- HoneyHat

10 Tips to Master Email Marketing

The good news is that you don’t need to change everything about your email marketing. You can improve your marketing results by taking small steps and doing lots of A/B testing. These tips are easy to implement and reap great rewards. This is something we know firsthand.

We have done all of these things and continue to do them to a certain extent. This has been a great success. Our open rate is 47% more than the industry standard and our CTR 2188% higher than the industry standard. These tips will help you master email marketing, nurture leads, and convert your audience one SEND at time.

1) Segment your audience or reassess it.

Industries change, businesses evolve, and audiences change. It’s possible that what worked last year might not work next month. Therefore, it is smart to review your segmented lists and make improvements.

Are your groups segmented correctly?
Are your segments too big or too small?
Are you able to understand their motivations and interests?

Tip: Create new workflows by using our buyer journey template and our personas template. This will allow you to determine which marketing messages each segment requires and to clarify them.

2) Add additional links to your email.

Although it sounds easy, data shows that multiple links to the exact same thing increase the chance that someone will click through, regardless of whether they are seeing it in an email.

Mailchimp reports that the average CTR of SaaS companies stands at 2.45%.

Mailchimp also recommends descriptive linking over the standard “click there”

Example:

YES! Download your Free B2B Content Strategy Toolkit now to transform your content!
No: To download a free B2B strategy toolkit, please click here.

Remember that email marketing is an established medium. Your audience is familiar with the concept of linking. Language that is more direct or natural (e.g. “click here”) can seem out-of-touch or condescending to professionals. This allows you to write compelling and natural content without being intrusive.

Tip: Make sure to link the most important content at least three times within your email.

Mix it up with your subject lines

This article will focus on the power and importance of A/B testing. Subject lines are the most important part of email marketing. They’re often what people see first. It is important to choose a compelling, clickable subject line. This is particularly true for SaaS where brands can sound like generic robots.

Mailchimp reports that the average open rate of SaaS brands is 21%.

To get a feel for what resonates with your audience or which subject lines they respond to, we recommend A/B testing. Here are some things to keep in mind as you experiment.

Emotion: People can be drawn to surprising, exciting or shocking things.
Benefits: What are the benefits of clicking? Last year, our most-requested email subject was “Your 2023 Starter Pack Is HERE”.
Urgency: The more people feel pressure/time crunch, the more likely it is that they will click.
Personalization: Research consistently shows that personalization improves visibility and clickability. Personalization tokens within subject lines can also improve deliverability and prevent content from being lost to junk folders.

A/B testing allows you to understand what resonates and what your audience likes. You might find that they are particularly fond of emoticons, numbers, and emotional language.

According QA, A/B and spam testing of your emails increases ROI up to 28%.

Tip: Keep subject lines short. This is one of the most important rules for subject lines. Mailchimp recommends 9-60 characters for keeping it legible in an email.

4) Add an animated GIF.

GIFS can be used to awaken people’s natural visual abilities. Although it may seem like an easy tactic, the data supports it. Litmus research shows that animated GIFs were more effective than those that are not included in emails.

Tip: Use GIFS for branding. Two years ago, we started to include a humorous GIF in every newsletter. We know that it makes us and our readers laugh each week. If a humorous approach is not right for you, animated visuals are another option. For example, data visualizations and other information visualizations. It is possible to make your audience see the content in a glance.

5) Add more personality.

Let’s face it. SaaS email marketing can be lacking in humanity and it doesn’t always work well. SaaS marketers rely too heavily on data, buzzwords and jargon to reach their audience. While these can work in certain situations, they can also be dull and dry.

People want connection and infusing content with the personality of your brand is a great way for them to feel that.

Are you using your brand voice effectively?
Are your emails personable ?
Are your emails designed in line with your brand?
Are you using strong brand imagery?

Today, your brand personality is the most important way to differentiate yourself from your competitors. Your brand personality should be displayed in every piece of content that you create, including your e-books and your CTAs. We conducted an audit of all our emails, from welcome emails to ebook delivery email, and rewrote them to reflect our personalities and add some pizzazz.

Tip: Create guidelines using our brand voice template and identify your personality. Here are six examples of outstanding SaaS email templates to help you get started.

6) Review your publishing habits.

Are you sending too many email messages per month? Are you sending too many emails a month? The key to keeping your audience interested is finding the right balance.

