11 Tips for Successful Email Marketing Campaigns

Guide

By Caroline Aurigemma

We’ve all signed up for an email newsletter and quickly unsubscribed once we realized the content was not what we had expected. Maybe the email was too lengthy, not aesthetically pleasing, or the number of emails you are receiving is overwhelming. Whatever the reason, captivating your consumer and providing relevant information in a visually appealing way will allow your email to succeed.

 

woman typing in her laptop

 

Email marketing campaigns place your products or services directly in front of a captive audience. These potential and existing customers want to hear from you, but just getting to their inbox is not enough. Your subject lines need to be captivating, your email needs to be attractive, your content needs to convert. The success of your campaign is built on a reader taking action, like opening the email, clicking, and/or replying!

 

If you’re aiming for good deliverability and open rates, these tricks can help your business create emails that your audience can look forward to.   

 

1.🪤 Catch your consumer: You want to give your subscriber a reason to open the email, so make your subject line and headers enticing. Creating engaging, catchy, and trendy headlines and copy will help readers relate to the material you are sharing with them and keep them captivated throughout your newsletter.

 

2.🗓 Avoid Email Overload:  Sending too many emails can be bothersome to your customers and clients. You don’t want users to forget about you, but you don’t want them to feel overwhelmed with content and updates. Create an email campaign strategy and schedule emails so that your brand is consistent. Scheduling emails to go out bi-monthly or weekly is a great first step to analyze open and click rates.

 

3.🧹 Keep your lists clean: Updating your lists regularly keeps bouncing from happening. Tidying up can ultimately benefit the success of your email campaign by improving your email deliverability rate and encouraging engagement.

 

4.🚨 Watch out for Spam: Avoid spam and trigger words, especially in the subject of your email. Using these words sends a red flag to your readers, and they can also cause the emails to be blocked or filtered as spam. To increase your chance of entering your subscriber’s inbox, avoid notorious trigger words like “100% free,” “Act Now,” “Limited time offer,” “Information you requested,” and “Order Now!”

 

5.📢 Clear CTA’s: When choosing the content to add to your newsletter, make sure that most sections have clear call-to-actions (CTA’s). Whether it’s buttons that encourage “Apply Now,” “Read More Here,” or “Submit Your Work,” or icons that promote following social links, users shouldn’t be searching for this information. Keep it clear.

 

6.🤳 Integrate with social media: Make your email marketing and social media content cohesive so that when users are guided to your platforms, the information they receive sends the same message, both graphically and with the subject matter.

 

7.📸 Photos Matter: Using high-quality photos in email marketing campaigns is highkey important. No one wants to click on a blurry or pixelated image. Focus on sharing organic content like homemade graphics, rather than stock images, which can give your email a spammy feel.

 

8.📵 Don’t Use A “No-Reply” Sender Address: Did you know that getting a reply from an email campaign also increases deliverability? When you send an email from a “No-reply” email address, customers cannot contact you if they have a question or comment on the content they were sent. Emails from no-reply addresses are also commonly caught in a spam filter, blocking the campaign from being delivered.

 

9. Allow users to unsubscribe easily: You never want your customers or clients to feel trapped. By allowing users to unsubscribe, you are weeding out the uninterested and allowing the engaged community to continue receiving your content. It is also a legal obligation to clearly include a way for subscribers to opt out of your digital marketing campaigns.

 

10.🛑 Stop the spam: Don’t add people to your list unless they want to be included. Adding users who are unsuspecting or don’t know they are being added to your list could create a high unsubscribe rate (also, it’s illegal). A high unsubscribe rate will affect your deliverability to people who signed up and care about your content.

 

11.️ Be on brand! Your users are signing up for your newsletters because they already enjoy your content! Give them more of what they want from your brand. 


Does your email marketing strategy need a refresh? Do you feel like your emails need a facelift? Are you looking for ways to boost your open rate? Drop us a line and see how KDD can help!


Caroline Aurigemma was the Social Media & Communications Specialist at Katy Dwyer Design through December 2022. Caroline is a Hudson Valley native who has found a passion for helping small businesses grow their social media presence.