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As the internet exploded upon the scene a couple of decades ago and millions of users let the world know who and where they were on the web, the whole of commerce initiated promotional campaigns utilizing emails. Much like direct mail marketing surged after the first street address was published, initial email campaigns used a broad “occupant” approach to connect with consumers. As a result, early email marketing efforts became the hi-tech version of “junk” mail, or as it is known in the digital arena, spam.
Today, 14.5 billion spam emails are sent each day representing 45% of all daily emails. Consumer surveys reveal that nearly 70% of all email recipients can successfully identify a spam email just from the subject line. With so many savvy consumers deleting so many emails at first glance, why is email marketing on the rise? Because nearly 60% of those savvy consumers indicate that an email was the motivation for a purchase decision. The fact that so many email marketing strategies get it wrong is no reason to abandon the medium. So how can you ensure that your next email campaign isn’t zapped out of existence before it is opened and read?
Getting heard above all the noise and establishing a successful customer experience requires a commitment to personalization. Experian reports that personalized marketing emails received 29% higher open rates and 41% higher click-through rates than those without personalization. Deploying a strategy of personalizing the message to reflect a consumer’s wants and needs and placing it where it is easily accessible is essential to optimizing the consumer’s experience. Generalized, one-size-fits-all content is not.
Personalization should be achieved in the email subject line in order to improve customer open rates. Adding a simple emoji or image in the subject line can increase open rates by 56%, as compared to text-only subject lines, but using the words “free”, “help”, “percent off”, and “reminder” in a subject line has been found to negatively impact open rates. Customizing offerings to align with various customer personas will increase an email’s effectiveness and will be more likely to deliver recommendations that are better suited to the individual customer’s tastes. Almost 91% of consumers report that they are likely to shop from brands that provide them with relevant purchase recommendations and offers.
Developing multiple customer personas can be time-consuming, but automation tools are available to help. Test email offerings to determine what is working versus what is not and adjust accordingly to advance effectiveness. It’s interesting that one of the least utilized routes to building effective customer personas is often overlooked. Ask, and listen to, the customer. Making a personal information form available to prospective customers will yield a wealth of accurate information about what solutions and offers are most desirable.
How many emails do you receive before they become a nuisance you would rather avoid? Most recipients open devices that are populated with dozens of unsolicited emails several times each day. Respect the receiver’s inbox. Be mindful of how much may be too much. Studies reveal that the highest “open” rates are achieved with just two emails per month. Coordinate these emails by employing cross-channel media posts with one campaign per month to achieve the best results. Fewer high-quality emails are better than too many. Focusing on the quality of a message and optimal rates of frequency will provide better conversion rates. Give readers an easily identifiable call to action (CTA) to give them a clear and simple pathway to making a purchase.
Including photos or videos within an email can increase click-through rates by as much as 300%, but the more images an email has, the less effective they become. Keep in mind that nearly 42% of emails are opened on a mobile device and 42.3% of people say they will delete an email if it’s not optimized for mobile. Be reasonable about the expectations of any email campaign. On average less than 22% of emails are opened; the rest are destined to becoming spam.
Still believe that email campaigns represent marketing tactics from the past? When surveyed, consumers believed that email is more likely to be around in ten years than Facebook, Twitter, and television.
For more on how the professionals at Junction Creative Solutions can help you craft an effective email marketing campaign, contact us at 678-686-1125 or info@junction-creative.com.