On February 18th – 19th, Ryan Austin and I attended the annual MarketingSherpa Email Summit in Las Vegas. We spent spent two intensive days learning the newest trends, studying 2014 forecasts, and refining techniques alongside industry leaders. I was reminded how volatile the world of email marketing is… How little nuances like a properly worded subject line or a creative tweak can make such a large impact on the end result. Your email needs to convey importance. It’s extremely necessary that every step of the entire process is taken into careful consideration and done correctly.
Here are some of our key takeaways.
Craft subject lines with care.
One of the most crucial and artful steps in Email Marketing. Subject lines are easily overlooked yet have a huge impact on your emails success. People browse their email inbox with the preconceived notion that they will be deleting your email. Your carefully crafted subject line should be relevant, important, and urgent to stand out.
“Clarity trumps persuasions”.
A short, sweet, and to the point quote from MECLABS Director, Dr. Flint McGlaughlin. An email recipient should immediately be able to recognize who you are, what you are offering, and why they should act in the first 7 seconds of an email open. Steer away from time-consuming clutter.
Our natural instinct is to do nothing.
Dr. Dan Ariely, Professor, Psychology & Behavioral Economics, Duke University gave the Keynote seminar. He provided a very interesting insight on our natural instincts and how they can work against email marketers. he suggests getting creative by using our default action of doing nothing (or to not take any action) and swinging it in your favor in how they respond.
Importance of Mobile-First Emails.
49% of all email opens happen on a mobile device and this percentage will jump over the 50% mark soon. Designing your templates with mobile users in mind is a necessity. Blue Tent has seen a big spike in engagement after a clients switches over to our new responsive email templates. Why alienate half your list with bad email templates?
Test, test test. Then keep testing.
There are no expert marketers, there are experienced marketers. There are however expert testers. A case study by the brand Whirpool showed how testing simple creative changes resulted in a 42% lift in Call To Action clicks. Even if you seeing superstar results it doesn’t mean you can’t keep improving.
Contact us if you think the Blue Tent Email Department can help take you email marketing to the next level.