7 Email Marketing Hacks to Drive Conversions and Engagement

The power of email marketing is undeniable. It’s a channel that many marketers use to generate leads, increase engagement and improve their contact list. But as we all know, it can be difficult to stay on top of things when you’re juggling your day job and running a business at the same time. That’s why we’ve put together 7 hacks for those who want to drive conversions and engagement through their email marketing efforts.

1. Automate Personal Messages

Wouldn’t you love to have email messages ready-to-go for your subscribers? Instead of spending time typing out emails, why not automate them so you can spend more time on other aspects of running a business. Automating personal messages is easy with the right email marketing platform.

Email marketing tools such as Mail Chimp and Marketo can be used to email your contacts based on whether they met a certain criteria. For example, if someone has visited more than two times in the last month you could send them an email saying ‘I hope we’re not bothering you’ and explain what your business does and how it might benefit them.

2. Experiment with Numbers and Stats

Experimenting with email content is a great way to see what works and what doesn’t. If you have an email list of 100 people, try sending out four different emails using the same copy but changing up the images and headlines each time. You can then compare open rates as well as click through rates for each email.

Another option for those looking to experiment with numbers and stats is by including an infographic in their email newsletter. Infographics work because they tell a story using data which makes them easy for people to understand- perfect when trying to explain concepts such as why social media matters or how email marketing works.

3. Develop a Distinctive Voice

Email marketing works best when email newsletters are used for building relationships with your subscribers. If people feel like they know who you are and what you’re all about, chances are they’ll trust in everything else that comes from your business, which means the chance of them purchasing something increases significantly.

Developing a distinctive voice can be done by including things such as quotes or blog posts within email newsletters to give readers more information on topics that interest them most. For example, if someone signed up to receive email updates related to entrepreneurship it would make sense to include an article called ‘What Entrepreneurs Need to Know about Taxes’ (or whatever might be relevant).

4. Use Email Marketing in all Customer Acquisition Emails

One email that should be at the top of marketers email lists is a customer acquisition email. These emails are sent to people who have opted in for an offer by providing their email address, which means they’re more likely to be interested in your products or services.

Customer acquisition emails are perfect because they allow you to introduce new brand ambassadors and promote offers related to being on your email list, such as discounts. If someone wanted access to exclusive deals it would make sense if all customers had access too so there’s no need for them to unsubscribe any time soon.

If possible, try sending out these types of messages daily instead of weekly or monthly because this will keep readers engaged with what you have going on rather than losing interest due to email overload.

Remember that email marketing works best when readers know why they should care about signing up so take some time thinking this through before sending out email acquisition messages.

5. Include Interesting Links and Calls to Action

Including links and calls to action within email newsletters is a great way of driving conversions. If you’re looking for people to sign up, include an online form or link at the end of your email newsletter so subscribers can easily do this- make sure it’s easy to find though.

Another option is by including interesting links related to what was discussed in your email newsletter. For example, if someone read about using infographics as part of their email content strategy they might be interested in checking out some examples via HubSpot or Moz.

Again, these emails should always have clear calls to action which are easy for readers’ eyes too. While there are many different types of email marketing that all offer various features. Sending out email marketing updates can help brands build relationships with their subscribers and engage them in a way which drives conversions, such as sales or sign-ups for an email list.

6. Use a Newsletter Calendar

A great email marketing hack is to use a calendar which allows you to plan when email newsletters will be sent out. If marketers know they’ll need certain types of content ahead of time and send them through in weekly emails, subscribers can look forward to getting something new in their inbox each week.

The key here is that email marketing works best when it’s done consistently so if someone knows there’s going to be an email waiting for them Monday morning then chances are they’re more likely to check their email before anything else such as social media updates or work related items. This means the chance of people opening your email newsletter increases significantly because it becomes part of their routine- perfect.

Make sure you don’t send email updates too frequently though as this will likely mean people unsubscribe because they’re sick of getting emails from your brand. Instead, aim for three-five email newsletters sent out each week which include interesting content such as blog posts the target market would find helpful.

7. Send your First Email Now

The single most important email marketing hack is to simply send out your first email now. Although email newsletters can take a few hours, if not days or weeks to plan and design it’s still worth sending them through as soon as they’re done because there’s no point in waiting around for perfection.

The first email you send through email marketing should be one which is all about making it easy for subscribers to learn how the email system works. For example, include a welcome message that explains what they can expect from your email updates and schedule their preferences so people will receive emails at certain times of the day or week.

Receiving emails from brands is exciting which means people will open up anything interesting that comes their way; this is what marketers want so use this opportunity to your advantage by getting something new sent through each week. Remember, the content within email updates doesn’t need to be complicated either but making sure subscribers know why they should care about signing up (i.e., exclusive deals) helps drive conversions such as sales or sign for an email list too.

John Lawson is one of the most trusted and experienced eCommerce professionals in the industry. John is the founder of The Ecommerce Group, which he started in 2011 to share his knowledge with other entrepreneurs in the industry. It’s the oldest eCommerce group on Facebook with over 8,500 members from around the world!

John speaks at conferences all around the world, including Retail Global, South by Southwest, Etail, Digital Summit, Hubspot Inbound, Ad-Tech and more. He also writes for several international publications such as Power Retail, Small Business Trends and Disrupt Magazine.