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Email marketing excellence: a guide to industry best practices

Despite often being deemed outdated, even obsolete, email marketing remains a resilient digital tool. Surprisingly, it has not lost its shine over the decades. Doubtful? The numbers tell the story: 77% of marketers report increased email engagement in the last 12 months[1].
So, before dismissing email marketing, consider its undeniable strengths and high ROI.
Do you truly grasp all the best practices in this field?

Build trust with a good start

  • Get permission from subscribers, ensuring you connect with those genuinely interested. Utilise lead magnets, such as discount offers, to encourage website visitors to willingly sign up for email marketing, as suggested by Nikolett Lorincz, Marketer at OptiMonk[2].
  • Implement double opt-ins to verify subscribers’ intent.
  • Set up auto tags for segmentation, tagging contacts as they come in from different opt-in channels and when performing a particular action, following the advice of Amanda Pell, Content Strategist at Zapier[3].
  • Integrate with other apps for comprehensive contact collection.
  • Regularly clean your list to maintain engagement, removing bounced and invalid emails, re-engaging your recipients, confirming subscriptions, using an email preference centre to let your subscribers choose the frequency, contents, etc…
  • Allow easy unsubscribing, ensuring transparency and user-friendly experience.
Fig. 1. An example of lead magnet with segmentation opportunities from Paddywax. Exclusive contents, coupons, discounts, freebies, free shipping, shopping guides, contests, quizzes, loyalty programs, ebooks, webinars, trials, demos… even abandoned carts. All of them provide excellent opportunities for effective lead magnets, based on your industry and business goals. [Online image]

Segmentation and automation are your best pals

  • Leverage automation for efficient and timely email marketing: begin with automated welcome emails for a positive introduction. Utilise date-based emails for birthdays and anniversaries to build subscriber loyalty.
  • Establish a robust tagging system for easy and effective segmentation, including gender, age range, location, career industry, job title, and relationship to your company.
  • Implement segmentation based on demographics, customer information, email types, engagement, and activity.
  • Use automation to create behaviour tags for more specific and personalised targeting, enhancing the effectiveness of your email campaigns.
  • Offer tailored incentives to reward loyal subscribers -a beneficial practice both to you and them, according to Adobe Experience Cloud Team[4].
Fig. 2. An anniversary email from Winc: even with limited subscriber data, you can still incorporate automated campaigns such as welcome emails, birthday emails, and anniversary emails. But Holidays and National Days also present opportunities for contact. [Online image]
Fig. 3. An editable email template from Lindsay Scholz, Creative Director. Numbered lists, charts, step-by-step instructions, and bullet-point guides are excellent solutions for organising content, particularly when using an “S” layout. This not only adds rhythm to the design but also facilitates easy scanning. [Online image]

Design that delivers, content that converts

  • Ensure your email is 500–650 pixels wide, while a media query for a mobile screen should include a max-width of 480px, as recommended by Twilio[5].
  • Preserve brand consistency and awareness, including your logo at the top, your brand colours, your imagery style and your brand tone of voice.
  • Link emails closely to landing pages for consistency.
  • Keep your content on track by answering three questions:
    1. What are you offering? → Headline
    2. How will it help the reader? → Message body
    3. What should they do next? → Call to action
    Robyn James, Content Marketing Strategist from Fishtank, suggests starting with a clear and compelling message, focusing on one or two main ideas, keeping your paragraphs short, and using subheadings, bullet points, and numbered lists[6].
  • Feature a clear, visible CTA with contrasting brand colours and concise, punchy, action-oriented text.
  • Utilise impactful visuals, optimise them for mobile, and incorporate alt text.
  • Use interactivity and animations to catch the eye, e.g. near the CTA.
  • Keep the main message and call-to-action (CTA) above the fold. You can add 2 CTAs, one in the body of the email and one CTA button: A/B test different solutions and check which one works best.
  • Don’t overlook the footer space: here you can concisely include your brand mission and point users toward other ways to support or connect. And don’t forget to encourage sharing, as recalled by Adeel Qayum from Oberlo[7].
  • Craft compelling subject lines with 30–50 characters: depending on your brand voice, you may want to use personalization, emojis, numbers, wordplay, references to trending topics, questions to pique the recipient’s curiosity or even include a sense of urgency if the content is time-sensitive.
  • Conduct A/B testing for subject lines and adjust sender identity as needed for a personalised approach.
  • Avoid “no-reply” sender addresses, but let subscribers reach and interact with you in order to nurture the relationship.

Stay personal and stand out

  • Personalise your emails by addressing recipients with their first names for a more engaging start.
  • Tailor content based on the buyer’s journey stage, previous purchases, interests, and links clicked: that’s a real game changer for any email marketing program, according to Constant Contact[8].
  • Utilise personalization tags to automatically insert recipient-specific information.
  • Craft messages using language that resonates with your audience.
  • Employ behavioural triggers like abandoned cart emails and post-purchase follow-ups for personalised communication.
  • Utilise dynamic content that adapts based on audience segments.
Fig. 4. An example of content personalisation based on subscriber’s location: simple, but powerful. [Online image]

