In this blog post, we want to walk you through the 6 best email marketing strategies that will raise click-through rates and increase subscriber engagement.

Of course, email marketing strategy examples aren’t any good without the tools to implement them, so we’ll also give you a list of tools and services that will help your business or e-commerce store launch successful email campaigns.

1. Format

The first email marketing strategy you need in your arsenal is formatting.

Even before an email recipient begins reading your email, they will start judging your company based on the email's format.

Because of this, altering your format so that it's appealing and easy to scan can go a long way to improving engagement and click-through rates.

Here's an example of the difference between a well-formatted email and an email someone just threw together on a whim:

Add graphic.

As you can see, the first format looks like it was thrown together by your grandmother who has just begun learning how to use the computer.

The second format makes it easy to scan through the content and find the main point in just a few seconds.

To make sure your next email marketing endeavor has the correct format, use the following email marketing strategy template:

1. Use an interesting subject line and a short, descriptive preview text.
2. Make your paragraphs no more than two sentences in length.
3. Put a space between each paragraph.
4. Don't use colored lettering except in buttons, graphics, and links.
5. Include a PS with an added bit of useful information.
6. Keep the email between 50 and 200 words long.

Remember, every business uses some form of email marketing.

Your customers are constantly being bombarded with emails and most of them end up being deleted before they're even opened.

Following these six steps will help protect your emails from being discarded.

2. Segment Email Subscribers

The second step in creating your email marketing strategy plan is segmenting email subscribers.

For example, some of the larger blogs on the internet cover a wide variety of topics.

If someone has subscribed to their emailing list who is interested in woodworking, they could easily get annoyed if they’re bombarded with notifications for blog posts relating to cooking and sewing.

To solve this issue, websites have a preset system that allows subscribers to select several categories or topics that they are interested in.

This information goes into the emailing system and ensures that the woodworking enthusiast only receives emails that would be of interest to them.

In the "tools" section of this blog post, we'll give you the names of a few companies that offer this kind of email sorting system.

Before we get to that though, there's one more point you need to remember when it comes to segmenting your email subscribers.

Depending on how diverse the different segments of your email list are, you may have to come up with a different email marketing strategy for each group.

The only exception would be if you're offering a generalized benefit like a 50% off coupon for any item in your online store.

3. Personalize

The third email marketing strategy you need is personalization.

Now, you might be panicking wondering how you're going to make a personalized email for each of your 500 email subscribers.

You can relax. When we say "personalization" we're talking about the greeting at the beginning of your emails.

Many businesses and websites will send out emails with the following greetings:

"Welcome valued customer!"

"Hello SpringVault member"

"Attention to all of our customers"

These greetings are overgeneralized and won't be effective at building a relationship with the people on your email list.

Instead of using words like valued customer and member, use the email subscriber's first name:

"Welcome, Sarah!"

"Hello Sarah"

"Attention Sarah"

You can already see the difference between these greetings and the previous ones.

However, we're still missing something.

These email greeting lines have the person's name, but they're still a little too formal.

Remember, you're trying to build a relationship. Don't be afraid of adding a few extra words to make it sound like your email subscribers are receiving an email from somebody they know.

Compare the last two examples with this final set of greeting lines:

"Sarah! Hi, we're glad you signed up."

"Hello Sara, it's (your name) from SpringVault again.

"Hey Sarah, we need your attention for just a moment."

While it may seem trivial, this kind of personalization can determine whether or not somebody will read through your email or immediately discard it.

4. Mobile Friendly

Over half of your email list subscribers are going to be checking their inbox via their phone or another mobile device, so mobile-friendliness should be added to your email marketing strategy template.

Here are three easy ways to ensure your email is mobile-friendly.

1. Use short paragraphs
2. Test the images
3. Leave room between email components

We've already mentioned that long paragraphs can be tedious to read. This problem is only intensified on mobile devices.

You should also run tests on your emails to see how they look on different devices.

Make sure to pay special attention to the images.

The visual stimulus graphics provide is an important part of retaining your readers’ attention.

The last thing you want is for the people on your email list to open your latest email and see half of the text covered by a graphic (or vice versa).

Testing will also let you know if the components of your email are packed together too tightly.

More than likely, you'll have to send out an email blast using a computer or laptop.

Before you send out the official email marketing campaign, send a test version to a throwaway email account.

When you check the throwaway email account make sure that the subject line and preview text are short enough to fit on the mobile device screen.

Next, make sure that the graphics and buttons are in the center of the page.

Make sure that there is at least one space between each component.

