If you think that email marketing is a thing of the past, it may be time to rethink your marketing strategies. Even though it's old, email marketing still remains one of the best ways to attract, convert, and retain customers. 

So, what makes email marketing a less-used marketing tactic? Probably, the time and effort it takes to find the right mix of ingredients that makes it great. 

In this guide, we'll go over some tips that will help you master your next email marketing campaign. 

What is Email Marketing?

Email marketing is using emails to promote products, services, or businesses. It can be used to make customers aware of a business, push website visitors towards sales, retain existing customers, build strong customer relationships, and more. 

Unlike other forms of marketing, email marketing requires you to get permission from recipients who are willing to receive communication from brands. 

This is why a lot of business websites have a newsletter pop-up on their website. Once a user signs up for the email newsletter, they start receiving emails from the company. 

Tips to Master Email Marketing

Email marketing is a marketing strategy that requires a lot of innovation. If you want to master email marketing, here are some things that you need to keep in mind:

1. Build a Quality Email List

You won't ever be able to achieve results if you don't have a great email list. Above all, if you have a quality permission-based list, it safeguards you against potential spam. 

As a business, you should always rely on lead magnets (free eBooks, discounts, guides, free tools) instead of straightforward sign-up forms. This is one of the easiest and most effective ways to build a genuine email list. 

Not all email subscribers are equal. Some may be new, some may be your regular customers, and some may be there just for browsing. You need to identify different audiences and segregate them. Doing so will help you send specific messages to all audiences. 

2. Design Effective Campaigns

Now you must be wondering, how can I design effective campaigns if I don't know anything about it? That's why you're on this guide. 

Your subject line is the thing that's going to decide whether your mail is going to be opened or not. While the body content holds the actual value, the subject line is what gets your foot through the door. Each email should have a compelling CTA, teaching the readers what to do next. 

A whopping 80% of emails are opened on smartphones, so make sure your emails look great on smartphones. Not optimizing your emails for mobile is a mistake you don't want to make. 

Personalizing your emails is another thing you would want to do in your campaigns. 

3. Create Content That Inspires

Your email marketing campaigns aren't going to drive results if your content doesn't have the power to move people. Don't know where to start writing such content? Just keep these things in mind:

• Relevant Content - Customers want to read content that is relevant to them. If a consumer is interested in the new iPhone and you keep sending them content about fresh fruit, that would never amount to anything. 
• Practical Value - Your email content should offer practical value for your email subscribers. This includes tips, how-to guides, troubleshooting tips, and solutions to common problems with your product/service. One important thing while writing such content is having clarity. You want to make the content as easy as possible for the reader. 
• Personalize Emails - Personalize your emails includes using recipient names, understanding preferences, and segmenting your email list. This level of personalization makes your readers feel like you're talking directly with them. 

4. Measure and Analyze Success

How would you know if your email marketing campaign is working or not? You should focus on measuring these essential factors:

• KPIs - You don't want to keep doing the same thing if it's not working. To understand if your emails are being opened, if readers are clicking on links, and if there's any conversion, you need to track the KPIs.
• A/B Testing - Even the smallest changes in your email campaign can lead to significant improvement. Try changing subject lines, body content, and images one by one to see which one offers the best results. 
• Feedback & Surveys - You can do all types of testing, and it won't matter. The best feedback will always come from your audience. 

5. Maintain Email Deliverability

The last thing you should know is to become a master of an email marketing campaign. If your emails reach the intended inboxes and land in spam or junk folders, you need to improve your efforts.

Here are the things you need to know about email deliverability:

• Understand Basics of Deliverability - Deliverability refers to the percentage of your emails reaching the recipient's inbox without getting stuck in flagged as spam. A number of factors determine the deliverability, including sender reputation, email content, and recipient engagement. 
• Sender Reputation - Your reputation is dependent on two factors: your IP reputation and your domain reputation. If you consistently push out engaging, valuable, and quality content, you'll have a good sender reputation. Having a good reputation means your emails won't fall into the spam folder.
• Content Quality - You need to have proper knowledge of spam filters. Using spam words, images, and misleading subject lines can trigger spam filters, and your emails are going to fall into the spam folder. Learn about common mistakes and make sure to avoid them at all costs.
• Authentication Protocols - Using protocols like SPF (Sender Policy Framework), DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail), and DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance) can prove that your emails are authentic. When you use these protocols, your internet service providers are more likely to deliver your emails. 
• Manage Bounce Rates - Emails can "bounce" for a number of reasons. The most common reasons are full inboxes or nonexistent email addresses. Make sure you clean your email lists to remove invalid addresses and get rid of high bounce rates.
• Engagement Matters - ISPs measure how recipients engage with your emails. If they're deleting your emails without reading, or if they mark emails as spam without reading, it will impact your deliverability percentage. 

Final Take - Tips to Master Email Marketing

Email marketing can be the differentiating factor in your marketing efforts. If done correctly, it can bring in a lot of new customers, retain customers, and boost conversion rates. 

This strategy involves building a quality email list through opt-in methods and segmentation. Optimizing emails for mobile, personalizing the emails, analyzing and managing engagement. Measuring success involves tracking KPIs, A/B testing, and gathering feedback.