This document discusses best practices for email marketing. It recommends establishing metrics like open and click-through rates, segmenting databases to engage the right subscribers, and testing subject lines and content. Automating workflows through tools like marketing automation is suggested to generate more sales-ready leads at a lower cost. Emerging technologies like messenger apps, wearables, video and interactive emails are also discussed as shaping the future of email marketing.

1. Creating Inbox Magic:
Email Best Practices You Need to Know

2. Kate Kotzea
Dir. of Marketing
Technology
@katekotzea

3. Email marketing has long been
associated with a medium to reach
subscribers rather than a strategy to reach
and engage the right subscriber

8. 73% of millennials prefer email,
because it’s “part of everyday life”.
-Adestra

9. B2B marketing email averaged over a 47%
higher CTR than B2C email and has a 23%
higher click-to-open ratio.
-emfluence

10. All emails should have a clear purpose, not
only to nudge users to do what you want
them to do, but to drive their user experience
forward.
- Customer.io

11. CREATE A REASON
• Exclusivity
• Special content
• Behind-the-scenes
• Early product releases
• Special offers
• Automation

13. REPORTING & ANALYTICS

14. • Open Rate
• Click-through Rate
• Deliverability
• A/B Testing
• Device opened
• Geography
• Specific links clicked

15. TIE TO BUSINESS GOALS
Email generated REVENUE
Email generated CONVERSIONS
Email ROI

16. SEND BEST PRACTICES

17. Design &
content
Subject
lines
When to
send

18. Design &
content
Subject
lines
When to
send

19. Think Mobile First

21. Use text & images together.
Include the primary content in the
email as text, not just a graphic.

25. Give the alt tags / labels for your
images descriptions that make sense.

26. People spend a lot of time worrying
about email clients with 1% usage;
accessibility is a much bigger issue.
- Rebelmail

27. Create Clear Calls to Action.
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In A/B tests, there was 28% increase
in CTRs if the call to action was a
button vs. a link.
- Campaign Monitor

28. BUTTON DESIGN
• Contrasting, non-grey colors
• White space around button to stand out
• Arrow or other elements to help with next steps

29. On average, business email campaigns see a
55% increase in CTRs when a video is called
out in the subject line or included in content
- eMarketer

31. Showcasing
products – 103%
increase in
conversion rate

33. Design &
content
Subject
lines
When to
send

34. Words to Use & Avoid

35. Thank you / Thanks
You/Your
Account
Monthly

36. Free
$$$
Earn
Guaranteed
!!!

37. Keep it Short

38. A/B Testing
• Highlight only one topic
• Keep it familiar (Company June Newsletter, July Newsletter)
• Break out topics (Topic 1 | Topic 2 | Topic 3 )
• Create urgency and/or curiosity (Take 50% off)

39. Emails with personalized subject
lines are 20% more likely to be
opened.
- HubSpot

40. Use preheaders

41. Benefits of Preheaders:
Summary of email
Brand connection
Extend your subject line

42. -MailChimp

43. Emoji usage in email marketing has
gone up 7,100% over the last year.
👏👏👏
-Litmus

44. 56% of brands using emoji in their
email subject lines had a higher
unique open rate.
✉ + 😍 = ❤
-Experian

45. When to Use an Emoji
Fits with your brand
Subscribers have updated OS
Strong mobile opens
Use Emojipedia

46. Design &
content
Subject
lines
When to
send

48. -Experian

49. 70% of millennials check their
email from bed (vs. 52% of the
general survey population).
-Adestra

50. Know Your Industry

51. DATABASE SEGMENTATION

52. A ALWAYS
B
S
BE
SEGMENTING

53. Gather
New
Information
• Form signups
• New contests
• Integration with
other platforms

55. Zombie
Subscribers
• Unengaged
• Don’t open
• Old addresses
• Deliverability

56. Millennials aren’t afraid to mark
unwelcome emails as spam, seriously
hurting your sender reputation and
your ability to send emails in the future
to anyone.
- Litmus

58. MARKETING AUTOMATION

59. What is
marketing
automation?

60. Automated Emails Generate:
70.5% higher open rates
152% higher click-through rates
75% of email revenue
- Epsilon Email Institute and DMA

61. Companies that excel at lead
nurturing generate 50% more sales
ready leads at 33% lower cost.
- Forrester Research

62. • Confirmation or
thank you
• Account setup next
steps
• Account deadlines
or expirations
Understand
the right
send delay

63. Clearly
communicate
next steps

64. Use plain text
– don’t over
design

65. Integrate with Business Goals

66. THE FUTURE OF EMAIL

68. -Adestra
Email is still
preferred way of
communication

69. MESSENGER APPS

70. Customer Service
Contests
Ecommerce
Sales Promotion
Ways to Integrate with Apps

71. Bots will run automated workflows;
send confirmation emails, abandoned
cart emails, create newsletter sign ups,
all personalized with data from the chat
session.
MORE BOTS

72. WEARABLES

73. EMAILS ON
WEARABLES
Notification – subject line
importance
Plain text
Limited or no tracking

74. Email content will be based off of
different sources and real-time variables
will be generated at moment-of-open
(not send).
AGILE EMAILS

76. MORE VIDEO
Apple iOS 10 will again support HTML5. As
of November, 53% of emails were opened
on a Apple email app.
-Litmus

77. INTERACTIVE
EMAILS
Shopping carts
Forms
Quizzes
Accordions
Rotating banners

79. LOOKALIKE AUDIENCES

80. Email marketing has long been
associated with a medium to reach
subscribers rather than a strategy to reach
and engage the right subscriber

81. TAKEAWAYS
• Establish email metrics
• Understand your database
• Do A/B tests
• Look for automation opportunities
• Use animation