11 Top Examples of Email Marketing Best Practice
Business executives and other workers can receive hundreds of emails every day. Making your highly crafted and pinpoint targeted message stand out in this email ocean may feel like an impossible task. But email marketing is still one of the best promotional tools there is, especially when it comes to growing your business.
Whether you’re a small business owner juggling multiple responsibilities or a marketing manager looking to generate ROI on your budget, these email marketing best practices can help you engage with your target audience in more meaningful ways.
1. Build a Strong Foundation with List Segmentation
Picture this: You run a local fitness equipment store. Would you send the same email to a first-time customer browsing yoga mats and a gym owner looking to outfit their entire facility? Of course not. That’s where segmentation comes in.
Breaking down your email list into unique categories is about more than just organisation; it is also about relevancy. By segmenting your audience based on factors such as purchase history, previous engagement level or industry type will ultimately lead you to more meaningful conversations.
2. Personalisation Beyond First Names
Customers today are so much savvier than even 5 years ago. Look at how Netflix offers you content based on your viewing history; everyone’s home page is completely different. This is the type of personalisation that your email marketing needs to factor in and that prospective buyers expect.
Take an intelligent approach to your email strategy, adjusting frequency based on engagement levels and tailoring messages according to interest and clicks.
3. Optimise Your First Impression
Your subject line and preview text is your first – and sometimes last – chance to make an impression, so you need to make it count.
Your subject line will drive opens, so experiment by sending two or more versions of the same email with different subject lines and monitor open rates to see what resonates. The more you experiment, the more you’ll start to learn the type of words and phrases that make your emails unmissable.
Use a free subject line tester like this one. It’s a fantastic resource that gives you very simple and clear information on how to write the perfect subject line.
4. Create Mobile-First Email Designs
With 61% of emails being opened on mobile devices, designing for small screens is critical. Think about your own habits. How frequently do you read emails on your phone while waiting for coffee or between meetings?
Keep your designs clean and purposeful:
- Use single-column layouts
- Keep paragraphs short and scannable
- Use plenty of white space.
5. Craft Action-Driving CTAs
Your call-to-action (CTA) is where all your hard work is building up to. It’s the bridge between interest and action. Try experimenting with different CTA’s and see which ones drive the most interest.
For example, instead of a generic “Click Here” button, try:
- “Start Your Free Trial”
- “Get Your Custom Quote”
- “Reserve Your Spot Now”
Remember to maintain a sense of urgency without crossing into pushiness.
6. Implement Email Automation
Email automation, using ‘drip’ campaigns personalised to a recipient’s actions, can be extremely effective, when done right.
The technique is based on sending a prospect a series of follow-up emails based on a previous action, such as an email open or click, download or abandoned cart. These emails can be the little nudge that can make all the difference when it comes to arranging a sale meeting, setting up an online demo of completing a purchase.
Some email automation ideas to consider:
- Welcome series for new subscribers
- Abandoned cart reminders
- Post-download follow-ups
- Re-engagement campaigns for inactive subscribers.
7. Maintain Content Quality Standards
Any content you send should leave your reader feeling better informed, understood and ready to take action, so make sure you make it relevant and of good quality. But maintaining that quality consistently across all your emails can be quite tricky.
Consider this simple three-question checklist for every email:
- Does what you are suggesting solve a specific problem for the prospective reader?
- Can the main point be understood in less than 20 seconds?
- Is there a clear next step?
8. Leverage Visual Storytelling
Human attention span is getting shorter and patience is wearing thinner, so you need to get your message across fast! Visual content is quicker and easier to digest than written. A word of wanting though: try to limit use of stock images. These emails smack of “corporate messaging.” Instead, if you can, choose real and meaningful images that support your message and lend it a sense of authenticity.
Quick tips for visual content:
- Use real photos of your team when possible
- Create simple infographics for data-heavy content
- Include product photos in context, not in isolation
- Keep file sizes small for faster loading.
9. Establish a Consistent Sending Schedule
A consistent email schedule fosters trust and authenticity. However, you need to be realistic in how many emails you and your team can send out. More emails means more content, which means more effort and time. The last thing you want to do is to put your team under unnecessary pressure.
It’s always easier to start small and then increase if time and resources allow.
10. Practice Regular List Hygiene
You must regularly review your data list to ensure that you are adhering to all GDPR rules and regulations, as well as emailing the right people. It makes no sense to send an email to the same data list when the statistics have been low for a long period. It’s a waste of your time and theirs.
Set up a regular cleaning schedule:
- Quarterly review of engagement metrics
- Re-engagement campaigns for inactive subscribers
- Remove hard bounces immediately
- Update or remove invalid email addresses.
11. Monitor and Measure Success
Numbers tell stories and in email marketing, these stories guide your email strategy. You need to focus on what matters for your business goals.
Key metrics to track:
- Open rates (but don’t obsess over them)
- Click-through rates
- Conversion rates
- List growth rate
- Unsubscribe rate.
Final Thoughts
Start by implementing one or two of these practices and measure the results. Remember, the goal isn’t perfection from day one, but rather continuous improvement over time.
Ready to take your email marketing to the next level? Don’t hesitate to reach out to our team of experts who can help you implement these strategies and achieve your business goals.
