By Stacey Kuyf
When was the last time you took a good, hard look at your email marketing strategy? If you’re an entrepreneur, you probably have a number of projects on the go at any one time. But If you’re hoping to grow your business, a solid email marketing strategy should definitely be a priority.
After all, more than 2.9 billion people used email worldwide by the end of 2019. And there will be more than 255 million people using email in the United States alone by the end of 2020.
Now is the time to start thinking about how you’ll scale next year. Here’s how you can update your email marketing strategy for 2020.
Look at Your List
How do people sign up for your email list? When was the last time you offered website visitors a new way to join your list? If you’ve been asking people to hand over their email address to get access to your newsletter, it may be time to switch it up.
Instead, offer website visitors something valuable enough that they feel like they’re getting the better deal when they sign up. This could be a great discount, a whitepaper, a helpful guide, a checklist, or something else that your target customer would find interesting and relevant.
If you only have a signup form in your sidebar, experiment with different locations and new calls-to-action. Consider using popups — particularly exit-intent popups which have a high conversion rate.
Segment and Target Your Audience
Your audience is 75% more likely to click on emails if they’ve been segmented compared to non-segmented campaigns. It makes sense, right? Emails that are tailored depending on the interests and needs of the recipient are much more likely to be successful.
You can also segment your list based on where your leads are in the buyer’s journey. This makes it easy to provide them with the content that’s most likely to encourage them to convert.
For example, you may have someone on your list who hasn’t opened any emails for a long time, so you should probably take them off that list. On the other hand, one of your leads may have visited your website multiple times, or opened your email a few times. Smart segmenting and targeting will allow you to follow up with that person, nurturing them with further emails and encouraging them to act.
Implement Artificial Intelligence
Businesses of all sizes are currently using various AI-powered bots and applications to update their email marketing strategies. AI can help you predict how leads will engage with your email, show you how to personalize it effectively, and estimate when users may unsubscribe from your list.
AI is in huge demand, particularly for marketing automation. By 2025, automated email marketing will be worth $2.29 billion globally. There are plenty of opportunities to incorporate AI into your email marketing strategy in 2020. AI tools can analyze data, personalizing campaigns based on subscribers’ behavior and interests. They can even provide the best offers for each user, create an email sequence, and even choose the best subject lines.
Revamp Your Design
When was the last time you updated your layout and design? More emails are now opened on mobile devices than on desktop computers. That means that your email design must take into account shortening attention spans and smaller screens. You only have a few seconds to grab your subscribers’ attention, so make the most of white space, keep your paragraphs short, and make sure you have a clean, attractive design.
If you’re not sure which changes to make, consider doing some A/B testing. Change one element at a time so you can easily pinpoint which copy, colors, pictures, and designs get the best results.
Monitor Key Metrics
While it would be nice if email marketing was a set-and-forget part of content marketing, in reality, even the most detailed strategy needs to be constantly monitored and tweaked.
Luckily, there are plenty of tools that make it easier than ever to see what’s working… and what isn’t. Some of the best email marketing tools include:
- Aweber is well-known for its seamless integration with WordPress, but it really shines with its powerful segmentation options. If you have many different products or services or a particularly long/complicated buyer’s journey, Aweber is an excellent option.
- SendinBlue shows you where you’re losing your leads, and you can use it to retarget visitors to your landing pages.You can also use it for a variety of automated campaigns which are triggered based on your customers’ behavior. For example, you may have a customer who adds a product to their cart and then forgets to check out. SendinBlue with automatically send them an email letting them know that their product is waiting.
- MailChimp is another well-known email tool, but one of the key reasons you may want to consider using it in 2020 is its A/B testing. You can send two different emails to two segmented groups, and MailChimp will determine which email performed the best, before sending that email to the people from the first group who chose not to open the other email.
Ready to update your email marketing strategy for 2020? The above tips will help you do it. Remember: Segment, monitor, and tweak depending on your metrics for the best results.
