Why, Where and How: Email Marketing Strategies for Success

The first email was sent in 1971. Since then, the number of daily email users has grown to an expected 4.6 billion users by 2025. Email isn’t going anywhere. 

However, consider the volume of emails that exist in any given inbox. Think about your own… How many emails do you get daily? And maybe you just got another! (You can go check that if you’d like, I’ll still be here.) So how can you make this channel work for you? It can be a complex game, but following these best practices around strategy, permissions and testing will give you a strong start. 

Start with Strategy

The art of sending effective emails requires a deep understanding of your customers, their needs and why you’re using email to communicate your messaging. So before you begin drafting, consider your why (shoutout to Simon Sinek!).

What is your goal? 

Inbound marketing is all about building real connections with your leads and customers. That’s the main goal. But getting there means setting small, intentional targets along the way that are crucial for a successful marketing plan. You need to set SMART goals tied to measurable and relevant metrics, such as click-through rate (CTR), that will help guide you through the next steps. 

And remember, if you’re not sure why you’re sending an email: don’t send it.

Get in the Inbox

The best strategy and content won’t help your email marketing if no one sees it. To increase the likelihood your email will be seen and interacted with you need to pay attention to factors like your sender reputation, authentication and permissions setup.

Your sender reputation (like a grade from Gmail or Outlook) tells how much they trust your emails. The higher your score, the better chance your emails have of landing in inboxes. Each provider has its own system, so it’s not public, but you can work on improving your reputation by considering a few factors:

• Email authentication to indicate you as a reputable and secure sender (the most popular forms of email authentication are DKIM, SPF, DMARC and BIMI)
• How many emails you send every month and if they’re sent regularly
• The number of hard bounces from emails that couldn’t find their way
• The amount of negative engagement (how many users are hitting the unsubscribe or spam buttons on your emails)
• The love your emails get (opens, clicks, replies and shares)

Get in the Right Inbox

One good way to quickly hurt your reputation as a sender is by sending to people who don’t care to hear from you. The inbound philosophy emphasizes engaging with people in a helpful and human way rather than a forced way. 

Compliance with data privacy laws such as the CAN-SPAM Act and GDPR are essential for respecting recipients’ privacy and avoiding penalties. Obtain explicit consent from users before adding them to your email list by giving them the choice to opt in or confirming implicit consent through a double opt-in.  

And if users become uninterested in your emails, it’s okay to let them go. Continuing to send unengaged contacts mail can damage your reputation, as engagement is a strong signal to inbox service providers. So get a sunset policy in place! Maybe you want to send one last reengage campaign or remove them from your database once they haven’t opened a set number of marketing emails. (These contacts can still be used for ad targeting or individual outreach; they’re just not a good fit for marketing emails.)

Test, then test again

You have your strategy set, your authentication confirmed and your permissions monitored. You’re sending emails! But you’re not done; you’ve got to test — and test again. 

Go back to your initial goals. Where are you lagging and what parts of your message or strategy do you need to tweak?

• If your click-through rate is low, it could indicate that your message isn’t focused enough and it’s time to fine-tune with better segmentation or clearer calls to action.
• High unsubscribes or spam complaints? Maybe your contacts didn’t sign up for your emails. It’s time to rethink where you’re getting your contacts from.
• A high hard bounce rate could mean your contacts are outdated or you accidentally included old ones.

Get Started!

Following these best practices around strategy, permissions and testing will get you headed in the right direction to make your email marketing a success. You can also learn more about email marketing services at Sanctuary and reach out if you have any questions. Good luck!