Email marketing is a cost-effective way to reach your customers anytime, anywhere. If you own a smartphone, chances are, you have emails delivered to your phone. This makes email marketing a convenient way to get your message delivered quickly! However, real estate in the inbox is competitive. Most companies are trying to reach their customers via email, and you’ll need to send a compelling message to make sure it gets opened and your audience takes the intended action. Have no fear! These six secrets can help you build successful email campaigns that get opened in your audiences’ inbox.

1. Keep Updated Distribution Lists

The first step to building successful email campaigns may not be the first thing that comes to mind. That’s because your email is only as good as the lists of contact information you keep. Make a habit of confirming that information when with your customers periodically, or every time they purchase. Capture how many bounceback emails you get when you try to make a send, and see if you can clean up the errors. 

2. Craft a Compelling Subject Line

The first thing your audience will see from your email is the subject line. That’s why it has to be compelling! Before you hit that “send” button, consider if the subject line would make you want to click open the email. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

• You could leave your audience on a cliffhanger: 
  “We have some BIG news to share with you…."
   
• You could use personalization:
  “Sally, we haven’t seen you in awhile and miss you!”
   
• You could put a sale in the subject line:
  “Shop our biggest sale ever! Get 50% off TODAY only!”

3. Offer an Incentive

Much like the previously suggested subject line, an incentive is a great way to peak the interest of your customers. It doesn’t always have to be a dollar amount or a percentage off of a purchase, but it could be. Your incentive simply needs to be an offer that entices your customer to take the next step with your email. An incentive could simply be that you have a piece of information for your customers that they’re going to want to read. 

Whatever you send, make sure that you have a good reason for the email. Sending too many emails that don’t have a clear purpose is a sure way to get your important emails ignored. 

4. List a Single Call to Action

The moment your audience clicks a link in your email, they’re much less likely to come back to finish the email. That’s why it’s important to focus on a single call to action instead of multiple asks within the same email. If possible, design a button that stands out from the body of the text so your audience knows exactly what you’d like them to do.

5. Make Your Website Easy to Navigate

Once your email audience makes it to your website or a landing page, it should still be easy to navigate and apparent what you want them to do. The branding of your email should be consistent with the branding of your web assets so that your audience knows they have landed at the right place. Make sure the call to action from the email matches the call to action on your webpage and that there is no confusion! 

6. Pair it with Print

Your email campaigns are just the beginning. For a comprehensive marketing campaign, consider trying to reach your audience in multiple ways, including print pieces. You can tie the campaign into other elements like direct mail pieces which also point your audience back to your website or landing pages. It takes on average seven to 11 times for a person to recall a brand or a message, so the more ways you can reach your audience with the same message, the better!

Email is a cost-effective marketing method, and most everybody has it at their fingertips! When done correctly, you can easily guide your audience from the subject line to taking your intended action. Remember that no aspect of your email is too small to be glossed over. Each and every aspect of your email has a purpose, and when done correctly, can provide a huge return for your business!