With all that SEO and social media talk going around (what even is TikTok, right?), you’d be forgiven for thinking that your email marketing strategy can afford to take a backseat.
Well, the truth is…not exactly.
When it comes to growing a business, email communication still has many advantages.
According to recent reports, email engagement actually grew in 2019. And what’s more, 38% of us are inspired to take action based on the emails we read.
In the following post, we’ll explore UENI’s own email marketing results, and tell you about handy metrics and techniques to look out for when it comes to your own emails.
First impressions count
Any marketer worth their salt knows subject lines are a vital tool in their arsenal.
Think of them as a taster – it’s the best chance to show someone exactly why they should open your email.
And there’s no denying that the changes you make to your subject lines matter. Simply adding a recipient’s first name in a subject line can boost open rates by 20%!
So, cranking out some subject lines and then forgetting all about them is not a good idea.
Instead, schedule in some time to regularly look back at your campaigns and reflect on your subject lines’ performance.
For instance, a quick look at UENI’s onboarding emails revealed:
• The first 3 emails users receive after signup had the following open rates: 43.8%, 36.1% and 27.1%.
Immediately, I can see that the first email is performing rather well.
However, looking at the third open rate, I can tell there’s a distinct drop in opens, and some room for improvement.
Of course, there are many things that could affect your open rates, but at this point, we’re focusing specifically on subject lines.
The third email subject line is, “Hold on! Check if (product name) is available!”
After collecting this information, my next step would be analysing what could be going wrong (not personalized enough, too salesy?) and coming up with some potential alternatives.
Pro Tip: Make sure to regularly check up on your emails and their performance. What’s working/not working? Spot your winning subject lines and think about how to replicate this success.
The law of averages
As marketers, we know that averages matter. Why, you ask?
Simply put: it’s no good focusing on just the best or worst bits of what you do.
It won’t give you the full picture, and will impact your chances of building an email marketing strategy that really works.
A quick look at UENI’s average metrics revealed:
• Our average email open rate is 31.58%
• Our average email click rate is 5.32%
These results can help us measure ourselves against industry standards and pinpoint where there’s room for growth.
For instance, according to Mailchimp, professional service emails average a 21.95% open rate and 2.55% click rate). We’re ahead of the curve!
Pro Tip: Monitoring your average metrics is crucial to getting valuable results you can actively work on. Don’t skip this step – it’ll help give you a clear picture and strategy moving forwards.
Knowing me, knowing you
So you’ve got a beautiful email in mind and you’re excited to get going. The first important step is to consider who you’re sending your campaign to, and plan accordingly.
A quick look at UENI’s emails revealed:
• The majority of our most successful emails had between 200-900 recipients
Based on this, campaigns directed to a precise group of users definitely generated more engagement and interest.
This tells us that it’s likely easier to create a personalised email that really speaks to your audience when that audience is smaller.
Pro Tip: Before hitting ‘SEND’, consider who will receive your message. Feeling stuck? Try emailing a specific segment of your audience and think about what they have in common. A targeted, thoughtful email is far more likely to do well than an impersonal one.
It’s all about timing
Like in every area of life, when it comes to email marketing, it’s the timing that counts.
Consider the ideal time that your customer is most likely to take a specific action, and avoid contacting them at inconvenient moments (like 11 am on Christmas Day!).
A quick look at UENI’s emails revealed:
• Our top 3 best-performing emails were sent on weekdays (Fridays and Wednesdays)
In our case, looking at send times tells us that our users are probably least likely to open an email sent over the weekend (you love sleep – we get it!)
Pro Tip: Don’t forget, your email send time matters. You could create the most life-changing copy, but it won’t get read if you choose the wrong time. So, gather some insights and use them to your advantage!
Now you know what metrics to look out for, it should be plain sailing. Get out at there and start improving your email marketing strategy in no time!
