When done correctly, email marketing can be as powerful as any other marketing strategy. Research has consistently shown that email has a high return on investment. In 2022, Litmus found that the return could be as high as $36 for every dollar invested.
Taking that into consideration, let's look at the best ways to use email marketing. In case you need extra convincing, we'll also cover benefits and statistics that show the importance of email. Let's get started.
What is email marketing?
Email marketing is a form of digital marketing that involves sending promotional messages or newsletters to a list of subscribers via email. Its objective is to build customer relationships, promote products or services, increase brand awareness, and drive sales.
You can reach your target audience directly with personalized and relevant content through email marketing. In addition, it is cost-effective, easy to track, and provides valuable data for analyzing campaign outcomes.
Email marketing can take many different forms. A single email announcing new content, a regular newsletter, or contacting customers about product updates are all examples of these campaigns. It isn't as flashy as newer channels, like messaging and social media. Nevertheless, email is an effective method of building an audience.
This is what Head of Strategy and Operation over at HubSpot, Rob Litterst, has to say regarding email marketing:
When to Use Email Marketing
Email marketing remains a powerful tactic to:
-
Build relationships. Engage your audience in a personalized way to build connections.
-
Boost brand awareness. Keep your company and your services at the forefront of your prospects' minds.
-
Promote your content. Share relevant blog content or valuable assets with prospects via email.
-
Generate leads. Get subscribers to provide their personal information in exchange for a valuable asset.
-
Market your products. Make your products and services known.
-
Nurture leads. Delight your customers with content that can help them succeed in their goals.
Email Marketing Benefits
- With over 4.3 billion email users worldwide, email is the perfect way to reach your customers.
- As of 2022, email generates $36 for every dollar spent.
- According to Marketing Trends, 51% of marketers say email marketing is the most effective marketing channel.
- This year, 53% of marketers say they plan to continue investing in email marketing.
- Similarly, 33% of companies plan to increase their investment in email marketing.
- 33% of marketers send weekly emails, and 26% send emails multiple times monthly.
Beyond just the statistics, perhaps the best reason to use email marketing is that you own the channel. No external entity can influence how, when, or why you reach out to subscribers outside of compliance regulations.
As a marketing tool, email has proven to be an unsung hero time and again.
Email Marketing Stats by Industry
It depends on your industry and who you're marketing to when it comes to email marketing rules. Here are some email marketing trends for B2B, B2C, e-commerce, and real estate companies.
Email Marketing Stats for B2B
- Over the past 12 months, email ranked third among owned-media platforms used by B2B marketers.
- 44% of B2B marketers rate email marketing as the most effective method of marketing.
- When evaluating performance over the past year, B2B marketers say email engagement is the fourth most insightful metric, ahead of social media, search rankings, and lead quality.
Email Marketing Stats for B2C
- 50% of B2C marketers say growing their email list is one of the biggest challenges in their role.
- 37% of B2C marketers send daily marketing emails to their subscribers.
Email Marketing Stats for Ecommerce
- 57.2% of marketers say the e-commerce brands they manage have 1,000 to 10,000 contacts on their email lists.
- Email marketing is primarily used to increase awareness of brands, according to 85.7% of e-commerce marketers.
- Roughly 72% of e-commerce marketers say the biggest challenge they face with email is low open rates.
Getting Started with Email Marketing
Before you get overwhelmed with the vast possibilities of email marketing, let’s break down a few key steps to get you started building a solid email campaign that will delight your customers.
You can think of these steps as creating a successful email marketing strategy.
1. Create an Email Marketing Strategy
Send emails that people actually want to read by building an effective email strategy. The key is to create a plan (which can be broken down into a few key steps). Think of the following five steps as an outline for your email strategy. We'll explore some of these in more detail shortly.
Define your audience
Understanding your audience is the key to crafting effective emails, whether you are sending a campaign or a one-time email. Start with your buyer persona, figure out their pain points, and tailor your email campaign accordingly.
Establish your goals
Gather some context before setting campaign goals. If you want to reach your marketing goals, you should know the average email statistics in your industry.
These benchmarks vary greatly, as shown above You can use this guide to help your team set realistic goals.
