From ready-made email lists to spam detection tools, email marketing has changed completely since its inception in 1978.

Nowadays there are about 333.2 Billion emails sent and received every day.

But gone are the days when everyone could make money by just blasting emails. People no longer tolerate messages they don’t expect to see in their email inboxes.

There’s no doubt that email marketing can be a game changer. But in order to stand out from the crowd, you’ve got to use these white hat techniques.

 

Email marketing strategies

These are some strategies that can help you improve your email marketing campaigns in 2022.

 

Don’t buy the email lists.

Source: Giphy

The first and foremost thing to do is never buy an email list. Usually, spammers collect these emails by scraping websites. You can’t expect a random recipient who received an email against his consent to buy something from you.

Even if you buy a so-called “targeted” email list, there’s a high chance it’s been used in other marketing campaigns too.

If you use these lists, most of your emails will land in the spam box. Your IP address would be blacklisted, and you’d end up with a bad online reputation. Instead, make sure to follow only the best practices when building your email list.

 

Make your email subscription offer tempting.

Source: Tenor

Almost every business has an email subscription form on its website, but not every visitor subscribes to email notifications. 

What you can do is make your offer tempting so that website visitors can subscribe to your email message.

Apart from focusing on technical SEO, web design, and content, you need something unique to make your company website stand out and more engaging.

For example, if you’re an author you can offer a free ebook. If you run a digital marketing agency, you can offer a free webinar full of valuable information. If you’re a shop owner that sells physical items, you can offer free samples or discount codes.

By providing incentive, your visitors would be more likely to subscribe to your newsletter.

 

Add a double opt-in option.

Whenever someone enters an email address for a subscription, send an email for email verification. You can automate the process by using email marketing tools. This is so you can build a more engaged list of subscribers.

Some people use temporary or invalid email addresses to take advantage of free offers and discounts. The double opt-in option will help you build a 100% verified and targeted list. And your subscribers will be fully aware that they’ve subscribed to your email marketing campaigns.

 

Do some research about your audience.

Source: Giphy

It’s always a good idea to do some research about your target audience before interacting with them. If you truly know your audience, you’ll be able to speak to their needs the way they want.

Social media is the best place to find out what people in your business niche are looking for. Facebook groups are a great place to find out what people are talking about. You can also try visiting different online forums for this purpose.

Another method to do some research about your audience is to track their browsing behavior on your website – which pages are hits, what times have the heaviest traffic, how long they stay on each page, etc. – and adjust accordingly.

According to Neal Taparia from Cribbage, “Audience research is one of the integral must-have steps we use prior to developing any of our games. This proved to be the secret sauce that makes all of our games highly successful.”

 

Do segmentation for personalization.

Source: GetYarn

Once you find out some information about your audience, you can then divide your email lists into different segments. This would help you create and cater more relevant content to a targeted audience, which increases the chances of them engaging with your business. For example, if you’re selling truck accessories, it makes no sense to blast emails to someone who’s not interested in them. This would only get you added to their spam list.

Take a digital marketing audience list for example. That could be divided into social media advertising, search engine marketing, and search engine optimization audience segments. 

Segmentation means you won’t be sending generic email blasts to everyone all at once, which will help campaigns avoid landing into people’s spam and save your website domain or IP from getting blacklisted.

 

A/B testing

Source: Tenor

A/B testing can help you find out the content, CTA, time, day, and audience that converts the best.

To do this, you’ll have to divide your audience into two groups, and create two different variations of your campaign. And then send each variation to each group, and compare the results. 

You can use social media bulk scheduling to send different posts to both groups and continue with the marketing strategy for content that get the most likes and shares.

Once you’ve figured out what works better, then roll with it for your entire audience. Rise and repeat with other aspects of your campaigns!

 

Be a real human sender

Another tip is to use a real person’s name in the sender field of your email as opposed to your brand name. This creates a sense of human connection for your readers.

 

Write interesting subject lines

The subject line of an email message is very much like the front of a store – if it’s attractive, you’ll have a higher chance of grabbing new customers. 

Here are some things that make a good subject line:

• Precise
• Addresses the user directly
• Gives an idea of the email content
• Sparks curiosity

Research shows that a subject line with 50 or fewer characters has higher open rates as opposed to longer subject lines, so keep it short and sweet – which brings us nicely into the next tip.

Moreover, using an AI writing tool to create subject lines can help businesses craft precise, attention-grabbing headlines that address the user directly, give an idea of the email content, and spark curiosity which ultimately would lead to higher open rates and engagement.

 

Keep the email content brief.

Source: Giphy

To keep your readers’ attention, avoid long paragraphs in the body of your emails. 

Make sure to use shorter sentences. Ideally, a sentence should not contain over 20 words. 

Keep the number of the maximum paragraphs to three. A paragraph shouldn’t contain more than five sentences.

Every word in the email should make sense and serve a purpose.

 

Optimize CTAs

Source: Tenor

Optimized CTAs can bump up your click-through rate and subsequently, the chances of conversion. CTAs come in many forms: a link embedded in the text, a button, a banner, or a video thumbnail. 

A good CTA button is one that tells what to do next.

