7 Creative Email Marketing Hacks to Boost Response Rates

In 2020, it’s predicted that 306.4 billion emails will be sent and received each day and this figure is expected to increase to over 347.3 billion by 2022. With new emerging communication methods popping up each year, this projected statistic demonstrates the growth and potential that a successful email marketing campaign will still have on your business. Here are our top 7 email marketing hacks to help your business grasp the basics and establish what works best for your audience’s needs.

  1. Be Personal. Think about personalisation beyond the first and last name. Tailoring the email to the recipient’s business background can be more relatable and will help to build a deeper relationship.
  2. Test subject lines. Testing several different techniques is the best method going forward. It’s crucial to ensure the subject line relates to the body of the email but use some creative license to draw each reader in. Avoid ‘one size fits all marketing’ and utilise techniques such as linking to individual pain points or using the FOMO effect. Gain more insight into your audience and their marketing preferences by testing and analysing their interaction.
  3. Don’t forget the preview text. Ideal length is between 35-90 characters so if you’re using more than 90 characters, keep in mind that some readers will skim over it and not read the entire text. Again, use personalisation techniques to entice the user to click and read on. A/B test your preview text until you have concrete insight about your audience and what engages with them the best. Adding special characters such as emoji’s can be a fun way to add personality to your emails, however, ensure this is appropriate for your audience and industry. Double and triple check the preview text before sending to ensure all characters are correct and it reads well.
  4. Include a Call-to-Action (CTA). A CTA doesn’t necessarily have to be a link; you can use a ‘find out more’ button or include an informative video for the user to watch. Make sure you analyse the best way to display a call-to-action depending on your audience and the way it looks on the page around the body of the text and images. Analyse insights and demographic reports to discover which technique will be the most successful.
  5. Create designs that stand out. Use images, colour contract, videos, GIFs and creating writing to create eye-catching emails. Think about this as another way to grab your user’s attention. Some systems will not display an image straight away, for example, Gmail will ask the user to download or approve the use of images within the email. Keep this in mind and avoid overusing images as this will be seen as spam.
  6. Mobile-Friendly. 51.53% of all internet traffic is generated on mobile. As the majority of users are now on mobile devices, this is a key priority for your marketing. Consider how your images may be viewed by a mobile user. Make sure images are not taking up too much space and hiding a call-to-action, text, main massages, etc.
  7. Test times for optimisation. Find out the best day and time to send out email marketing by monitoring customer engagement analytics. You want to make sure you are engaging with your audience in the best way and at the best time so really think about the content you’re sending, the type of information you’re offering and the optimal time they will read your message, click through and complete the intended goal.

Email Marketing is proven to develop relationships with potential and retained customers and successful campaigns will use creative techniques to convert prospects into loyal, recurring consumers. Adopting these creative email marketing hacks will help you master the basics, improve customer response rates and discover what works best for your brands style, voice and audience.

Austin Walters
Austin Walters

Austin Walters is Operations Director at WSA The Communications Agency. He steers the agency’s digital offering and works with all departments and marketing disciplines. Austin writes about business modernisation, management, sales and digital marketing. A young son, a busy job and social life mean that leisure time can be hard to come by, but he spends it keeping active and can often be found running, hiking, surfing or bending into shapes.

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