60+ Little Email Marketing Tips for Your Big Email Marketing Success

This article was last updated on September 1, 2020

There’s not a single formula of email marketing success. We believe that it is built piece by piece, i.e. by putting little email marketing tips into action and see what works for you.

We’ve put together more than 60 email marketing tips from professionals in the field. Some of these are must-haves for all email marketing campaigns, others are optional but all of them work for your success. Here we go:

1. Know the CAN-SPAM rules 

   Before starting with email marketing, do your homework first. Get familiar with the regulations, i.e. the CAN-SPAM rules (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing) and make sure your marketing campaign abides by them. If this is the first time you hear about CAN-SPAM Act, you can find more information on FTC’s website.

2. Don’t make people look for your opt-in form.

   Put it on several places on your website while you make sure it is inviting and non-obtrusive. Best practices for the subscription form location include: above the fold, the top right sidebar, at the bottom of your articles (we’ve seen it in the middle, too), in the footer, etc. Experiment and determine where your opt-in form generates the most sign-ups.

3. One or two signup fields

   Make it as quick as possible for people to sign up to your email list. A single field requiring an email address, or two fields requiring a name and an email address is enough. You can collect all other info later.

   

4. Integrate with social media

   Don’t be afraid to put other channels into help. Social media can be a great medium to reach more people and therefore, get more subscribers.

5. Ask before you add

   Never add people to your email list without their permission. When formulating your opt-in copy make it explicit what your users are signing up for.

6. Give incentive for signup

   Offer value when asking your site visitors to subscribe. Anything that they desire or might get them excited, such as a special edition product, a discount, an exclusive offer, etc. can motivate them to enter your subscription list.

7. Don’t buy email lists

   Buying email database will most probably lead to a dead-end. Also, your recipients will see you as a spammer… and first impression really matters. So, we don’t recommend you go down this road.

8. Clean up your email database

   Now that you’ve collected and maintain a significant amount of email subscribers, make sure to clean this list from inactive users and invalid email addresses now and then. This will increase your reputation as a sender. You won’t benefit from having inactive email accounts in your database, anyway.

   

9. Segment your email database from the very beginning

   Create mini lists based on certain criteria in order to send relevant and more personalized email marketing campaigns later. This would increase your open and click-through rates. Check out what the email segmentation best practices are.

10. Use a valid reply-to email address

    Such is hey@yourbrand.com instead of noreply@yourbrand.com. This way your recipients can get back to you if they have any questions or concerns.

11. Always fill the “From” field with your brand name

    Better off, fill it with your personal name and your brand name, e.g. “Mike from YourBrand”. This way you will appear “more human” in your recipient’s eyes.

12. Subject line corresponding to content

    Always, always write your subject line in compliance with your content. Deceptive subject lines will only gain you a reputation of a spammer. There is no use of click baits if you want to be successful with your email marketing.

13. Sit back and think

    When formulating your subject line, ask yourself a couple of simple questions: “Would I open that?”, “Does it solve a problem?” until you answer becomes 100% positive and backed up with solid reasons.

    

14. Don’t capitalize everything

    Don’t use capitalization for your whole subject line in an attempt to get noticed. In the digital world this is considered yelling and nobody like being yelled at. You can either capitalize just the first letter of your subject line, or every first letter of your subject line words.

15. Avoid name in subject line

    Think twice about putting your recipient’s name in the subject line. For some people this might be a huge turn-off. If you know your recipient’s name, that’s great but keep it for the content opening instead of throwing it into the subject line.

16. Avoid putting text in brackets

    Even a bigger turn off would be to put text in [square brackets] or <angle brackets> which conveys the feeling of a broken code. This would significantly reduce your open rates.

17. Add emojis to your subject line to enhance the emotion

    Make sure the emojis are relevant to your subject line. Otherwise, you might get exactly the opposite effect.

18. Forget about putting “Fwd:” and “Re:”

    Avoid adding the deceptive “Fwd:” and “Re:”. Your audience will know when you are lying, so nobody wins from this trick.

19. Put numbers

    Turns out numbers in the subject line nail the viewer’s attention and increase the open rates. Use low numbers when talking about steps of a process to get something done (means low effort). Use high numbers if you will be giving tips, insight, or anything that brings value for free (the higher the number, the higher the value).

20. Use urgency in the subject line and the copy to drive action

    People tend to procrastinate. Give them 7 days to do something, they will do it in the last day. That’s why campaigns such as “Today only” offers or “24-hour special deals” can generate higher open and conversion rates than simply saying a “Special deal”.

    

21. Use powerful words

    Take advantage of the common fear people have of missing out. Use powerful words such as limited edition, low availability, etc. – anything that would convey the user the feeling that if they don’t act now, they might not have the opportunity to do so later.

22. Send a test email to yourself

    Before launching your campaign, always send a test email to yourself. This way you’ll be sure that everything looks good and works the way it’s supposed to.

23. Greet your new subscribers within the first 24 hours

    Send a Welcome or Thank You email to your new subscribers within the first 24 hours. First of all, such kind of message is expected. That’s why it generates a higher open rate than a regular newsletter. Also, it’s proven that such a message written in friendly tone puts the foundation of a strong brand-customer relationship.

    

24. Combine your Welcome message with an offer

    Provide incentive to your newly subscribed to engage with your website in this first Welcome message. Since your brand is still fresh in their heads, you’ll have high chances of success.

25. Remind your subscribers what they signed up for

    In this Welcome message remind your recipients once again of how and when they will be receiving emails from you. Remind them what they have signed up for.

26. Ask to get whitelisted

    Explain why your recipients should mark you as a safe sender or add you to their contacts, then provide instructions.

27. Gather info to send more relevant offers

    Gather more information to craft more relevant email marketing campaigns. Send surveys and provide good incentive (gifts, coupons, etc.) in exchange for valuable info about your recipients.

