You’ve been in email marketing for a while, and have enough subscribers to make it a worthwhile endeavour. You’ve run a few campaigns, improving a bit each time, but you seem to have reached a plateau. The graphs are not inspiring. 

Let’s assume that, like most people in your position, you’ve checked all the basics are correct. The email is optimised for mobile, you’ve got lots of calls to action, the requirements of GDPR have all been fulfilled, you’ve segmented your email marketing list, and it is nicely personalised. You should be sitting back with your feet on your desk, but instead you’re worrying why you’re not getting better.

The problem with basics is that they are rather basic. Every one of your competitors will have cracked them as well. You need to go one step further. 

Things to check:

1/ Is your From Address a name?

Personalisation goes both ways. It’s no good convincing Andrew that you want to be friends if your From Address is noreply. What does that say to Andy? I mean, apart from you don’t want to hear from him.

2/ The marketing email is all about the product

You might wonder what else it should be about. The answer is, the customer. The product team’s role has ended. The marketing team should supply the copy and image. Tell your subscribers why you are sending the email to them specifically. Remind them of something they bought earlier that this current offer will help them enjoy.

3/ Is it just words?

Whilst it can be overdone, and so easily, the email should reflect who you are. If it’s your latest product and you are proud of it, tell them why. Your marketing emails will then stand out against those of your competitors.

4/ Don’t overdo it

Keep the email as short as possible. Very few of the subscribers to your email marketing list want to spend more than a minute or two reading the email. For those who do, provide additional copy on a clickthrough. 

5/ No text links

Your team spent hours going through all the free email marketing templates to pick just the right one. The decision as to colour took some 30 minutes. However, just accept that some people prefer text emails. Have a link to the text version above the fold, and later on.

6/ Timing

Lots of errors possible here. You need to work out what is too often and what is too infrequently. Further, once you’ve discovered the right number, keep them regular. 

7/ Do your marketing emails follow behaviour

If someone buys regularly, treat them as special, because they are. If a subscriber requests an ebook, they’ll open it. The likelihood of them opening the next marketing email is high. Work them.

8/ Relevance

We’ve all received emails that are well produced, with an intriguing Subject Line, attractive image and engaging copy that have nothing to do with us or our aspirations. Segmenting email marketing lists is an essential. Send the next email only to those who might want it.