Build your email list
You need people to email, right? We'll discuss how to build your email list in the next section, but an email list is a group of users who have agreed to receive relevant content from you.
In order to build that list, you need several ways for prospects to opt-in to receive your emails, which we'll discuss in another section. It's okay if your list has only a few members. Building it can take some time. As your email list grows organically, treat every subscriber and lead as gold.
Choose an email campaign type
There are many types of email campaigns, and choosing one can be overwhelming. Is there a weekly newsletter you send out? Is it a good idea to announce new products? What are the best blog posts to share?
It's a subjective decision.
To determine the best type of email campaign for your audience, you can begin by learning about the types of email campaigns. Your customers and prospects can also sign up for only the emails that are relevant to them by setting up different lists.
Make a schedule
Make sure you inform your audience upfront how often you plan to contact them.
It will give them an idea of what to expect ahead of time. If you forget this, you can end up on their unsubscribe lists and even in their spam folders.
Additionally, keep a consistent schedule once you've set one. By doing so, you will build trust and stay top of mind for your audience.
Measure your results
It should come as no surprise. As marketers, we measure everything. You can make small changes to your emails to yield large results by being meticulous about every key metric.
In a bit, we'll cover the exact KPIs to monitor (or you can skip ahead).
After you understand how to create an email marketing strategy, let's look at how to build an email list.
Choose an email marketing platform
In order to fine-tune your email marketing strategy, an email marketing provider (ESP) is an excellent resource. By using HubSpot's Email Marketing tool, you can efficiently create, personalize, and optimize marketing emails without the help of designers or IT professionals.
There are a variety of features to help you create the best email marketing campaigns and support all of your email marketing goals.
You can also analyze the success of your email marketing so you can share the data that matters most to your business with your team. The best part? You can use HubSpot's Email Marketing service for free.
Here are examples of features, that services like HubSpot offer when you're choosing an email service provider:
- Segmentation-enabled CRM platform
- Good standing with Internet Service Providers
- Email service provider (ESP) with a good reputation
- Forms, landing pages, and CTAs that are easy to build
- Automation
- Simple ways to comply with email regulations
- Email split testing capability
- Built-in analytics
- Downloadable reports
Build Your Email List
Now to the fun part: filling your email list with eager prospects excited to hear from you. You can build your email list in many creative ways (and buying emails is not one of them). Lead magnets and opt-in forms are two key elements to list building that work together to increase subscriber numbers.
Use lead magnets
In essence, a lead magnet is a free offer that attracts prospects to your email list. It can take many forms, be valuable to your prospects, and be given away for free in exchange for an email address.
There’s just one problem: People have become hyper-protective of their personal information. It is impossible to receive an email address without exchanging something valuable for it. Make your lead magnet relevant, useful, and easy to use for your prospects.
Lead magnets can be created in a variety of ways:
-
Ebooks.
-
Whitepapers.
-
Infographics.
-
Reports or studies.
-
Checklists.
-
Templates.
-
Webinars or courses.
-
Tools.
If you’re short on resources, you can even repurpose existing content to create lead magnets.
Create an enticing opt-in form
Your opt-in form is how you collect a prospect's information so you can add them to your mailing list. You created an incredible asset with your future leads in mind, and it's the gate between them and it.
To create an enticing opt-in form, follow these tips:
Create an attractive design and attention-grabbing header
The form should be branded, stand out from the page, and encourage people to sign up. You want to excite readers with the offer.
Make the copy relevant to the offer
Getting people to enter their information is your goal, not deceiving them. The information you provide on your form should be accurate.
Keep the form simple
This could be one of your first interactions with your prospect. It is better not to scare them away with a long long-form several fields.
Start by asking for only the most essential information: first name and email address.
Set your opt-in form for double confirmation
The idea of asking your subscribers to opt into your emails twice may seem counterproductive, but some research indicates that customers prefer a confirmation opt-in email (COI) over a welcome email.
Ensure that the flow works
Before you go live, walk yourself through the user experience. Double-check that the form works as intended, the thank you page is live, and your offer is delivered as promised. This is one of your first impressions of your new lead - make it a professional and positive one.
Here are some universally accepted email marketing best practices regarding how to send marketing emails.
