How to win at email marketing
Anyone who has spoken to the Livewire Digital Marketing team recently will know that we are big fans of email marketing.
You might hear whisperings in some corners of the marketing world that email is dead, but we stand firm in disputing that. It’s still one of the most effective marketing channels, giving the best return on investment. That’s provided you use email marketing effectively, of course.
Before we dive into tips on how to deliver an effective email marketing strategy, let’s look at the stats:
- Email has a fantastic ROI, yielding anywhere between £30 - £45 for every £1 spent – reports vary depending on your source, but the point to note is that it’s one of the most robust ROIs across the marketing mix
- Over a third of marketers send weekly emails, with another 26% sending them multiple times per month
- It’s an effective channel for small businesses, with 64% of them using email to reach customers in 2021
- Average email open rates vary from sector to sector. One consistent thing is that open rates have improved from 2020 to 2021. (More on open rates later)
- Globally, Fridays are the best day to send an email when it comes to open rates. Saturdays are the worst day
- 64% of B2B marketers say their email marketing strategy was effective for meeting business goals in 2021
- Mobile devices are the most popular for viewing emails (41%), followed by desktops (39%). The remainder is made up of a mix of tablets, gaming devices and other ‘smart’ devices
- The average bounce rate across all industries is 9.96%
One of our favourite stats, particularly when it comes to B2C Marketing (business to consumer), is:
50% of people buy from marketing emails at least once per month
Plus…
59% of people say that marketing emails influence their decision to purchase.
Real life email marketing tips
These global stats are helpful and can help inform your marketing strategy, but there’s nothing like real-life examples. Open rates and success stories vary from sector to sector, and our best advice is to follow these three steps:
- Know your audience – who are they, and when are they likely to be in ‘receiving mode’?
- Tailor and personalise your email campaigns to fit this
- Measure, measure, measure your results and tweak accordingly.
Our experience with email marketing campaigns over the last ten years plus, although most notably in the previous two years, has told us the following:
Welcome emails are a must
Welcome emails have exceptional open rates and are the perfect way to engage your prospective customer early on. This might be a welcome email after they have signed up to your mailing list or if they’ve claimed a special offer. It could also be sent as an automated reply when they have submitted an enquiry.
As a real-life example, our client Green Gift Card often receives emails out of hours or from prospective customers in different time zones. Rather than delay replying, we send a personalised auto-reply acknowledging their enquiry and sharing FAQs.
The research shows that more than 80% of people will open a welcome email. Pitching it right can mean 4 x as many opens and 10 x as many clicks as other email types.
Send like clockwork
If you’re sending newsletter-type emails or updates, sending them on the same day at the same time is a must. It will only take a few weeks for people to know that your email is coming to the point when they notice when it isn’t there.
Know your Measurements
People often ask, ‘what is a good open rate'? Last year the average open rate for marketing emails was 19.7%, with a click-through rate of 2.8%. These figures are up on 2020, showing that email marketing is far from dead. Without a doubt, it will vary for you and your audience.
We work with a local football team, and their newsletter opens are consistently over 50%. Another client, the fabulous Little Starts Gift Cards, split their audience into two core sectors and enjoys around 50% and 30% open rates.
The secret to their success? Sending regularly and at times they know people will be receptive.
There are more top tips and learnings we can share about email marketing success. Stay tuned for part two of this blog! In the meantime, contact the Livewire team if you need support with your email marketing.