Review, test, repeat

  • Optimise the email’s preview text: by default, preview text pulls in the first several words of the email body and displays it next to the subject line before the person opens it. Include main points and buzzwords towards the front and a sense of urgency.
  • Design your email for mobile devices: use a mobile-responsive email template, include large, readable fonts (at least 14 point), and ensure call to actions’ buttons are easy to tap.
  • Check image rendering on mobile devices and choose if to substitute or remove them in the mobile version. Keep in mind that retina images (doubled in size for clarity on 4k or retina screens) are ideal to use for logos and important visuals.
  • Preview and test your campaign: check subject lines and preheader text, look at your sender name and email address, verify broken or missing links, and validate personalization features. Always check rendering across devices, browsers, and screen resolutions
  • Conduct A/B testing: discover what content, design, subject lines, CTAs (design, copy ad placement), tone of voice work and even timing work best for your audience. But always test one element at a time for effective results.
Fig. 5. A responsive email template from MailerLite. Mobile design is not an option, it is an imperative given that online content (including email campaigns) is now consumed more on mobile devices than on desktops. [Online image]

Decode success: metrics magic

A reliable email marketing platform offers precise and timely data for every sent email. Over time, you can identify trends, track engagement, and use the insights to segment your list. This enables the delivery of more personalised and targeted content in your emails.

  • Optimise the email’s preview text: by default, preview text pulls in the first several words of the email body and displays it next to the subject line before the person opens it. Include main points and buzzwords towards the front and a sense of urgency.
  • Design your email for mobile devices: use a mobile-responsive email template, include large, readable fonts (at least 14 point), and ensure call to actions’ buttons are easy to tap.
  • Check image rendering on mobile devices and choose if to substitute or remove them in the mobile version. Keep in mind that retina images (doubled in size for clarity on 4k or retina screens) are ideal to use for logos and important visuals.
  • Preview and test your campaign: check subject lines and preheader text, look at your sender name and email address, verify broken or missing links, and validate personalization features. Always check rendering across devices, browsers, and screen resolutions
  • Conduct A/B testing: discover what content, design, subject lines, CTAs (design, copy ad placement), tone of voice work and even timing work best for your audience. But always test one element at a time for effective results.
Fig. 6. An example of metrics offered by WhiteMail platform. Measuring your campaign metrics is essential for monitoring your progress and getting insights to make necessary adjustments aligned with your email marketing program goals. [Online image]

Originally published on Medium, December 4, 2023

REFERENCES

[1] Katrina Kirsch (May 12, 2023) The Ultimate List of Email Marketing Stats for 2023 [Online]. Hubspot. Available at: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/email-marketing-stats
[Accessed November 25, 2023]

[2] Nikolett Lorincz (October 31, 2023) 13 Email marketing best practices that drive results in 2023 [Online]. OptiMonk. Available at: https://www.optimonk.com/email-marketing-best-practices/
[Accessed November 25, 2023]

Fig. 1. OptiMonk (November 29, 2023) 29 Email Popup Examples to Get More Newsletter Subscribers in 2024 [Online image]. Available at: https://www.optimonk.com/email-popup-examples/
[Accessed November 30, 2023]

[3] Amanda Pell (July 18, 2023) 29 email marketing best practices for 2023 [Online]. Zapier. Available at: https://zapier.com/blog/email-marketing-best-practices/
[Accessed November 26, 2023]

Fig. 2. InboxFlows (2023). An anniversary email from Winc. [Online image]. Available at: https://inboxflows.com/email/hbd-to-us-party-favors-inside/
[Accessed November 30, 2023]

[4] Adobe Experience Cloud Team (July 22, 2022) 18 Proven Email Marketing Best Practices [Online]. Adobe. Available at: https://business.adobe.com/blog/basics/email-marketing-best-practices
[Accessed November 26, 2023]

[5] Twilio (June 19, 2023) 12+ Email marketing strategies for engaging campaigns [Online]. Available at: https://sendgrid.com/en-us/blog/email-marketing-strategies
[Accessed November 27, 2023]

[6] Robyn James (March 7, 2023) The ultimate guide to email marketing: 7 best practices for winning campaigns [Online]. Fishtank. Available at: https://www.getfishtank.com/blog/best-practices-for-effective-email-marketing
[Accessed November 27, 2023]

Fig. 3. Lindsay Scholz Studio (2023) An editable email template from Lindsay Scholz, Creative Director. [Online image]. Available at: https://lindsayscholz.com/templates
[Accessed November 30, 2023]

[7] Adeel Qayum (June 16, 2023) 10 Email marketing best practices that bring good results [Online]. Available at: https://www.oberlo.com/blog/email-marketing-best-practices-results
[Accessed November 28, 2023]

[8] Constant Contact (November 9, 2023) Email Marketing Best Practices [Online]. Available at: https://www.constantcontact.com/blog/email-marketing-best-practices/
[Accessed November 28, 2023]

Fig. 4. Mailjet (February 10, 2022). An example of content personalisation based on subscriber’s location. [Online image] Available at: https://www.mailjet.com/blog/email-best-practices/personalized-emails/
[Accessed November 30, 2023]

Fig. 5. MailerLite (2023). A responsive email template from MailerLite. Available at: https://www.mailerlite.com/ultimate-guide-to-email-marketing/design
[Accessed November 30, 2023]

Fig. 6. WhiteMail (2023). An example of metrics offered by WhiteMail platform. Available at: https://www.whitemailapp.com/features
[Accessed November 30, 2023]

[9] Werner Geyser (November 23, 2023) 9 of the most effective email marketing best practices for 2024 [Online]. Influencer Marketing Hub. Available at: https://influencermarketinghub.com/email-marketing-best-practices/
[Accessed November 29, 2023]