Maximizing Your Reach: 5 Ways Canadian Businesses Can Improve their Email Marketing

Email marketing is a crucial aspect of any successful digital marketing strategy. With the rise of e-commerce and the shift towards online shopping, email campaigns have become more critical than ever in reaching customers and keeping them engaged with your brand. However, not all email marketing strategies are created equal, and there are certain techniques that your business can use to improve your email marketing game.

1. Personalize Your Content to Drive Engagement

Personalization is a powerful tool that can help businesses create a more meaningful and relevant relationship with their customers. In email marketing, personalization involves tailoring the content of the email to the specific interests and behaviours of the recipient. This can include things like their age, gender, location, purchase history, and website activity.

When customers feel like the content they receive is tailored specifically to them, they are more likely to open, read, and act on the email. Compared to non-personalized emails, personalized promotional emails have an average open rate of 29% higher than the non-personalized emails. This increased engagement can lead to higher click-through rates, conversions, and ultimately, more revenue for the business.

To effectively personalize your email content, you will need to collect and analyze data about your subscribers. This can be done through various tools and technologies, including email marketing software, customer relationship management (CRM) software, and website analytics. By using this data to create targeted content, you can increase the relevance and value of your emails, leading to increased engagement and loyalty from your customers.

2. Optimize Emails for Mobile to Reach More Customers

In today's world, where people are increasingly using mobile devices for everyday tasks, optimizing emails for mobile is no longer optional but rather a necessity for businesses. According to recent research, more than 60% of emails are now opened on mobile devices, making it crucial for businesses to ensure their emails are mobile-friendly to reach more customers.

One of the biggest challenges in optimizing emails for mobile devices is screen size. A study by Litmus found that 79% of email users delete emails that are not optimized for mobile. Responsive design allows email content to automatically adjust to fit the screen size of the device the email is being viewed on, ensuring that the content is always easily readable and visually appealing. With a responsive design, businesses can eliminate the need for users to zoom in or out to read content, which can be frustrating and deter users from engaging with the email.

It's also essential to keep subject lines short and to the point. Mobile users often have shorter attention spans and are more likely to skim through emails quickly, making it critical to grab their attention quickly. Short subject lines not only make emails more mobile-friendly but also increase the chances of the email being opened. According to Return Path, emails with subject lines fewer than 50 characters have open rates 12.5% higher than those with longer subject lines.

3. Keep the Emails Short and Sweet to Drive Conversions

When it comes to email marketing, the length of the email is just as important as the content. A long, wordy email can be overwhelming for the reader, leading to disengagement and a lower likelihood of conversion. On the other hand, short and sweet emails with concise messaging have been shown to improve engagement and drive conversions.

According to a study by Boomerang, emails that are between 50 and 125 words in length have the best response rates. This length strikes a balance between being informative enough to convey the message and short enough to maintain the reader's attention. When crafting a short email, it's essential to focus on the core message and use simple language that is easy to understand. Short sentences and bullet points can also help break up the content, making it more scannable for readers.

4. Use A/B Testing to Optimize Campaigns

A/B testing is a powerful technique that allows businesses to test and optimize their email campaigns. With A/B testing, businesses can test different variations of their email campaigns and measure which variation performs better.

The most common element to test in an email campaign is the subject line. The subject line is the first thing that readers see when they receive an email, making it critical to get it right. By testing different subject lines, businesses can determine which one generates the most opens and clicks. Other elements that can be tested include the call-to-action (CTA), email length, content layout, and images.

When analyzing the results of an A/B test, it's important to focus on the metrics that matter. The metrics will depend on the element being tested, but common metrics include open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates. Once the results are analyzed, businesses can use the data to optimize their email campaigns and achieve better results.

5. Track Results to Improve Future Campaigns

Tracking the results of email campaigns is critical to understanding how well the campaign has performed and what can be improved for future campaigns. Data and analytics provide businesses with insights into how readers are interacting with their emails, allowing them to optimize campaigns and improve results. Some essential metrics businesses should be measuring in their email marketing campaigns are:

Open Rate: The number of times an email is opened by the recipient. The open rate can provide businesses with insights into the effectiveness of the subject line and the sender's name. A low open rate may indicate that the subject line needs improvement or that the recipient is not interested in the sender's name.

Click-through rate (CTR): The number of clicks on the links within the email. The CTR can provide insights into the effectiveness of the content, call-to-action (CTA), and email design. A low CTR may indicate that the content is not relevant or engaging enough or that the CTA is not compelling.

Conversions: A conversion can be any action that the business wants the reader to take, such as making a purchase, filling out a form, or downloading a whitepaper. By tracking conversions, businesses can understand which campaigns are driving the most revenue and optimize future campaigns accordingly.

At KooTech, we understand the importance of effective email marketing campaigns for Canadian businesses. That's why we offer digital planning services to help businesses create and execute email campaigns that deliver results.

Our team of experts can help your business with personalized content creation, responsive design, A/B testing, and analytics tracking to optimize your email marketing strategies. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help your business achieve its goals.