Email marketing remains one of the most effective ways of connecting your audience and as far as ROI is concerned, email marketing reigns on top. Starting an email marketing campaign however is far from easy task and finding a way to stand out in crowded inboxes is an uphill challenge.
Here are 6 simple guidelines that you can apply to your campaign to increase clicks and engagement for your B2B SaaS business.
While the world of emails can be dauntingly big, there are some nifty ways of easing your way into it. It is important to note however, that these tips are just guidelines rather than rules, and that a truly great email marketing campaign is one that finds what uniquely works for them and their audience. Don't be afraid to experiment and tinker with your emails if you think that's what it needs.
1. Personalise your emails
Personalising emails is one of the easiest ways to have your subject line stand out from the rest and make it more engaging for the person you're sending the email to. Making your marketing emails personal doesn't just have to involve using their first name, instead, getting creative can go a long way. Being aware of how to catch the readers eyes in their crowded inbox is key. Personalise the headline, example below:
Poor Example: Thank You For Your Purchase.
Better Example: Thanks for Choosing Us, Soumya (Here's An Added Bonus)!
2. Resend emails to non-opens
Here's an effective, if not a little mischievous, way of increasing the click-through rate of your emails. Renaming previously sent email headlines and resending them only to the non-opens a week after the origin email can help maximise the reach of your emails. Perhaps the new headline is enough to convert those non-opens to opens, or maybe they just didn't have the time the first time the email came around. Either way, it's a small amount of effort to put in to boost your emails click-through rates.
3. Offer free stuff
Offering free stuff is tried and true way of increasing your emails click through rate, after all, everybody likes free stuff. Whether it's an email template, new eBook or a promotional code, offering free content in your emails not only helps them stand out among the crowd, but it ensures your audience continues to have positive engagement with your emails.
Your audience wants to feel like they're benefiting from being on your email list, and promotional offers is a great way of delivering that experience.
4. Email at the right times
Tuesdays and Thursdays 8pm to midnight is the prime time for email marketing. Not only do these times have the highest rates of click through, they also happen to be the times when audiences are the most receptive to making purchases. This the time when audiences wind down by checking through emails before heading to bed and for many and it's also the time when they receive their paycheck.
If your email marketing is looking to sell a new product or promote a new deal, making sure your emails reach your audience at the right time is key.
5. Optimise for mobile devices
With close to half of all emails being opened up on mobile devices, it's easy to understand why optimising for mobile devices is so crucial to any email marketing strategy. Making sure your emails are not only just readable, but also look great and function well are key to ensuring a positive experience for your audience. As you can see in the above email, the information is neatly set out and there is enough empty space on the sides to ensure users scrolling with their thumbs don't block the content of the email.
When designing emails for mobile devices it's important to keep in mind the physical aspects involved. Make sure the text is large enough and calls-to-actions are easily accessible. It may seem like a lot of work now, but mobile devices are only going to get more important to email marketers as time goes on.
6. Email consistently and regularly
Making sure your email activities are consistent can go a long way into building trust with your audience. Not only does your audience become accustomed and more receptive to your email marketing campaign, it helps prevents your emails from feeling too spammy and intrusive.
If your marketing emails activities are sporadic, your campaign will look less like a conversation between two friends and more like that annoying acquaintance who only bothers you when they need something.
Summing it up
So with these general tips your email marketing campaign should be well on its way, but it's important to note that this is just a small glimpse into the large world of email marketing. There are no set formats that work or don't work for all email marketing campaigns.
Finding what's right for and and your audience is key, and while these general tips can help, don't think of them as rigid rules but more of general guidelines.
If you'd like some more tips about digital marketing, check out our post on free marketing tools or content strategy tools that can improve customer experiences.