How to Send Marketing Emails
If everything goes according to plan, you'll have a robust list of subscribers and leads waiting to hear from you. If you don't want to end up in a spam folder or worse, a blocked list, you can't start emailing right now.
Before you begin emailing your list, remember these important points.
1. Implement email segmentation
As soon as you add people to your list, they must be segmented into different categories.
You will have easier-to-manage subcategories that pertain to the unique interests, characteristics, and preferences of your subscribers instead of a monolithic list of everyone.
Our subscribers are humans, after all, and we should do our best to treat them as such. That means not sending generic email blasts.
Why should you segment your email list?
Your subscribers are at different levels of readiness to convert into customers (which is the ultimate goal).
If you offer a discount coupon for your product to subscribers who don't know how to diagnose their problems, you will probably lose them. That’s because you’re skipping the part where you build trust and develop the relationship.
Instead of corralling leads into a one-size-fits-all box, you should treat your subscribers as individuals you want to connect with. The more you segment your list, the more trust you build with your leads, and the easier it’ll be to convert them later.
How to Segment Email Lists
The first step in segmentation is creating separate lead magnets and opt-in forms for each part of the buyer’s journey. You can then automatically create separate lists for each of your contacts.
In addition, email marketing platforms allow you to segment your email list by contact data and behavior to send the right emails to the right people.
Your list could be broken up in the following ways:
-
Geographical location
-
Lifecycle stage
-
Awareness, consideration, and decision stage
-
Industry
-
Previous engagement with your brand
-
Language
-
Job Title
Your list can be segmented in any way you choose. Just make sure to be as exclusive as possible when sending emails to each subgroup.
2. A/B test your marketing emails
Not all email lists are created equal. There are audiences who prefer personalization, and there are audiences who consider it spammy. Some audiences will like bright, eye-catching CTA buttons. A more subtle call-to-action may be preferred by others.
You won't know who makes up your email list until you test the variables. That’s where A/B testing comes in handy. Here's what Madison Zoey Vettorino, marketing manager and SEO content writer for HubSpot’s Website Blog, has to say regarding A/B testing:
By comparing the results of email A against email B, A/B testing determines what type of email performs best with your audience. When working with templates, this can be especially helpful.
Here’s the step-by-step process for A/B testing your emails:
-
Test one variable at a time, such as the subject line, CTA, or images
-
Create two versions of the email: one with and one without the variable
-
For a limited period of time, let your emails be sent simultaneously
-
Keep only the version that performed better after analyzing your results
-
Repeat the test with a new variable
With most email service providers, you can compare email results without much manual effort with A/B testing built into their software.
Consider these tips when conducting an A/B test:
Test one element at a time
“For example, try the same email with a different subject line. Or the same email and same subject line with a different CTA,” says Curtis del Principe, a user acquisition program lead and content strategist at HubSpot.
“It might be tempting to make several changes at once, but that makes it harder to pinpoint the true cause of your wins or losses,” he says.
Don't rely on your eyes when conducting an A/B test
An A/B test should be conducted with intention. Results can be incorrectly interpreted when quick changes are made and results are not approached scientifically.
“You might be tempted to run an informal A/B test by making a change and then casually paying attention to the responses that you get. This unscientific method can easily be skewed by factors outside your control (like seasonality or deliverability),” says del Principe. “It also leaves out a ton of valuable data, like open rate, click-through rate, unsubscribe rate, or sharing/forwarding rate.”
For a broader and more accurate understanding of your email performance, use a tool like Marketing Hub or BuzzStream.
3. Analyze your email marketing performance
After you've launched your first few campaigns, it's time to see how they're performing.
You'll be able to make better decisions based on your email marketing analytics, helping your business's bottom line, resonating with your subscribers, readers, and customers, and justifying your work to your organization.
You can analyze the effectiveness of your email marketing campaigns by following these steps.
4. Set email marketing KPIs
To evaluate the effectiveness of your email marketing campaign, you should consider four key metrics.
-
Deliverability measures the rate at which emails reach your intended subscribers’ inboxes.
-
Open rate is the percentage of people that open your email once it reaches their inbox.
-
Clickthrough rate (CTR) is the percentage of people that click on your CTAs.