Larger components like graphics and large buttons may need two to three spaces in between them.

Just make sure the distance between the different email components isn't too large otherwise the reader will lose interest and discard it.

See the graphic below for an example of what a mobile-friendly email should look like.

Insert graphic

In just a moment we will give you a few recommendations of email services that will help you ensure your email marketing material is optimized for all devices.

5. Test the Email Components

While it may not seem like much of a strategy, testing your emails can be a very effective email marketing strategy.

The testing comes in two forms:

1. testing your email by sending it to a dummy account you created specifically for this purpose.
2. Testing the components and content of your emails to see which ones perform the best.

We discussed the first form, so let's focus on number two.

An email can look and sound amazing and still receive a low amount of click-through rates.

It's not always your fault or the fault of the person you hired. Sometimes iit just wasn't what your email list wanted to see.

The only way to overcome this obstacle is through trial and error.

However, you need to be careful so that you don't alter too much of your email.

For example, let's say you run a marketing business targeting construction contractors.

In your email, you have four graphics. Each graphic is centered around a service you offer and includes a button that leads to your service page.

Above the graphics, you have around 50 words explaining why your customers benefit from your services.

If you send out this email and it doesn't perform well, you shouldn't immediately get rid of the graphics, text, and subject line.

Instead, follow these steps to test what elements of your email work and what elements need to be changed:

• Create two versions of the email, each with different subject lines.
• Take the email with the subject line that performed the best and alter the CTA.
• Test the altered email
• If it's still performing poorly, alter the graphics

Sometimes the email will fail because of the subject.

That's why it's often a good idea to run two completely separate emails at the same time with completely different subjects, subject lines, graphics, and text.

This will help you get a better idea of what content appeals to your audience.

6. Ask for Feedback

Another email marketing strategy example you should follow is asking for feedback.

For example, if you run some kind of B2B business you could encourage email recipients to reply to your email and share their story or a little bit about their business.

The PS section of your email is a great place to include a sentence like:

"PS: do you have a story about when your system crashed? Don't forget to reply and share it with us."

Even if the response is one sentence long, you've been able to establish a solid connection.

This will make them much more open to future emails and marketing campaigns.

7. Triggered Emails and Sequences

The sixth strategy you need is trigger emails.

A triggered email is sent to someone on your mailing list as soon as they have completed some kind of interaction with you.

Here are several scenarios where you can benefit from using triggered emails:

• Someone just signed up for your email list.
• A customer who never finished their purchase from your online store.
• A potential customer contacting you for more information.
• Someone has just downloaded your free ebook.

These trigger emails will help draw the person farther into your business.

However, it's important that you don't use too much force when creating the email.

For example, someone who hasn't finished their purchase is obviously interested in the product.

The triggered email shouldn't be focused on how great the product is and why the person needs to buy it immediately.

Instead, it should be a gentle reminder. The email could include pictures of the items they were interested in along with a brief bit of text saying something like:

"Were you still interested in these products?

We have a sale running for the next week, so now would be a good time to grab them.

The discount code is: Fakediscountcode4"

Tools

Here are several tools and software that will help you implement the six email marketing strategies we’ve gone over in this blog post.

1. Constant Contact: Great for creating triggered emails and segmenting subscribers.
2. Lytics: Personalize your emails and get a one-month free trial.
3. Colorlib: Gain access to free email templates.
4. Email on Acid: Preview your emails and ensure they don’t trigger spam filters.
5. Touchstone: Test your subject lines.
6. Email Verifier: Make sure the email addresses on your list are valid.

There are other tools as well that can be beneficial. To ensure you choose the one that’s right for your company, do your own research and check the reviews left by past customers.

 How freelancers help

A freelancer will know how to create an email marketing strategy plan and email content.

Plus, hiring a professional leaves you more time to focus on the other aspects of running and growing your business.

Related Legiit freelancer services

Here at Legit, we’re fortunate enough to host some of the best email copywriters, template creators, and marketers in the world.

Here are just a few of the services they offer:

• Email Marketing Automation Campaign Management
• Marketing and Sales Emails
• Short-Form Always-Opened Emails
• Cold and Marketing Emails

Legiit professionals also offer high-quality templates, email scraping, and more.

Conclusion

There’s no doubt about it, emails are still one of the best marketing methods available.

As long as you keep perfecting your email marketing strategy template with the information and tips we’ve mentioned, you’ll start seeing a drastic improvement in open and click-through rates.

If you’re interested in more helpful information regarding growing your business with welcome emails check out some of our previous blog posts.