    

28. Always have a purpose

    Make sure that your whole email marketing campaign has a purpose. Formulate a clear message with this purpose in mind to achieve higher engagement and click-through rates.

29. Call-to-action is a must-have element

    Always include a call-to-action button corresponding to the purpose of your email marketing campaign. Make is as much easy as possible for your recipients to take actions.

30. Place your call-to-action above the fold

    This is the visible area before scrolling. This practice increases the chances of recipients converting.

31. Design your call-to-action buttons larger than 45-57 pixels in width

    An MIT study reveals that the average finger size of an adult is 1.6-2 cm which corresponds to 45-57 pixels on a mobile device’s screen.

32. Give the option to unsubscribe

    The Unsubscribe button is a must-have. To avoid being labeled as a spammer, you should give your recipients the opportunity to unsubscribe. Usually, this option is placed in the bottom of every email message you send.

33. Evoke emotions

    If you want to compel to your recipient and make them click though, you should try bring up an emotional reaction. Emotions truly drive action.

34. Use the deadline incentive in your copy, too.

    A clear deadline will increase the recipient’s chances of converting and prevent them from procrastinating.

    

35. Write fast to show your true personality

    When formulating your message, write faster than you usually do. It is believed that this way you show your true personality. Show your audience who you are and how you are different from the rest.

36. Write like you would speak to a friend

    Be yourself, be natural. People are tired of blunt ad messages and definitely avoid those.

37. Use the most powerful word “You”

    Your whole message should be written in this manner. People want you to talk about them. What they will get, how their problems will be solved, etc.

38. Focus on the benefits

    To make your recipients click through, write your copy by focusing on everything people will benefit from by doing so.

39. Think about localizing your emails

    If you can, send your campaigns in the preferred language preferences of your recipients.

40. Make your content scannable

    Most people are busy and will look for key points of your message. This is why you should mind your formatting. Put plenty of bullets and numbers to make your message easily absorbable.

41. Use the power of a P.S.

    Add a P.S. to your email message and include the most important information there. People tend to remember the first and last thing they read from a certain email message.

42. Put images to appeal better

    Visuals breaking up your text will appeal to your audience much more effectively. People assimilate information much better via images rather than plain text.

    

43. Place links behind your images

    This increases your chances of click-throughs. Images can in fact play the role of big call-to-action buttons so don’t miss out on this opportunity.

44. Remember that platforms may hide your images

    Many email platforms won’t show your images unless the recipients manually load them. Make sure to have all your key information in your text and add alt text to your images.

45. Add alt text to your CTA button image

    In case you use images for your call-to-action buttons, add alt text there as well. This way, even if the browser blocks your image, you will get your message across.

46. Optimize your images for mobile devices

    Reduce the size of your image files to optimize your email campaign for mobile devices.

47. Sell only after you build trust

    This means you may have to send some free products along, educate your recipients and then, try selling them your products.

48. Include labels of social trust

    Such are customer testimonials, money back guarantees, famous company logos related to you, etc. These elements reduce the user anxiety.

49. Include “Forward to a friend” button

    This way you will encourage your recipients to spread the word about your campaign to people they think would be interested.

50. Put links to your social media profiles

    Your email marketing campaigns are a perfect place to encourage your recipients to follow you in other channels.

    

51. Link phrases from 7 to 10 words

    Include prominent links in your actual text. A research found that people tend to click more on phrases containing from 7 to 10 words.

52. Make sure your campaigns look good on mobile

    Always optimize your campaigns for mobile devices. The majority of people these days open their emails from their smartphones or tablets.

53. Create custom landing pages

    Create custom landing pages corresponding to your email marketing campaigns. This way you will create a more pleasant and consistent user experience.

54. Use email to cross-sell and up-sell

    Cross-selling and up-selling are great selling techniques to re-engage an already warm customer with a fresh experience with your brand. Use email as a medium to do such campaigns.

55. Send campaigns for repeat orders

    Repeat orders work in a similar way. If your product has a pre-defined lifespan, remind your clients via email about yourself when the product is close to expiry. On the one hand, you show you care for your clients, on the other hand, you get more sales.

56. Notify people when a product they like is on sale

    If a user was interested in a particular product, send them an email notification when this product’s price gets reduced. This is a great way to re-engage these people with your brand since they already showed interest in your product.

57. Activate “sleeping” subscribers

    Send re-engagement campaigns to people who haven’t been opening your emails. Give them an option to unsubscribe if your brand is no longer of interest to them, and a good incentive to stick with you.

    

58. Resend unopened emails several days later

    This way you will increase the overall open rate of your campaign.

59. Use automation every time you can

    Automated email campaigns such as birthday greetings, welcome messages, thank you message, abandoned cart campaigns, etc. can save you tons of time while keeping your customer-brand relationship warm.

60. Monitor key metrics

    Learn which key metrics are important for your business and monitor those to measure your success. Constantly set higher goals and push yourself to improvement.

61. Check out what the competition is doing

    Copy-paste is not recommended at all. However, staying up-to-date with your competitors’ marketing efforts can help you craft more effective email marketing campaigns yourself.

62. A/B test everything

    The subject line power words, word order, length, etc.; the copy length, tone, formatting, etc.; the call-to-action buttons number, color, size, placement, etc.; time and day you achieve the highest open rates, etc.

Turns out,

The little steps, the little everyday efforts… these are all the parts that build the big puzzle of email marketing success. Lots are the factors that contribute to the big picture. We’ve tried to capture as many as we could. We’d like to hear about your own suggestions to grow this list with even more email marketing tips.

If you found this piece snackable, you will certainly love to check out these 50+ email marketing campaign ideas you can start realizing today. Good luck, guys!