2016 is here! As the world of email continues to evolve, there are a number of factors you should consider this year to ensure you are getting the most out of your email marketing. It won’t all be brand spanking new ideas though, as most of these have been around for years, it’s just time we started giving some of them a bit more focus. Here are 5 things you need to consider.
1. Mobile
We all know that mobile is huge, and we can only predict that it’s going to continue to grow as we move deeper into 2016. It’s not just design considerations we need to think about anymore, but also how people use mobile email. It’s almost a notification system, you read it as it comes in and then it’s gone forever. Only a small percentage will re-read it on a desktop device later, especially for B2C. Therefore, think about when you will send your emails, avoid waking people up at 3 am and experiment with different timings to see if what you considered good in the past still exists as the best time.
2. Personalisation
What we mean by personalisation is changing. It used to be basic field merging, then it moved onto dynamic content. Now consumers expect it to be unique and relevant to them. This means providing them with the products or content they want – 4 or 5 segmented versions won’t cut the mustard, so it’s time to explore a little bit more into personalisation if you’re not already.
3. Re-send
I’ve already talked about how email is moving into the notifications field, which means re-sending emails becomes even more important. Re-sending an email can get an additional 50% of the response of the original email. However, this is an area where you need to be careful. The resend should only be sent to active non-openers and should never be an exact replica of the previous email as ISP’s may mark this as SPAM. Therefore, make tweaks to your email by trying different content, imagery and a new subject line.
4. Multi-variate Testing – Get more out of your database
Once you’ve ticked off most of the easy wins it gets a lot harder to find improvements for your email programs. One way this can be done though is through Multi-variate testing which effectively allows you to run multiple concurrent tests at once, enabling you to find micro-improvements in results which all add up to large incremental uplifts.
5. Use more data
If you are still just using basic customer attributes to target and personalise emails you are missing out. Plugging in browsing activity gives you a range of new opportunities, from knowing what products customers are interested in, right down to when they are looking and in the purchase consideration phase.
To find out how we can help grow your email marketing in 2016, get in touch with one of our email experts today.
Digital & Social Articles on Business 2 Community(38)
