As we put the holidays behind us and face a new year, most businesses have decisions to make about their email marketing campaigns. Heavy advertising and shopping seasons mean email list expansion, and now that you have all those new subscribers eagerly awaiting your newsletter, the question of how to keep those subscribers happy must take top priority. List growth usually means a corresponding growth in your bounce rate and a drop in your open and click through rates, especially if you keep operating the same old way you always have. But by doing a little tweaking, you can ensure that your new subscribers remain just as happy as your original ones have been.
- Reduce Volume
Your original subscribers may have been thrilled to receive a daily or weekly email from you, but those who signed up on a holiday whim might not be so excited to have their inboxes full of your promotional emails. As your list grows, the number of people who can be considered casual readers grows as well, meaning that you’ll need to change your sending strategy in order to keep them interested. Consider reducing your volume to bi-monthly or even once a month in order to keep from overwhelming your subscribers. Or, use eConnect Email’s list segmentation feature to choose which subscribers want daily emails and which ones would prefer less frequent emails.
- Monitor Bounces
Large email lists inevitably include bounces, but a high bounce rate eats up valuable time and space and can cause headaches for you and your team. eConnect Email helps you keep your lists clean by monitoring and immediately handling hard bounces and unsubscribes. At the end of the day our goal is to ensure successful deliverability of your email.
- Optimize Subject Lines
If your unsubscribe rate is high and your open rate is low, the problem could be a subject line that fails to connect with readers. Subject lines should look enticing without appearing spammy. Avoid using multiple exclamation points or subject lines that don’t tell the reader what the email contains. Opt instead for short, concise wording that offers something of value to the reader.
- Optimize Content
Take a hard look at the content of the emails you send and ask whether they look appealing and make sure your emails contain information your subscriber will want. If you’re sending daily emails full of fluff, your readers will quickly become frustrated. Take advantage of the email creation tools offered by eConnect Email to test templates, images, and design before you send. How about trying a A/B Split Test to see what engages your subscribers?
A new year means new opportunities for growing your business through email marketing. Use the above suggestions to ensure you’re connecting and keeping your subscribers engaged. Do you have a question or suggestion, let us hear you thoughts!