The great thing about email marketing is that it’s fully measurable. So you can mix things up, take something away, put something new in and test it all before you press send to everyone on your list.

We’re often asked for our advice on how to progress a firm’s email marketing. So I passed round the last of the Quality Street chocolates from Christmas and asked our resident experts to give me their top tips. It made for a very enjoyable and engaging conversation!

But, before you even read our top 10, check out these three tips from our technical team to get it right from the very start.

Our Top Three Email Marketing Essentials

 

1st

UK marketers should opt to work with an ESP who does not send your data to servers based outside of the EU as the Safe Harbour agreement is no longer valid.

2nd

You should send from a unique, dedicated IP address so you are not affected by other sender’s poor data hygiene.

3rd

Ensure your ESP provides 3 essential DNS records. These being Reverse DNS, SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) for best deliverability.

 

Our Top Ten Email Marketing Tips for 2016

 

4th

 

Ensure your website has prominent e-news sign up links on as many pages as possible

Collect essential but minimal information at this stage to make the process as easy as possible. You can collect more data via a ‘maintain my preferences’ form or a survey in the future. Incorporate the same sign up link into your e-newsletters as this is extremely useful if you are sending emails to generic email addresses (such as marketing@ or info@) and help to grow your data list organically.

 

5th

 

Create the right expectation from the start and send the subscriber what they signed up for

Your sign up notification shouldn’t just say ‘thanks for signing up’. It should tell your subscriber what they can expect to receive from you, the frequency and how they can change their preferences and even opt out. Also, you’ll get more sign ups if you offer a sign up incentive such as a discount.

 

6th

 

Get a fresh new mobile optimised template

Start with analysing your past campaign results. Are there links and buttons that hardly ever get clicked? Or a regularly used link? Create a new look and feel that drives more conversions and looks great on mobile too.

 

7th

 

Segment your non engagers and create a reactivation campaign

Your open and click rates will steadily decline over time if you don’t remove subscribers who continue to receive your emails, but don’t actually do anything with them. Try to re-engage those subscribers by offering an alternative incentive and if they still don’t bite, exclude them from your regular lists and send less frequently. Less damage to your list health this way.

 

8th

 

Subject line test each and every single campaign

Subject line testing is dead easy with Campaignmaster so use it for every send. In fact, with Campaignmaster you can conduct A/B/C/D/E multivariate testing and automate the final send based on a choice of multiple conditions, or simply select a version to launch manually. The results may surprise you.

 

10th

 

Create clear call to actions

You’re sending your campaign for a reason right? So whether it’s a read more, or buy now, or Tap To Call button make it stand out. Campaignmaster’s built in button tool will allow you to create aesthetically and ergonomically perfect buttons in seconds that are fully customisable.

 

9th

 

Create short snappy content with links to read more

We scan our emails to read/find what we want so rather than making your subscriber scroll and scroll, create links to more detail and keep your e-newsletter brief. Long, text heavy emails can affect your deliverability, get cut off by certain email clients and could be difficult to load on mobile devices.

 

11th

 

Give something away

Whether it’s a free cookie or a useful whitepaper, occasionally give something back to your subscribers to show they are valued and there was good reason to sign up in the first place.

 

12th

 

Use pre-header text

This is your opportunity to expand on your subject line or give more information about other content in your email, helping to increase open rates. Your pre-header can be hidden within your content or displayed as a sub heading at the top, all of which our designers can advise you on.

 

13th

 

Keep important content above the fold

An oldie but a goldie! Keep your most important message above the fold in your campaign to keep your subscriber engaged.