Using Your Email to the Fullest

When we look at email, we use it for a manner of different things — some of which we may not even consider. Of course, we use email to communicate, but we can also use it for marketing, project management and organization. Email truly does offer more than originally meets the eye!

So, let’s take a look at how you can effectively and efficiently harness email to do some of the heavy lifting for you, especially when it comes to email campaigns and important projects.

Use Your Email to Manage Your Campaign and Other Projects

While using other apps for management and organization can be a time-saver, it can also be done in a much simpler way. In fact, you can easily manage your projects and campaigns from your email inbox, using simple tips and tricks to help with productivity, too.

Categorize your incoming inboxes by using folders and labels, so that you can easily find what you're after. This will also clear out your inbox so that you can more easily find new emails that still need to be addressed.

Moving your emails out of the inbox can also help when you're still communicating back forth with the recipient about the campaign. Having all of the emails for a particular campaign organized and grouped together can help do things like sending reminders much quicker. You can even use color-coded stars in Gmail to further group your responses.

Mobile-Friendly Email Campaigns

Everything seems to be going mobile these days, whether it’s online shopping or even mobile learnings. So it only makes sense that all email campaigns must be optimized for mobile devices, simply because most people access their inboxes on the go. This means that you’ll have a good deal of technicalities to mind on top of being creative and specific, but there’s no helping it.

If you’re just starting out, try out a template or two. As time goes by, you’ll get more and more acquainted with your audiences’ tastes, so you’ll be able to come up with your own templates.

Don’t forget to test-send your messages and check them on multiple devices and in different browsers, especially the most popular ones (iPhone and Gmail, according to statistics). These insights are important in another matter: word count. Namely, you don’t want your subject lines to be cut, so stick to up to 41 characters in total (including emojis, if you’re using them).

What Elements Should a Successful Email Include?

Needless to say, targeting and personalization are enormously important when devising email marketing campaigns. Once you’ve made sure that only people interested in your offer will be receiving your messages, it’s time to move on to the next step: email composition.

Stellar emails are similar to homework in that they should include an effective title (see email subject line examples), literate, clear and concise body text, and a memorable conclusion. In case of emails, a CTA should also promptly follow, and so should your brand’s contact info.

Finally, an unsubscribe button should be added to all emails you send. Contrary to popular belief, it’s not counterproductive. Often, people forget that they can simply unsubscribe, so they flag the messages by brands whose offer they’re no longer interested in as spam.

Think of mobile users when writing your message, too. Image-heavy emails are not welcome by people who don’t have access to a fast internet connection, so use images sparingly (if at all). Also, the text should be presentable and tidy, similar to a book print. Do you know those white spaces and formatting? They’re in place to make reading easier, so emails should follow suit.

CTAs should be the only part of your email that stands out at first glance. They come in various shapes and sizes (usually as buttons) and should be in different colors to be easily seen. Note that an effective CTA states clearly what will happen when the recipient clicks on the link.

Generic text like "Click here to learn more" or "Waste no more time" are not well received, and for a good reason. In a sense, CTAs and subject lines are the two most important elements of an email, as its efficiency depends solely on whether the email will be opened (and read) and whether the desired action will be performed.

Email elements in a nutshell include:

1. Short, concise and clear subject line
2. Adequate pre-header text
3. Stellar message body, literate and consistent with the subject line and preheader text
4. A CTA that stands out from the rest of the text
5. An unsubscribe button
6. Contact information

Targeting and Segmentation

Targeting simply means that you know your target audience. You know their age, gender, taste, buying power, location and so on. When you know all these things, you’ll be able to come up with better-personalized offers, which, in turn, is guaranteed to boost your sales. Successful email marketing campaigns can boost ROI by an incredible 760%, research shows.

As regards segmentation, it is best performed by using multiple insights. It’s only to be expected that not every single person from an audience will be interested in the same product or offer. Use demographics, purchase history and behavioral data to concoct the best solution.

Finishing Touches

Lastly, always encourage feedback. Don’t be afraid to ask your customers for their opinion, suggestions and criticism. Encourage communication via all channels, especially via email and on your social media profiles.

In time, your brand will start growing with its customers, which is the desired outcome for every business. Remember to always reward loyalty — prepare special offers exclusively for people growing alongside your brand over time.

Angela Ash is an expert content writer, editor and marketer, who focuses on topics related to remote work, freelancing, entrepreneurship and more.