email marketing to help you through the process. You can include email marketing power words to enhance the AI search and improve the outcome.
Below, we’ll discuss additional tips to improve email marketing performance.
Best Practices to Improve Email Marketing Conversion Rates
When people show interest in your email content, they may sign up for your email list. However, retaining their interest and turning them into loyal customers takes more than compelling information and discounts.
In the table below, we’ll examine the best practices to improve email conversions.
| Email Marketing Best Practices | What to do |
|---|---|
| Segment your audience | ‣ Use customer lifecycle stage to determine the type of content for different audience segments ‣ Divide subscribers based on demographics, behavior, and psychographics |
| Craft compelling CTAs | ‣ Use direct language and strong verbs to convey the next steps for customers ‣ Make your CTA button standout through visually appealing colors ‣ Limit each email to a primary CTA |
| Create high-quality and relevant emails | ‣ Understand audience preferences and communicate your value proposition ‣ Write engaging copy and use high-quality visuals to enhance the look of emails |
| Optimize for mobiles | ‣ Write shorter email copy and optimize buttons for mobile |
| Create a sense of urgency | ‣ Use scarcity tactics, countdown timers, and limited-time offers to encourage immediate action from subscribers |
| Align email content with landing pages | ‣ Create a seamless experience for users by providing a smooth transition to landing pages from emails |
| Use social proof | ‣ Include testimonials, reviews, and user-generated content to garner attention and improve email metrics |
| Incentivize action | ‣ Implement loyalty programs, discounts, and email coupons to increase customer participation |
Most importantly, use a proper email marketing platform that fits your needs and budget.
In the next section, we’ll look at different email marketing platforms and their uniqueness.
Which Email Marketing Platform Should I Use?
Whether you’re a novice or a pro email marketer, Campaign Refinery has the tools and features to scale your marketing efforts.
But let’s give you an idea of how we stack up against other platforms in the table below.
| Email Marketing Platform | Uniqueness |
|---|---|
| Campaign Refinery | ‣ Highest email deliverability rate on the market ‣ Engagement rewards feature ‣ Evergreen flash sale feature ‣ Audience groups segmentation feature ‣ One-view analytics and reporting ‣ Advanced automation and segmentation |
| Mailchimp | ‣ User-friendly interface |
| Constant Contact | ‣ Customer feedback tools |
| ActiveCampaign | ‣ Innovative automation |
| Hubspot | ‣ All-in-one inbound marketing tool |
Each of these platforms has its strengths and weaknesses. Choosing one depends on your marketing goals and budget.
If you’re looking for an all-in-one email marketing tool with premium features and transparent pricing, Campaign Refinery is the one.
Let’s explore how many marketers and business owners have achieved excellence through our tried-and-tested guides below.
Downloadable Resources to Enhance Marketing Strategies
Our founder, Travis Ketchum, has compiled his years of knowledge and expertise into bite-sized content. These small videos and cheat sheets will guide you toward achieving higher email open rates and conversions.
Download our top resources below:
- The Lead Magnet Multiplier Course — Use it within 7 days to retain life-time access.
- The Inbox Formula — Implement the strategies to win over customers and increase open rates.
While these digital products can help you learn and use effective email marketing tactics, you need a reliable email service provider to analyze your unique needs and provide life-long support.
Begin your Email Marketing Journey With Campaign Refinery
At Campaign Refinery, we understand that each client is unique. Our experts vet every client to determine compatibility. This means that every new member goes through mandatory domain authentication and email list verification with our help.
This procedure leaves you with a clean email list, as a safe sender, and creates a more secure email marketing community.
As our client, you’ll get access to premium features and tools for unlimited contacts, even on the starting plans.
Become a top sender with Campaign Refinery by applying here!