-
Unsubscribes measures the number of people who opt out of your email list once they receive your email.
5. Adjust email components to improve results
It will take some experimentation and guesswork to figure out which tweaks to your email will yield the most significant results.
Play with these variables to improve your email results if you're not getting the desired results.
Deliverability
- Follow best practices when it comes to spam filters.
- Keep only engaged subscribers on your email list by removing inactive subscribers.
- Make a list of bounced emails and remove those addresses.
Open Rate
- Try to entice people to click on your email by using creative language in the subject line.
- Adjust the time and day that you send your email to see what works best.
Clickthrough Rate (CTR)
- Evaluate your offer to ensure that it provides value to your segmented list.
- Make sure your copy is clear about what you want the reader to do.
- Try different CTAs, e.g., graphic versus Inline copy, bold versus subtle.
Unsubscribes
- Consider first whether this is a blessing in disguise, as uninterested parties are leaving your list.
- Ask inactive subscribers on your list if they still want to be a part of it on a regular basis
- Ensure that the email you sent is aligned with your brand.
- Be careful not to perform a bait-and-switch by promising one thing and delivering another.
- Prior to trying to upsell, make sure your emails provide value to your audience.
6. Use an email marketing report template
When you've run a few campaigns, it's time to analyze how they performed. You can't make any sense of your data if you can't report it in an organized manner.
Using an email marketing report, you can track your results in one place to make inferences from your KPIs and improve them. Your report should be organized as follows:
Metrics
- The total number of emails sent
- Total emails delivered
- Rate of deliverability
- Bounce Rate
- Open Rate
- Clickthrough Rate (CTR)
- CTOR (Click-to-Open Rate)
- Unsubscribe Rate
Data
- Subject line
- Email body length
- Offer
- CTA (inline or graphic)
- List segment(s)
Questions To Ask:
- In comparison with previous periods, was your deliverability rate high?
- What was the CTR compared to the open rate of your campaign?
- Did your unsubscribe numbers match those of other emails?
- Did one subject line perform better than another?
- Does the length of the email affect CTR?
- Is there another CTA style that would perform better?
- Was the offer appropriate for the list segment?
Email Regulations You Should Know
A consumer's right to know how and why their information is being used is protected by email regulations. Compliance with what our customers-or potential customers-want is what we care about the most.
The following are some of the most important:
1. CAN-SPAM Compliance
The acronym CAN-SPAM stands for Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (because sometimes they go hand in hand). Essentially, it protects your subscribers' right to only receive email they've requested. A 2003 law prohibits the use of commercial emails for business purposes.
Here are the ways to ensure that your emails are CAN-SPAM compliant:
- Every email should include your company's name and address.
- Include unsubscribe links in your emails.
- Fill out the "From" and "Reply to" fields with real email addresses.
- Email subject lines should indicate the email's content.
2. GDPR Compliance
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) may appear burdensome and unnecessary to some, but it advances the goal of building long-term, trusting relationships with customers.
GDPR is about giving your customers the right to choose. They choose your emails. They decide to hear from you. Your products are chosen by them. And that is exactly what inbound marketing is about.
It is important to note that GDPR only applies to businesses operating in the European Union and businesses that market to EU citizens. If you fail to comply with GDPR, you will be charged significant fees that aren't worth the risk.
Here’s an overview of how you can comply with GDPR laws:
- When requesting consent to store personal information, use precise language.
- Your business should only collect contact data that is necessary and relevant.
- Make sure contact data is stored securely and used only for the purposes agreed upon.
- Data should only be retained for legitimate business purposes.
- On request, delete contact information.
- Ensure that unsubscribes or preferences can be updated easily.
- Respond promptly to a contact's request for access to their data.
- Ensure GDPR compliance by keeping company records.
Creating a GDPR strategy for your business before sending emails is a good idea since these regulations will be taken seriously (as they should).
3. Avoid Spam Filters
The last thing you want is to end up in a spam folder after spending time creating the perfect email and adhering to regulations.
The spam folder should be avoided for the following reasons:
- Deliverability rates are affected across the board.
- It is likely that all of your emails will be missed by your contacts.
- You won’t be able to measure your email marketing effectiveness accurately.
- Your analytics will be skewed.
