10 most important email marketing questions answered

Email marketing is one of the best ways to generate high ROI. Many marketers involved in email marketing along with other marketing initiatives, find the process cumbersome. Why? Owing to the complexity involved with lengthy email marketing.

So, if you want to get knee-deep into email marketing and improve your website’s performance, read the blog. If you have doubts regarding email marketing and are hesitant to ask, follow the blog. The blog is a compilation of some of the important questions asked by marketers regarding email marketing. Know “what” and “how” of email marketing.

Let’s begin!

10 Most important email marketing questions

Many marketers are still confused about whether to use email marketing tools or not to expand their business and many such questions. The purpose of the blog is to educate on the same and help marketers take an informed decision.

According to Smart Insights Data, “the average open and click-through rate (CTR) from data collected on 9 March 2021 is 16.97%, with a 10.29% CTR (Click Through Rate).

Here are some important terms:

• Open rate – measures the percentage of emails opened compared to send.
• Bounce rate – measures the number of emails sent compared to the number of emails delivered.
• Click-through rate – Compares the number of people who clicked on a link within an email against the unique number of opens.

Let’s begin with the 10 most important email marketing questions:

1. Is email marketing effective in 2021?

Before answering the question, let’s see the stats by (Oberlo):

81% of small businesses rely on email as their primary customer acquisition channel, and 80% for retention.  

Nearly nine out of every ten marketers use email marketing to distribute content organically.

49% of consumers would like to receive promotional emails from their favorite brands.  

What do you think? Yes, of course, email marketing is effective in 2021 and the following years.  Your audience might not go through the content you shared on social media or the website but definitely read the email’s subject line sent by you.  The subscribers are likely to click on the link mentioned in the email and that’s why email has the highest CTR rates.

2. How can I make customers read my emails?

Before clicking that send button after writing an email, check your email for the below parameters. The subject line is a deciding factor and maximizes open rates. Apart from that look for -

• Does your subject align well with the pre-header text?
• Have you addressed the recipient with the name in the mail?
• Is the message clear and generates a sense of urgency?
• Have you listed the benefits of the offer clearly?
• Have you segmented your audience based on interests and other parameters before sending the email?
• Is the email personalized to the receiver’s interest?
• Does your mail include too many pushy words?
• Are CTAs well-positioned and clearly intended?
• Have you checked your mail for spam filters?

Having gone through these parameters, you can be rest assure and improve the possibility of the emails getting viewed by your customers by 80%.

3. How can I grow my email list Organically?

When it comes to growing email list, purchasing one is a BIG No. Major email service provider like Mail Chimp and Amazon doesn’t allow uploading a purchased email list. Moreover, such emails land in the spam folder leading to high complaint rates and low response rates. Therefore, it is important to create your email list organically. Here is how you can do so:

Create an offer: Any content piece worthy of information and new insights like a blog can help you build an email list. You can provide value by granting something extra like a free- eBook, template, guide, to get the reader engaged with it.

Add a subscription form: Once your offer is ready, put a subscriber’s form to your site and ask for the email address.  You can place the form to the sidebar, in the footer, or the form of a pop-up on the website.

Partner with other sites: Look for the websites that fit your niche and partner with them for growing your email list quickly.

*provide great content that provides value. Then ask the email sign-ups to close the deal.

4. How often Should I be sending Mails?

The answer is- It depends.

The frequency of sending emails to your subscribers solely depends on the industry and the customer behavior in that industry.

Suppose, you have a bakery business, your subscribers would like to listen from you every then and now regarding the fresh arrivals and deals, and in opposition to this, if you are a dentist, your subscriber may get offended if you send more than 2 emails a week.

The major deciding factors are- audience, time, interests, customer behavior, and industry.

One solution can be asking your audience itself by running a survey as to how frequently they would like to listen from you.

5. How Do I make sure that emails don’t land in the spam folder?

I’m sure you watch random company emails landing in the spam folder and you don’t want the exact to happen with yours. Here is what you can do to prevent your emails from landing in the spam folder:

• Grant your subscriber an option for opting out
• Segment your list
• Remove the passive subscribers
• Identify yourself clearly in the sending name (not company name)
• Refrain from sending too many emails
• Authenticate the email
• Use anti-spam filters
• Don’t use words like free, discount in subject lines
• Don’t overuse exclamation marks
• Don’t forget to check the HTML code
• Add alt text in images

These practices can help prevent your emails from landing in the spam folder.

6. How do I choose between two subject lines?

An ideal subject line must have these features:

• Short (under 41 characters)
• To-the-point (addresses the need of the customer completely
• Creates curiosity
• Actionable
• Should align well with pre-header text
• Does not have any diverting words like FREE, DISCOUNT, SALES

You can follow these parameters to decide the most effective subject line for the mail.

7. How to write content for email?

Here is the step-by-step guide to designing content for email.

• Step1- Decide the subject of your mail
• Step 2- Segment the subscribers for those it will be most beneficial
• Step 3- personalize the mail (the mail should address the pain, challenges, and desires this segment share)
• Step 4- design your subject and pre-header text (subject should align with pre-header text)
• Step 5- Address the receiver by name and send it by the name he is familiar with.
• Step 6- design your messaging that clearly reflects the major benefit
• Step 7- provide your subscribers an option or opt-out (if they don’t want to receive emails anymore)
• Step 8- include a powerful call to action

Note*- Content should not be completely promotional. Highlight how your product/offer can help them eliminate the problem and why they should engage with you. Avoid using words like “free”, “sale” in the subject line.

8. What features do an ideal email marketing tool should have?

An ideal software should have the below features:

• AI-optimized software
• Unlimited templates
• A/B testing
• Send targeted mails
• Integrate with other automated tools like live visitor tracking, heatmaps for a clear insight
• Help you launch campaigns based on customer behavior
• Drag and drop builder for creating highly engaging emails
• Automate workflow
• Sent personalized and segmented mail at the right time

Yes, an ideal software having the above features do exist. Contact Click Nurture to know more.

9. What makes a good incentive?

It can be any kind of content that your audience shares an interest in and find value in. It can be an e-book, whitepaper, blog, video, webinar, etc. The primary motive is engaging users with your content and brand.

10.How long should my emails be?

An average person spends just 20 seconds of his time reading any mail. You need to design your mail accordingly. Only include the necessary information for example- offer, motive, and benefits, etc, to catch the attention of your subscribers.

Hope this will help you clear your doubts regarding email marketing and how you can use it effectively for your business online. For further information, contact Click Nurture.