What Are Examples of Email Marketing Tactics for High Engagement?
To uncover effective email marketing tactics that drive high engagement, we asked marketing managers and directors this question for their best strategies. From sending personalized plain-text emails to segmenting the audience for personalized campaigns, here are the top ten tactics these professionals shared.
- Send Personalized Plain-Text Emails
- Use Personalized Re-Engagement Campaigns
- Leverage Personalization and Segmentation
- Implement Email Countdown Timers
- Utilize Customer Polls for Engagement
- Send Emails at Optimal Times
- Personalize Emails from a Person
- Incorporate Visual Graphics
- Balance Promotional and Valuable Content
- Segment Audience for Personalized Campaigns
Send Personalized Plain-Text Emails
Sometimes it's about doing less, not more. We work with a large sports-apparel brand whose CTR and campaign revenue had plateaued for a number of weeks. It wasn't bad—but we knew it could be better. So we decided to send plain-text emails to profiles who had not made a purchase recently. The messaging was simple but personalized: we segmented based on interests and history. This took a lot of work, but it paid off. We actually re-engaged a large part of our audience, and these plain-text campaigns, delivered on weekend afternoons, increased average campaign revenue by around 1.5X.
Use Personalized Re-Engagement Campaigns
We saw great success with a re-engagement campaign that targeted users who had not interacted with our emails for over six months. We crafted a special “We Miss You” message that included a personalized discount code along with a brief survey asking for feedback on why they hadn’t purchased recently. The combination of a personalized offer and direct engagement through the survey helped to reignite interest among dormant subscribers. This campaign not only improved open and click-through rates but also provided valuable insights into customer preferences and potential areas for improvement in our offerings.
Leverage Personalization and Segmentation
One of the most effective email marketing strategies that worked out to bring in more-than-normal engagement for us was through personalization and segmentation of content. This meant that instead of sending emails to our entire list, we made sure that our audience was segmented based on their past interactions, preferences, and purchase history.
For example, we have run a campaign for the launch of a new product where email content was personalized against the different segments. Emails were sent to customers of similar past purchases, touting how the new product complemented what they already had bought, complete with personalized recommendations and special offers.
An introductory email was sent to new subscribers with an engaging story about the development of the product and a first-time purchase discount. This not only enhanced open rates but also significantly improved click-through rates and conversion rates since relevance in the content was found by the recipients as if it were tailored to their interests. We have been able to bring about a more engaging and effective email marketing campaign by leveraging personalization and segmentation.
Implement Email Countdown Timers
We tried a tactic called the 'email countdown timer' for a limited-time offer campaign. The timer was embedded directly into the email, counting down the hours and minutes until the end of a special sale. This created a sense of urgency and encouraged immediate action, significantly increasing click-through rates to our sales page. The real-time nature of the countdown added an interactive element to the email, differentiating it from other standard promotional emails. It tapped into the psychological principle of scarcity, making the offer more enticing just by making it appear more fleeting.
Utilize Customer Polls for Engagement
Customer polls are an incredibly effective way to generate engagement and gather valuable feedback. We use several of them, including ones for prospective customers to share their needs and interests, and one for existing customers to tell us about their experience moving with us. Even when we don't get especially useful data from a customer, polls will often generate clicks from customers that might not open an email otherwise, and that leads to engagement with future emails. Thank you for the chance to contribute to this piece! If you do choose to quote me, please refer to me as Nick Valentino, VP of Market Operations of Bellhop.
Send Emails at Optimal Times
Catering to an email to an individual's preference, i.e., personalization, and sending emails at the right time matters a lot. It also depends a lot on the product that is being marketed here. Example: If I am selling coffee, sending customized emails at lunchtime/breakfast time will have a higher impact.
Personalize Emails from a Person
Make it more personal. The more customized an email, the less likely it will be lost in a spam mailbox. There's a simple method to make an email more personable: send it from a person. Customers like not receiving only sales emails and find the ones we send considerably more valuable. Create email content that is tailored to each segment's specific requirements and interests.
Incorporate Visual Graphics
Incorporating more visual graphics into our email marketing campaigns has proven to increase engagement rates significantly. Research shows that recipients often scan and dismiss emails that contain lengthy paragraphs. By replacing text-heavy emails with visually compelling graphics that convey a narrative, we've observed a notable improvement in our click-through rates, enhancing the overall effectiveness of our campaigns. This approach not only enhances reader engagement but also aligns with current trends in digital marketing toward more visually impactful communication strategies.
Balance Promotional and Valuable Content
A winning email strategy we've adopted involves striking the perfect balance between promotional pitches and genuinely valuable content. By interspersing our promotional messages with insightful guides, how-tos, and industry news, we keep our subscribers engaged without overwhelming them.
This approach not only keeps the audience interested but also builds credibility, positioning us as a resource rather than just another marketer.
Segment Audience for Personalized Campaigns
For a recent book launch, we implemented a personalized email campaign that made a notable impact. We segmented our audience based on their engagement with previous books and crafted tailored messages for each group. Long-time readers received exclusive previews and special offers, while newcomers got a compelling story about the book's creation and its value.
This approach led to a significant increase in open rates and click-throughs, and our tailored offers drove a surge in pre-orders. It’s like giving each reader a VIP pass—making them feel valued and boosting engagement in the process.
