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In a world saturated with new and emerging marketing channels, how much attention should you pay to email? The numbers speak for themselves: email marketing revenue is expected to reach nearly $18 billion by 2027, up from $7.5 billion in 2020.1 In fact, the majority of Americans start their day by checking their emails.2
Even with flashy social apps dominating the ad landscape, email may remain a tried-and-true marketing channel. After all, the inbox can be a uniquely curated, direct line to your consumers. People have to opt in to receive your emails, so you know you’re reaching an interested audience. And, once you grab people’s attention with your messaging, you can move them further along the funnel to eventually make the sale and boost ROI.
Still, the competition in the inbox is tough. At any given time, your email might be sandwiched between an urgent check-in from a boss, a breaking news alert, or a special message from a family member. So, how can you make the most of your email operation and increase email open rates for your brand? By leveraging some email marketing strategies out there.
Use these email marketing tips to level up your campaigns and increase conversions — driving customers from the inbox to the checkout page.
A high-quality email list is the backbone of successful email marketing. After all, you want your messages to reach people genuinely interested in your products or services. You also want to be sure you’re reaching high-quality leads instead of bots or inactive users.
Here’s a closer look at why it’s crucial to know how to build a high-quality email list:
Now that you know the importance of maintaining an updated subscriber pool, let’s look at how to set up an email subscriber list. Some strategies to build an email list include:
Engaging subscribers starts with an attention-grabbing email subject line. But it doesn’t end there. You’ll want to optimize every element of your emails, from visuals and calls to action (CTAs) to footers and even that pesky “Unsubscribe” button.
Here’s a closer look at how to create an email marketing campaign of compelling content:
Keep subject lines short and snappy so they don’t get cut off on email apps. Use action-oriented language and questions to spark curiosity and entice users to open it now—instead of putting it off until later. While it’s tempting to write a sensational and attention-grabbing subject line, make sure it matches what’s in your email, so users don’t feel duped when they open it.
To write effective email copy, keep your copy simple and error-free. Have multiple people check your email for mistakes before it’s sent out. A longer email isn’t always better. Keep your message clear. Use shorter sentences. This makes it easy for readers to digest information. You can also break up your text with different headings and bullet lists.
Personalizing emails goes beyond just creating a different email list for each audience segment. You can also personalize emails with dynamic content, automatically populating subject lines and body copy with each user’s name, location, birthday, or other piece of data. For example, you can send personalized emails based on products they engaged with on your site, inviting them to learn more and make a purchase.
You can use emojis in emails to break up text, provide some humor, or quickly convey emotion. But don’t overdo it, otherwise your email could look like spam—or a bad imitation of a high schooler’s messaging app. Of course, make sure emojis make sense for your subscriber base, industry, and email content.
You’ll want to use high-quality images, but they should be properly sized and compressed so they don’t slow down loading times. The recommended email banner size is 600-700 pixels wide for desktop devices and 320-385 pixels wide for mobile devices.3 Stick with reliable and digital-friendly image formats like JPEG and PNG. Finally, add alt text to your images to provide helpful descriptions and enhance accessibility for your users.
A call to action in email marketing is like a secret weapon. Even after you’ve grabbed users with your subject line, in-email images, and copy, the CTA is there to finish the job. It should be short, punchy, and easy to understand—guiding users to complete a specific action. It should visually pop and stand out from the rest of your email content, so users know exactly where to click. Common CTAs, for example, include “Shop now,” “Claim my offer,” “Learn more,” or “Take me to my account.”
Emails don’t have to be static pieces of content. You can get playful and make them interactive by incorporating image carousels users to swipe through, embedded videos, or hover effects. You can also include polls and quizzes to learn more about your subscribers’ interests and preferences.
To make sure your customers enjoy your emails and click your CTA, you’ll want to make sure your emails align with your brand image. Make sure your emails are consistent with your company’s design and messaging. You want to make sure that when they click on your CTA, you are creating a low friction transition from one channel to the next. You can do that by adding similar wording and messaging across all your platforms, including email and web.
Mobile optimization for email marketing isn’t an add-on; it’s a necessity. Mobile devices now account for more than 60% of global website traffic.4 More than that, smartphones actually generated over three-quarters of U.S. retail site visits and two-thirds of online shopping orders in Q4 2024.5 If you’re not creating a mobile checkout experience and mobile-friendly emails, you may be missing significant opportunities to drive engagement and conversions.
Use these tips to optimize email marketing content for smartphones and tablets:
When you blast the same message to your entire email list, you may miss an opportunity to address shoppers’ unique needs and wants. That’s where email list segmentation can help.
What is email list segmentation? It’s the process of dividing your subscriber list by different interests, needs, demographics, and behaviors. You can also categorize subscribers based on their purchase history, website activity, or demographic data.
Once you create these segments, you can build customized email campaigns for each group. These personalized efforts can lead to higher engagement rates and increased conversions.
Timing and frequency can have a significant impact on marketing email open rates and engagement. If you send too many emails, they may get marked as spam, and you risk frustrating subscribers. On the other hand, if you’re inconsistent with your email outreach, you might lose the momentum you need to nurture customer relationships and move users through the funnel. That’s why it’s important to know how often to send marketing emails—so you can strike the right balance.
Consider these tips to help boost email marketing engagement:
Track email marketing metrics to gauge the performance of your campaigns over time and identify areas for improvement.
Important email metrics include:
Once you see what’s working and what’s not, you can also adjust your email marketing budget accordingly and reduce wasted spend. For instance, if your open rate is high but your clickthrough rate is low, that means your subject line is working but you may need to optimize the content within your email.
A/B testing can be a game-changing strategy for email marketers. What does A/B testing mean, exactly? It’s simpler than it sounds: It’s the process of sending two variants of the same email to determine which performs better.
For the most effective A/B tests, change only one element of your email at a time. For example, you might try A/B testing email subject lines, call-to-action buttons, above-the-fold headlines, color schemes, and sending times to see how they impact analytics. After you run your test, check key analytics like your average open rate, click-through rate, and conversions to see how each variant performed. You can then double down on the elements that worked best and continue optimizing your emails to increase results.
Looking to send timely, relevant emails to subscribers without actually pressing “send” every time? Here’s where email marketing automation and drip campaigns come in.
What is a drip campaign? It’s a series of automated emails triggered by specific actions or timelines. They’re usually designed to gradually move subscribers through the email marketing sales funnel to complete a conversion. For example, when new shoppers subscribe, they may receive a welcome email immediately, a follow-up email with more information a few days later, and a special offer a week after that. These drip campaigns can be automated to support they’re triggered in real time—meaning you don’t have to send them manually.
You can also use email automation software to trigger other types of campaigns and one-off messages. For example, you can automatically send reminder emails to customers who abandoned their carts, inviting them back to complete their purchase. You can also send post-purchase emails to make sure customers are satisfied with their products, and even up-sell them with personalized recommendations.
Always adhere to email marketing regulations to maintain compliance, ensure audience trust, and avoid any legal repercussions. This means you should:
Email remains a powerful marketing tools available to brands. Even in a sea of flashy social apps, marketers should still be harnessing opportunities to reach customers directly in their inboxes. Since competition is fierce, it’s important to know how to improve email marketing campaigns to drive ROI and conversions.
You can leverage effective email list growth strategies, use automation tools to send drip campaigns and real-time reminders, A/B test different elements to find your winning creative assets, and consistently track email metrics to build the most effective campaigns for your subscribers. With these best practices to guide you, you can be well prepared to win over customers in the inbox.