1. Start out strong with a stellar subject line

First impressions matter, and the subject line is arguably the most critical element of your email, as the first thing email recipients see. About two-thirds of email recipients (64%) decide to open emails or not based on their subject lines. 

How well your subject line sets the tone for the entire email can significantly impact the open rates and overall effectiveness of your campaign. Captivate and engage your audience instantly with an opening subject line and subheading that resonate with your audience’s interests and encourage them to read further.

The main subject line is your hook: brief, bold, and attention-grabbing. The subheading, or the line that shows in inbox previews after the subject line, provides additional context and persuades the reader to open the email.

Choose clarity over cleverness

While being clever can grab attention, you need to make sure readers understand your message. A clear, direct subject line often outperforms one that is vague or overly clever, that doesn’t immediately convey what the email is about.

Tailor your subject line with personalization

Including the recipient’s name or other personal details can make the email feel more tailored and relevant, and more likely to be opened. A subject line is more likely to resonate personally with the recipient if it addresses them directly, or hints at how it’s specifically relevant to them. 

2. Break up the monotony with engaging visuals

Incorporating visuals into your emails isn’t just about aesthetic appeal; it's a strategic move to enhance readability and engagement. Large blocks of text can be overwhelming and may lead to a lower read-through rate. Breaking up text with visuals can keep the reader interested and guide them through the content in a more digestible manner. 

Here are some best practices for effectively integrating visuals into your email campaigns:

Use a striking first visual

Pull readers in with a first visual that grabs their attention and encourages them to keep reading. Complement the first impression established by your subject line and subheading with a strong visual cue that gives additional context. Convey emotions, reinforce your message, or strengthen your branding with a well-chosen image that aligns with the email’s intent. 

Opt for quality over quantity

Use high-quality visuals that look professional and are visually appealing. Using many poor-quality, irrelevant or off-brand images can negatively impact brand’s credibility, and have the opposite effect from what you want by losing the attention of your email recipients. Your visuals should complement and enhance your email’s message, not detract from it. 

You also don’t want to overpower the text with too many visuals. Strike a balance between images and text so that the email is still easy to scan and read, without being overwhelmingly full of one or the other.

Optimize for load times

Large image files can slow down email load times, or cause your emails to be cut off, which can be frustrating for recipients and lead to higher abandonment or deletion rates. Optimize image sizes without compromising on quality.

Include alt text for accessibility

Not all email clients display images by default, and some users may use screen readers. Use descriptive alt text for all images to convey your message properly, even if the visuals don’t display as you intend.

3. Drive readers to act with actionable CTAs

Every marketing email aims to turn interest into a desired action with a Call-to-Action (CTA). Your CTA is the linchpin of your email’s success, measuring how well your email convinced readers to do something. The power of a persuasive CTA lies in its ability to transform passive readers into active participants, thereby driving conversions and achieving the ultimate goal of your email campaign.

Crafting a CTA that resonates and prompts action requires a blend of clarity, urgency, and relevance. Here are some tips and techniques to create CTAs that can’t be ignored:

Be clear and direct

Your CTA should leave no room for ambiguity about what you want the reader to do. Keep it short and sweet, as a lengthy CTA can lose the reader’s interest. For example, copy like “Start Your Free Trial,” “Get 50% Off,” and “Download the Report” reads clearly as to what the reader gets from clicking on your CTA. 

Highlight your CTA with contrast

Use a contrasting color from the rest of your email design to highlight the CTA’s button or link. This visual distinction draws the reader’s attention to the CTA.

Align with email content

Your CTA should be a natural progression from the rest of your email content, and feel like a logical next step for the reader to follow. For example, if your email is about a new software feature called “Magic Canvas,” the CTA could be “Try Magic Canvas Now.”

4. Leverage customer data to craft personalized emails

In an age where attention spans are seemingly shorter than ever, email content needs to hit a sweet spot between brevity and engagement. We have to create messages that are clear enough to be understood at a glance, concise enough to be digestible, yet captivating enough to hold attention. 

Personalization is one way to make emails stand out, immediately relevant to the recipient, and deliver more value with less effort. 

Personalized emails are tailored to the recipient’s interests, preferences and behaviors, increasing the likelihood that they’ll engage and convert. They also improve the customer experience, as customers feel stronger loyalty to brands that put in the effort to personalize their communications.  

Bird simplifies the personalization process by empowering you to leverage customer data in your email campaigns. With its user-friendly, drag-and-drop interface, you can design customized emails to send based on customer variables such as purchase history, browsing behavior, and personal preferences. 

Integrate with e-commerce platforms for next-level personalization

Connecting your email marketing campaigns to your e-commerce storefronts such as Shopify or WooCommerce unlocks massive opportunities for customization, such as: 

• Automatically Segment Audiences: Create highly targeted email campaigns based on customer’s purchasing history, preferences, or engagement levels. 

• Dynamic Content Insertion: Automatically include products, offers, and content relevant to each individual recipient based on their data.

• Trigger-Based Emails: Send automated emails based on specific customer actions, like abandoning a cart or browsing a particular product category..

5. Target audiences more precisely with segmentation

Emails convert better when they’re targeted at the right people. One way to reach the right audience every time is by using segmentation: the process of dividing your audience into smaller groups based on specific criteria like demographics, purchasing behavior, or engagement levels. By targeting these segmented groups with tailored content, you can significantly increase the relevance and effectiveness of your emails for each audience.

Use an audience builder to segment your customer base

In order to segment your audiences, find a granular audience builder like Bird that can pull in data from e-commerce platforms like Shopify. This integration allows you to access a wealth of customer data to then target audiences based on preference, purchasing history, location, and more. For example, you could create segments of customers who frequently purchase certain products, or those with high lifetime value, or customers who have high click-through rates. 

Through segmentation, you can send emails that hit the mark every time, fostering a stronger connection with your customers and driving conversion rates. 

6. Nurture leads effortlessly through automation and sequences

Your role as an email marketer is to guide customers on their buyer’s journey from first learning about your brand to eventually making a purchase. Automation and email sequences are essential tools in this journey, methodically nurturing leads by providing them with the right information at the right time.

A well-structured email sequence acts as a guide, leading potential clients through each stage of the marketing funnel—awareness, consideration, and decision. At each stage, the content of your emails should align with the mindset and needs of the potential client:

• Awareness: Introduce your brand and provide valuable content that addresses the initial interests or pain points of your leads.

• Consideration: Offer more detailed information about your products or services, highlighting benefits and differentiators.

• Decision: Present compelling calls to action, customer testimonials, or special offers to encourage the final step of making a purchase.

How to Create an Email Marketing Funnel 101

Creating an effective email marketing funnel involves planning and understanding your audience’s needs. Here’s a basic outline:

1. Identify your audience.

2. Segment your audience.

3. Set clear objectives for each stage.

4. Tailor content that speaks to your audience at each stage.

5. Automate your sequences to send on a schedule.

6. Test and optimize your email sequences for better engagement.

   
   
   

Remember, a well-executed email marketing funnel doesn’t just push for sales; it builds a relationship by providing value every step of the way. By automating this process, you can consistently and efficiently nurture your leads, increasing the likelihood of conversion while saving valuable time and resources.