A good CTA is:

• Concise
• Compelling
• Contrasting colors
• Easy to find
• Creates a sense of urgency
• Relevant to your brand

Adding a CTA button to multiple locations can also increase the click-through rate.

 

Be transparent

Transparency brings trust, which is what you’d want for your brand reputation.

Make your email marketing campaigns transparent by:

• Using the relevant subject lines 
• Adding facts, figures, discounts, and prices
• Explaining what one can expect after clicking the CTAs
• Leading to a landing page that contains what you promised

 

Keep up with the trending topics

Source: Tenor

An email marketer needs to keep up with the trends. Research shows the behavior of people changes with the change in trends. 

Trending topics give you a chance to engage with your audience on a pop-cultural level, which sparks interest and provides a point of relatability for your brand.

Use social media channels like Instagram to figure out which topic is trending in your niche.

 

Use social proofing

Source: 9GAG

Research shows that people spend over 2 hours daily on social media. You can use social media power to up your marketing campaign.

You can do this in various ways. It could be a screenshot of social media users discussing your product/service, or video testimonials (and cash in on user generated content on platforms like TikTok).

 

Use videos

Videos can be a game changer for you if you use them properly. 

According to a study, people watch over 5 billion videos daily (doomscrolling, anyone?). 

There are several reasons for this:

• An average internet user can understand a topic quickly by watching a video. 
• They can watch it on the go. 
• Videos leave a long-lasting impression on our brains.

You can embed a video explaining the problem and your product as the solution. A step by steps guide to using your product can also be helpful. Furthermore, video testimonials from real users increase brand reputation.

 

Establish a good connection between the email and the landing page

Make sure your email content should be consistent with your landing page content.

Nothing says jarring like a user clicking the CTR button in the email only to find a different story on the landing page. 

Keep your copy consistent and deliver what was promised in the email if you want to increase the ROI.

 

Reward loyalty

For first-time buyers that have already engaged with your product or services – make them loyal repeat customers by rewarding them with different incentives. 

Here are some tips that you can use to make them loyal customers:

1. Offer them exclusive discount codes.
2. Offer a referral bonus.
3. Invite them to be beta testers of your product by offering a free product.
4. Invite them to your events.
5. Celebrate their occasions. If you have their birth date, send them a gift in the form discount code or a free product, a personalized t-shirt, for example.

 

Keep an eye on essential metrics.

Email marketers need to focus on different aspects of the campaigns. It includes collecting emails, preparing content, scheduling, and repeating the process. But one thing not to miss is the metrics. 

You should monitor important metrics like email bounce rate, open rate, click-through rate, and conversion rates. An increase in bounce rate and a decrease in the open rate, CTR, or conversion rate means we need to change our strategy.

If you ignore these metrics, you might get into email blacklists. And no one wants that. 

 

Check your lists regularly.

Research shows that 22.5% of emails decay per year. It means they disappear from the internet. So there’s a chance that the emails you collected back in 2017 are no longer valid these days.

Avoid this easily by checking the email lists regularly and removing outdated emails from your marketing lists.

The presence of invalid email addresses means an increase in bounce rate. An increase in bounce rate results in a low sender score. And low sender score means… you guessed it – spam folder.

Want to enrich and update your email lists in seconds? Try ContactOut’s enrichment tool.

Email Signature

An effective email signature can strengthen the relationship between the sender and the recipient by adding a touch of professionalism and authenticity. Make your emails more relevant by including links in your email signature.

There are numerous email signature examples available on the internet from which to draw inspiration when creating your own.

Measure the results

The only way to measure the performance of a campaign is to measure the results. The results can prove whether your strategy is working or not.

If you see less ROI, there is something wrong with your strategy. If the ROI increases, it means your campaign is working perfectly.

 

Go for automation

Source: ClickUp

Once you figure out the recipe for a good email marketing campaign, you can automate the process. Automation brings efficiency and scalability. It also saves you time. After all, you have to look at other aspects of your business, too.

Nowadays, many marketing and sales tools are available that can help you automate the process. 

Some SaaS products even offer lifetime subscriptions for a one-time payment.

 

Email marketing tips 2022

• Use emojis in your email subject lines to attract attention and increase open rates.
• Persuasive copy in the subject lines can make a difference. These words can motivate the recipients to click and read the email.
• Make it easy for the recipient to unsubscribe. Add an unsubscribe button in the email body.
• The design of your email body should be mobile-friendly. It makes it easy for recipients to read emails on the go. An unresponsive design can deter your readers from continuing to engage with your content.
• Add alt tags images. It helps browsers understand the content of the image and increases accessibility.
• Follow-ups can make a big difference in increasing conversions. But there should be a gap of at least three days before the next follow-up email.
• As a business, never use a no-reply email address. It gives off a feeling that you no longer want to interact with your audience.
• Encourage your audience to share your content by including Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn share buttons. Social sharing can bring new customers to your business.
• Ask the subscribers to provide feedback in return for incentives. It’ll help you understand their perspective on your emails and how you can improve them. 
• Last but not least, be sure to set up SPF records, DKIM or DMARC before sending your email marketing campaign so that your messages are protected from ending up in the spam or phishing attacks.