5 Critical Success Factors In Email Marketing

It’s a well-known fact that email marketing is the most effective way to reach consumers. It’s the first thing that most people check in the morning. Plus, email has engagement and conversion rates which make social media look like an amateur.

But that doesn’t mean that every email marketing campaign is automatically successful. The wrong segment or the wrong subject could see your click-through rate fall to zero.

At Sharpspring, we’ve spent years honing our email marketing strategy and learning what works for our clients.

Here Are The 5 Critical Success Factors That Will Make Or Break Your Email Campaign.

Pick your audience
Give a clear call to action
Keep it relevant
Create a recognizable style
Maintain your mailing list

1. Pick Your Audience

Let’s start with the most essential point: You should only send emails to people who want to receive them.
In fact, if you trade anywhere in the EU, you will need clear, opt-in consent to send marketing emails to anyone. Even outside Europe, getting email consent means that you’ll have a happier audience who are more likely to convert.

Once You’ve Signed Up Some Subscribers, Start Dividing Them Into Segments. Think About:

demographics
which specific products and services they are interested in
how long they’ve been subscribers

Use these categories to send targeted emails. If you can send information that’s tailored to each person’s wants and needs, then you will see more conversions.

2. Give A Clear Call To Action

Speaking of conversions: how can you maximize them? Well, the call to action (CTA) is a good place to start. That’s where you invite readers to convert in a specific way, such as:

read an article (like this one!)
shop for products
tell you more information
connect on social media

Whatever you want subscribers to do, make it easy for them. Restrict yourself to just one CTA per email and highlight it with a big shiny button or link.

3. Make It Relevant

When we talk about being relevant, we’re talking about the connection between your content and your CTA. And you’d be surprised how few brands fail to make the connection.

If you offer something or make a promise in the subject line, then you have to deliver in the body of the email. If you send out a message about your summer sale, then the CTA button should lead to a page full of offers – not your website home page.

In general, it’s a good idea to keep things specific. People are much more likely to read an email which promises some specific benefit and then delivers. A vague, generalized message about your brand won’t encourage anybody to convert.

4. Create A Recognizable Style

Every article you will ever read about email marketing tells you to focus on the subject line. So we won’t waste your time by repeating those old tips. You already know that your emails should have a clear subject line, ideally with the reader’s name, as part of mobile-friendly design.

But you can go further. Developing a “house style” can go a long way to helping your email marketing campaign. In fact, having a consistent brand makes people trust you more.

Try to develop a distinctive voice for your subject lines and text body. Create a design that people recognize. Most importantly of all, set clear expectations for when people should expect your emails.

Basically? Be the email that your subscribers look out for every week.

5. Maintain Your Mailing List

Have you heard of the concept of entropy? It’s a concept from the world of physics. Essentially, it says, nothing stays the same. Things decay, and you can’t prevent it.

And yes, entropy affects your mailing list. Even if you send out the best emails in the world, some readers will inevitably unsubscribe, stop opening messages, or become another hard bounce statistic in your reports.

The Good News Is, You Can Manage This Entropy. Practice Good Mailing List Hygiene, Such As:

Regularly checking your deliverability score and taking action as needed
Making it easy for users to unsubscribe
Removing users who never answer emails
Running re-engagement campaigns
Rewarding loyal subscribers

A healthy mailing list means healthy results on your email marketing campaign. And if you follow all 5 of these tips, in our experience, you’re on track for success.