When used properly, email marketing can be one of the most effective ways to boost your business. It builds credibility, helps to brand your company and gets your name out to a ready audience who are keen to purchase your products. However, the ability to measure results is at the center of every successful email campaign, and this is where email automation tools become so valuable.
We’ll discuss the advantages in more detail later, but below are some of the main benefits you’ll gain from email automation tools:
Once you place a lead into a drip series, you can let go of the wheel and watch as they are nudged further down the pipeline, until you get the result you’re looking for: a conversion.
Now that you understand the benefits of email automation, let’s look at five ways they can maximize your campaign results.
The statistics regarding the effectiveness of email segmentation speak for themselves. The Direct Marketing Association says marketers who use segmentation see a 760% increase in revenue.
Marketers shouldn’t underestimate the power of personalization.
Today’s consumers expect brands to treat them as unique individuals, especially in the personal space of their inboxes.
Personalized email receives 29% higher open rates and 41% higher click-through rates. Simply including your customer’s name in the email subject line is known to boost engagement by 22%.
Speak to prospects with familiarity to maximize their engagement rates with your email. Include specific information like company name or purchase history to build trust and familiarity. Contextual behavioral messaging makes emails feel authentic instead of robotic.
As you can see in the image above, Airbnb knows how to prompt a purchase after cart abandonment.
The travel brand delivers an email reminder that calls the recipient by name, references the item under consideration, and includes pictures to spike interest. This level of specificity creates a conversational feel that consumers love and are eager to engage with.
Email layout and design impacts conversion rates.
So, should you make your messaging aesthetically alluring to tempt a conversion? Linear to streamline click-through rates?
It depends on your objective and who you’re targeting.
In fact, the real question you should be asking is this: what will your customer want to see based on their position in the funnel?
Dynamic email helps you personalize your messaging based on where leads are in the funnel, so you can improve open rates and boost retention. Physical products benefit from a visual email layout, as do rich media types and promotions.
In the image above, we see online classroom Skillshare appeal to a visually-oriented customer base with a beautifully designed email. This format is effective for artistic types, offering a free month trial that benefits from a beautiful backdrop to encourage sign ups.
Here’s a simple email from marketing guru Neil Patel. Since Neil’s trying to drive traffic, increase his thought leadership, and position his products, he correctly opts for a minimal and informative layout.
Neil understands his readers. They open emails to learn and to get quick solutions. Elaborate design or content would just be distracting. A direct statement of benefits and an unmistakable CTA nets the highest CTR and conversion rates.
An effective call to action should be obvious and should actively encourage clicks.
Your readers will not scour your email copy for a CTA in order to take the next step. It’s up to you to make it easy for them to convert.
Place CTAs where they’re easily seen and make sense.
Positioning the CTA at the bottom of your email is the norm, since conversions usually happen after you’ve promised value.
Some CTAs may work better at the top, however, as seen in the previous example from Skillshare. Split-test different designs to find what suits your offering and customer base.
Just as importantly, always use actionable language to drive results with your CTA.
The Brightcove email above promotes a webinar, calling readers to “Watch Now.” Active verbs drive conversions because they’re both descriptive and directly instructional. A bold purple CTA button draws the eye and aligns with the email design, helping it stand out for optimal clicks.
To maximize your email conversions, bring CTAs to the forefront and write compelling copy that makes the benefits of clicking immediately obvious.
If you don’t measure your email performance, you can’t improve it.
The right email automation tools allows you to measure the results of your email campaigns through KPIs like:
Then, you can use your insights from these metrics to optimize conversion rates going forward. Once you have a sense of how your emails are performing in general, A/B test your email campaigns to improve even further.
Adjust the sending time to reach your lists when they’re most receptive. You should also A/B test your content for factors like:
Send different types of content and offers to find out exactly what your prospects want to engage with. Understanding your audience and optimizing your delivery are the final factors in building a drip email campaign that will get you game-changing results.
You should now understand the benefits of email automation tools. Like morning coffee before a workday, automation is a key part of effective email marketing.
To optimally engage your audience, first segment your contact lists. From there, use data to personalize the email experience and create conversation.
Utilize email design that suits your industry and audience, being sure to place CTAs effectively for conversions. Optimize your email marketing strategy with analytics, reporting, and A/B testing to achieve the best metrics and revenues.
By deploying email automation tools, marketers can set, forget and maximize their drip engagement strategies.
Over time, this can result in increased sales, better branding and a better understanding of the campaigns that appeal most to your audience.
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