It is possible to avoid being considered spam by following these steps.
Get whitelisted
Senders on a whitelist are approved to reach the subscriber's inbox. You can accomplish this by having your new subscriber add your email address to their address book.
Your welcome email should include instructions on how to do this.
Mind your copy
Whenever possible, avoid using all caps and multiple exclamation points, as well as spam trigger words such as "opt-in," "click below," and "order," which are easily detected by Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
Use a reliable email service provider
Your email service provider’s reputation affects your deliverability, so stick to established, well-known companies.
Implement a double opt-in
If someone opts in to your email list, send them an email asking them to confirm. It ensures that your new subscriber is genuinely interested in your emails and is more likely to engage with them.
Last but not least, you need to consistently measure the success of your email marketing efforts. You have a number of options when it comes to email marketing analytics for your business.
Email Marketing Tips
If you've ever sent an email to a friend, you probably don't think twice about the formatting or subject line, but email marketing requires a bit more thought.
Your email is only as good as the device on which it is opened, from the time it is sent to the device on which it can be opened.
A marketing email's goal is to generate more leads, which makes it a more involved process than other emails you've written.
Let’s touch on the components of a successful marketing email:
Copy: The copy in the body of your email should be consistent with your voice and stick to only one topic.
Images: Make sure your images are optimized for all devices, eye-catching, and relevant.
CTA: You should include a relevant call-to-action in the email that stands out from the rest.
Timing: According to a study of 20 million emails, Tuesday at 11 AM ET is the best day and time to send an email.
Responsiveness: 55% of emails are opened on mobile. This and all other devices should, therefore, be optimized for your email.
Personalization: You should write every email as if you were sending it to a friend. Use a familiar tone of voice when addressing your reader.
Subject Line: Use clear, actionable, enticing language that is personalized and aligned with the email body.
Personalize your email marketing
“Personalization isn’t just about adding a contact’s name to the subject line anymore but is all about creating personalized experiences that demonstrate you understand them and have insider knowledge about how they can use your products to succeed,” Aleia Walker, growth marketing manager at HubSpot.
Sending personalized emails is much easier now that you know who you're contacting and what they care about. It's true that you're speaking to 100+ people at once, but your leads don't need to know.
A Litmus report from 2021 found that 80% of customers are more likely to make a purchase from a brand that provides personalized service. To really drive this point home, consider this: Personalized emails have higher open rates. A further 83% of customers are willing to share their data for a more personalized experience.
All this unique data has been gathered by you. You can use personalization tokens in your email marketing software. Sending generic emails that don't make your leads feel special is not acceptable.
“It’s more impactful to base email personalization on two or three factors instead of just what a contact is engaging with on your side,” Walker says.
Walker suggests, “Consider personalizing emails based on what you know about your contact, such as their location, industry, employee size, etc., alongside how they engage with your content.”
You can personalize your emails in a few ways:
- In your subject line and/or greeting, include your first name.
- When appropriate, include information specific to a particular region.
- Make sure your content is relevant to the stage of your lead's lifecycle.
- Send emails only related to the last engagement a lead has had with your brand.
- Describe relevant and/or personal events, such as holidays or birthdays specific to your region.
- Personalize your emails with a signature from a human (not your company).
- Use a relevant call-to-action to an offer that the reader will find useful.
Use email marketing templates
Templates for email marketing, such as these ones from HubSpot, are another great resource. Unless you're a designer and developer, on top of being a skilled marketer, templates will save you a lot of time - they eliminate the hassle of designing, coding, and defining your UX.
Be sure to select email templates that are proven to work when making your selection. High-quality templates come from ESPs that have tested them against thousands of alternatives. So, stick with the professionals.
If you need help personalizing and optimizing your marketing emails, HubSpot offers A/B testing tools, and template-based emails for creating aesthetically pleasing emails.
Additionally, HubSpot's Campaign Assistant generates marketing emails using AI technology.
Beginning Email Marketing
Sending a marketing email has many rules, but the most important is treating the reader like a friend.
This golden rule can help you accomplish all of your email marketing goals if you keep it in mind when creating autoresponders, lead magnets, and subject lines.
As you help your subscribers, they will want to hear from you more and look forward to receiving your emails.