According , 9-16 emails per months is the sweet spot.

This is a great way to A/B-test your brand. Noting: Segmentation, personalization and personalization will help you avoid too many emails. You will be less likely to overwhelm your audience if you are more deliberate about the emails that you send to each group and the value they provide.

Tip: Of course, your volume may fluctuate. It is possible to send more emails during a major launch than you do at other times of the year. Whatever the reason, you should plan your emails carefully and weigh the benefits of sending them. We avoid sending emails during holidays, for example. These emails have the lowest open rates, historically speaking. They tend to get lost in the shuffle and are less popular. We believe we offer more value and service by giving our readers a break at this time of year.

7) Play with your send time.

This is a tricky one, since SaaS companies may have customers around the globe. However, a solid window can help you improve your ROI and improve the brand experience of your customers.

There are solid facts available on the subject.

According Sendinblue span styling=”font-weight 400 ;”>, SaaS companies are more likely to get the best open rates when they send on Tuesdays or Thursdays, but have the highest click-through rate on Wednesdays.
Open rate: The best times to send are between 10 AM and 3PM.
To maximize click-through rates, send your message at 2 PM.

Tip: Think about your target audience’s needs and wants. So, for example, would a Vice President of Product Development be more inclined to check non-urgent emails first thing in the AM, or is it more likely that they will click on an email after lunch (when they are more nourished and have more brain space)?

Every brand is unique. Our weekly newsletter is sent at 11:05 am on Thursdays. We discovered the hard way that mis-scheduled emails are not effective in attracting our audience to our newsletters. A/B testing is a great way to find the best option for you.

8) Create the right content mix.

You need to provide a steady stream of relevant and interesting content to keep your subscribers engaged and nurtured in your email marketing. Think about the content that you produce and what your audience is most interested in. Look back at your data and identify the most popular content.

Consider, for example, tempering your content relating to a launch with high-value, downloadable content.

Tipspan styling=”font-weight 400 ;”>: Take a poll to discover what your audience likes. We found that our audience was particularly interested in real-life examples of marketing and roundups of great marketing when we did this last year. So, we’re adding more of that to our strategy mix.

Notice: It is important that you acknowledge the results of polls and take action. It can damage brand trust if people aren’t willing to give their time or provide feedback.

9) Keep your lists clean.

Although it can be painful to reduce your list, it is better to have a smaller and more engaged list than one that drives down your ROI. Reach out to your unengaged subscribers at minimum every six months to see if they are still interested in your content.

This is not only good for your numbers, but also a good idea for your customers. Simply by reaching out to someone and acknowledging your inbox might not be of value, you show empathy and that you care about their experience.

Tip: Simple subject lines such as “Still want in touch?” or”Are we ending our relationship?” can work well to grab their attention. It should be easy to unsubscribe from the list or opt back in.

It is important to make it easy for everyone to unsubscribe at anytime. This is not because it is illegal to hide the option in many countries. Follow the law first and your emails second. Don’t force people to re-enter their email address in order to unsubscribe. You can make them work harder to unsubscribe, but they will resent you more if you force them to do so.

10) Do a quarterly postmortem.

To identify the successes and failures of your experiments, as well as any other insights that your data might have, you should review your analytics every quarter. Now is the time for you to review what you have learned from A/B testing.

Which type of content was most popular?
Which subject lines had the highest open rates?
Which formats were people drawn to?

Tip: A presend checklist can improve the quality and standard of your email marketing. It will ensure that all messages are up to date (e.g. graphics rendered correctly). Is your subject line strong? Is your final email proofed properly? Are your links accurate and active?

According , companies using a comprehensive pre-send checklist had a significantly higher ROI (40%) than those who don’t (28%)

Experimentation is Everything

SaaS email marketing doesn’t come with a set of rules. This is a constantly evolving practice that you will continue to learn as you experiment. It doesn’t matter what you do, but it is important to have a solid content strategy, measure your goals and use the data to inform your decisions.

Staying current on best marketing practices will allow you to move faster and make better decisions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for helpful tips and tricks on marketing. You can also see our email marketing in action. For more templates and tools, you can also visit our free resources archive. You can also visit our FAQs to find more templates and tools.

Column Five first published the post 10 Simple Ways to Improve SaaS email Marketing (Backed By Data).

Author: Katy French

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