Getting email marketing right can be a difficult task. Even if you’ve followed every best practice and have a compelling copy, there’s still a chance your campaign won’t reach your goals. It is, however, still a highly effective means of reaching a wide audience and nurturing prospects through the pipeline.

Optimize For Mobile

According to HubSpot, mobile devices account for 46% of all email opens. That means if you’re not optimizing for mobile, almost half of the people who found your subject line enticing enough to open your email will have a poor experience. That is most certainly not ideal. Some tips to make your emails more mobile-friendly include:

• 25-30 character subject line
• Pre-header text
• Concise copy
• Expect blocked images
• Use whitespace
• Center CTAs

Get Your Subject Lines Right

Without attention-grabbing subject lines, your email campaigns stand little chance of being successful. You want to use personalized, actionable language and keep your character count under 30. While desktops will display up to 65 characters, mobile hovers around 30. Some tips on crafting an enticing subject line include:

• Be unique
• Ask a question
• Tell a joke
• Make an announcement
• Include a deadline
• Try a teaser

Focus On Clarity And Alignment

Being clear with your message is far more important than using fancy language or industry jargon. Your subject line should communicate exactly what to expect from your email copy. The body of your email should be a concise lead in to your call to action. Your call to action should link to a landing page that provides additional information on your content download or offer. Each of the components of your email should be a cohesive unit with one clear objective.

Keep It Brief And Scannable

The type of email, the industry you’re targeting, and your audience will dictate how long your email should be. Still, Constant Contact has offered up some general guidelines that can be applied to any email campaign:

• Emails that had no more than 20 lines of text or 200 words generated higher click-through rates. Adding anything more lowered the effectiveness of the email.
• Emails with 1-3 images performed better than those with no images or more than three.
• Emails with just a couple of links, especially those featured at the top of the email saw greater clicks. And, people tended to click links that appeared higher up in the email.

Segment And Personalize

Personalization plays a key role in all aspects of marketing. It cannot truly be accomplished without segmenting your audience. Segmenting your contact lists by a variety of key demographics or even by individual companies will allow you to tailor your messaging in a way that speaks to that specific audience and their pain points. The following statistics highlight the value of segmentation and personalization:

• 58% of revenue is generated thanks to segmented and personalized emails.
• 62% of marketers say that personalization is the most effective technique.
• Segmented email campaigns open rates increased by 39%; revenue, deliverability, and sales leads all increased by 24%, transactions – 18%.

Following these tips will give your email campaigns the greatest chance of being successful. A/B testing your emails will help shake out precisely what works best for your organization and target audience.

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