TREND ALERT: Direct Personalized Deals

As inflation increases, so does the demand for deals, sales and coupons. One of the avenues that consumers are willing to receive those deals is through email – and if your email provides them value, they will absolutely welcome you into their inbox. From the perspective of retailers, it’s an inexpensive but extremely effective direct touchpoint. Some of the most successful email campaigns have employed a savvy tailoring of email content to the interests and behaviors of specific consumers.

On average, email drives an ROI of $45 (USD) for every dollar spent, higher than any other channel.

(CPG, E-Commerce & Retail Industries)
– litmus.com

Email Personalization improves open rate by 42% (source: WebFx)
Adding the users name is great but segmenting your audience to tailor promotions or recommend specific products for them is even better! For example: for customers who purchased a specific software program, send them an email with promos featuring products that complement that software.

Subject line is a make or break
After reading your subject line, a consumer will decide whether your email is worth opening or if it’s spam. Subject lines that are exciting, allude to a deal or invoke FOMO (Fear of missing out) can be extremely effective.

Mobile first in every way
81% of emails are opened on mobile devices. This means your email design MUST cater to mobile first design. Email text must be high contrast for all environments, bold, easy to read text, touch-friendly button sizing and clean, uncluttered design.  Don’t forget about graphic file size and ensuring that your graphics are clear on small screens.

Absolutely no bait and switch
It might seem obvious; but if you’re hoping to get more eyes on product “A” by promoting a more popular product “B” but ensuring the email link goes to product “A” – you will annoy and potentially lose your audience. This is spammy,  disingenuous and it will erode consumer trust.

Test, Test, Test
WYSIWIG (what you see is what your get) is not meant for email. There are too many programs, platforms and devices that will change how your email is viewed.  You should never send an email without proper testing.

• Device testing: Building your email within a templated email marketing platform does not mean your email will look perfect on every email program and device. 
• Dark Mode Testing: Many find it easier on their eyes to use dark mode. Darkmode can make areas of your design unreadable when it swaps out background and foreground colors. Forgetting to test darkmode could lead to some consumers receiving a unreadable email. 
• Accessibility & Text Only: Ensure all graphics have alternative text added, just incase graphics do not load, or the end user uses plain text email or an assistive device. 
• Spam Testing: Specific words and phrases can trigger spam filters. Make sure you run that spam check to ensure you end up in the inbox.

Tracking Email ROI in a Privacy Conscious World
Data privacy measures are stripping away the reliability of the open rate metric. To be able to track ROI we need to move beyond open rate, and focus on measuring direct engagement. This means using the links in your email to track how many visitors engaged with the email content. Adding UTM codes to your email links is an extremely important step to be able to track email campaign traffic to your website. Once you have these visitors identified you can use your website analytics to determine your ROI.

Caution: 
The unsubscribe button is only a click away. 

• If your emails do not provide value, if you do not cater to their needs or wants and if you do not actively make them feel valued as a consumer, they will unsubscribe from your mailing list.
• Evaluate how often you send and what time you send at. Too often is annoying, too infrequent and you become forgotten.
  
  “An insurance company increased revenue by 45% by sending MORE email. An ecommerce store’s revenue dropped 30% after adding a weekly email newsletter. These are both examples of the powerful effects changing email cadence can have on your bottom line. “ 
  – theseventhsense.com
  
  Your industry, products and customer behaviors will all contribute to finding the best email frequency and send time. Research and testing will be needed to find your specific sweet spot!

Do you want to find out how email marketing can impact your business?
Contact us today to find out how My Brother Darryl can help you create and implement email marketing campaigns.

Hero Photo by Joshua Chun on Unsplash

Sources:
https://martech.org/its-time-to-say-goodbye-to-your-email-open-rate/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/7-hot-email-marketing-trends-2023-alyson-shane
https://www.theseventhsense.com/blog/email-marketing-frequency-best-practices