Is Email Marketing Dead in 2023? No, Not if You’re Doing It Right!

There’s no need to plan a funeral, email is in fact, NOT dead, but if you’ve seen some struggle within your campaigns, we’ve got the remedy! While digital audiences are no doubt more captive than we’ve ever seen, they are also smarter and choosier about what they will engage with. Here’s our list of best practices for when it comes to running a successful email marketing campaign.

Start with a KILLER subject line. 

Success of any email campaign starts with the subject line. While your first inclination might be to throw in the whole kitchen sink to ensure you get your message out, research shows that it’s better to remain concise! Consider these research findings:

• Subject lines with up to 5 words average a 16% open rate. 
• Subject lines with 6 to 10 words average a 21% open rate.
• Subject lines with 11 to 15 words average a 14% open rate.

Bearing that in mind, we have a rule for each thumb when it comes to email blast subject lines. The first: stick to that middle ground word count of 6 to 10 words. Second, if it’s necessary to exceed 10-12 words, always front end your “core” subject so if the line is cut, your core topic will remain. 

Choose your words WISELY.

While email marketing isn’t dead, spammy emails sure are! Not only do you stand a good chance of losing a customer from a bad email, you’re also at risk of being flagged as a spam sender. When composing the email copy remember:

Be real, candid and authentic. No-one likes to be fooled or manipulated by promotional email. With more time to digest an online communication, your audience has more time to judge your believability. Being honest and considerate helps your brand and increases conversions – an even better outcome than high email open rates. 

Keep it simple! If you have a landing page, make it easy to fill-in and quick to get out. If your links take them to other destinations, make sure they work and your visitors are instantly rewarded. 

Last, keep them close! Use this opportunity to reinforce your brand and what you stand for. Gain allegiance by offering discounts, money-back guarantees, loyalty programs, etc.

Send at the RIGHT time.

Timing is EVERYTHING when it comes to email marketing and we’ve found that the afternoon is the most optimal time to push the send button on your HTML email. As opposed to an early or mid-morning email send, an afternoon email won’t get stuck between messages that came in overnight or in the early morning. Since most mornings are consumed with “readying” business activities, the afternoon – specifically that sweet spot after lunch – will find your prospect more relaxed and a little more receptive to approaching new or unsolicited communications.

Keep an eye on unsubscribes.

So you’ve found the right content, presented it in the most visually appealing layout and included a can’t miss call to action… The proverbial perfect email advertising campaign. Now keep it perfect by not overpopulating it! It can feel tempting to put the pedal to the metal on several emails once you’ve seen promising open and conversion rates, but this is when many campaigns can go code red! The number one reason for viewers to unsubscribe is not that they don’t want to see you, but that they’re simply seeing TOO much of you. Watch those unsubscribe numbers. If they’re spiking, it’s time to scale back your send frequency. 

Add in a Trigger campaign component.

Trigger emails are a great addition to your email strategy once you’ve gotten a solid list and open rates. Trigger emails are automated emails that are activated by a specific event such as shopping cart activity, current purchase behavior, birthdays, holidays or special events and sales. Savvy marketers can increase their open rate by 65% or more when using these timely campaigns to send these highly relevant and personal emails.  

For more information on how to add or improve your email marketing, get in touch with Aggro Creative Marketing by contact us here.