5 Best CRO Practices for Email Marketing

Originally published: August 03, 2019 11:22:32 AM, updated: February 20, 2023 12:49:23 PM

Popular belief has shelved CRO within the confines of web pages and UX design. However, CRO is very much applicable to any marketing tactic. From SEO up until email marketing. There is a need to check click-through rates and conversions to know which part of the email marketing strategy is in need of improvement.

The Relevance of Email Marketing

There isn’t a shortage of social media channels available to every marketer nowadays. But despite all these options, the use of email in reaching target audiences is still relevant.

• 86% of business professionals prefer email as a mode of communication in business affairs (HubSpot).
• 59% of B2B marketers confirm email as the most effective channel when it comes to revenue generation (Emma).
• 80% of retail professionals indicate email marketing as the greatest gatherer of customer retention (Emarketer).
• There will be 2.9 billion email users forecasted in 2019 (Statista).

As proved by statistics, email marketing remains as a great channel for businesses of every size. Furthermore, thanks to targeting and segmenting contacts, all manner of businesses are freer to efficiently send personalized messages to very specific audiences.

Email campaigns are useful for segmenting audiences and reaching out to groups of individuals to send unique messages based off of their needs and interests.

Email marketing is here to stay. It is also the most efficient form of business communication. In fact, research shows that 91% of consumers in the US check emails every day, and 56% of them take care of emails on mobile devices.

Emails’ trustworthy track record all these years, its popularity, and its cost-effectiveness make it an evergreen marketing tool to reach all manner of target audiences.

How to Do CRO in Email Marketing

You receive a great number of click-throughs, and people pouring into a landing page via email campaigns. So what do you with all of that? The answer to that predicament is conversion rate optimization.

Gather insights about the audience & send appropriate content

Nobody likes their email going straight into the recipient’s trash bin… So, to avoid this kind of reaction from your target audience, there is a need for every email to be engaging and compelling for consumers to click and eventually land on your designated landing page.

I’m no stranger to receiving emails from marketers. And based on my own experience, I was primarily attracted to the ones that had my name on the subject, and told me something somewhat alarming (positive and negative).

The process starts with getting to know your target audience…

Start by building insights about them. Carry out necessary research by creating online surveys, forms, and making use of your analytical software. It’s also a good idea to encourage target audiences and customers to leave feedback. Not only does feedback help with gathering important data, it also increases engagement.

Attract them with your subject lines

The subject line of your email is likened to the title of a novel (the headline of a news story). And because it’s one of the first things that people see when they navigate their inbox, it has to grab attention and make that attention stay.

Remember that no matter how awesome or effective your tailored email marketing strategies are, you will always come across the first hurdle. And that is to get subscribers and target consumers to click on you emails in the first place.

So how do you write an email subject line that brings in the conversions and the click-throughs?

• Keep your subject lines short: A subject line that’s too long gets cut off. Experts recommend making use of subject lines with fewer than 50 characters.
• Personalize everything: Think back to your experience with calling a company and receiving an automated reply. People prefer to address actual human beings with their concerns. And they appreciate a company giving them its attention.
• Use familiar sender names: The more familiar you are with somebody, the more likely you’d be more willing to accommodate them. You need to give the customers the impression that they’re working with you — an actual person, someone who will respond to their questions.
• Make use of concise language: People scan their inboxes quickly. The clearer the subject line, the better. Make it straight-to-the-point to leave no room for confusion.
• Begin with an ‘action’ verb: Aside from being similar to a book title, an email’s subject lines are also CTAs. For instance, instead of saying, “Local Bistro Soft Opening,” try something like, “Dine at Local Bistro, opening today!”

Another tactic you’d do well to apply is to tap into your customers’ emotions. It’s an essential persuasion tactic. And you have to do it while making your lines innovative, inviting, and compelling — as mentioned above.

Test the aspects of your email

As with any kind of endeavor you pursue, the importance of testing every aspect of the marketing strategy is crucial. For this reason, it’s easy to conclude that A/B testing should be implemented on the copy length, the subject line, the templates, the visuals, even the landing page, and the CTA.

What works for one company may not do for the other. The essence is all about figuring out what works, and that’s where A/B testing comes in. Never rely solely on your own intuition to predict what kind of subject line you should use. So experiment with different kinds of email content to find what works for you and you company.

Mind your content and your campaigns

A lot of people seem to think that email is conducive to doing promotions only. But don’t limit your email marketing strategy to just promotions. Don’t make monetization campaigns your sole aim. The best email marketing examples have engagement, segmentation, and re-engagement campaigns.

Also, use the right emails for the right purpose. Don’t sneak a blatantly promotional copy on transactional emails. Make use of relational emails to foster a sense of trust, or when you ask for referrals. You can also boost conversions and ROI with transactional emails — like, “thank you for purchasing,” “here’s your shipping tracking information,” etc.

Be consistent with sending out emails

You can’t please all of your customers with your email marketing. There are people who will be annoyed with the constant email marketing…

But on the other side of the spectrum, you have loyal consumers who appreciate those newsletters, and will come to expect it from you after some time. Think about them. They would be disappointed if they fail to hear from you. These kind of productive customers are the ones you need and want to keep catering to.

They are the ones most likely to move towards purchase. So, you need to consistently communicate with these people. It doesn’t have to be email day by day; you can make use of other channels to.

The Takeaway

To top off these five CRO practices for email marketing, analysis comes to the forefront of the picture. Because when it comes to email marketing, the process of analyzing, improving, and optimizing is an endless cycle. In fact, the mentioned cycle is a staple for engagement with customers. So, there’s no such thing as “no analysis.”

Furthermore, the best way to keep improving is to maintain a dynamic email marketing strategy — for CRO and for the sake of customer engagement.

Bio: Al Gomez is a digital marketing consultant. He is the President of Dlinkers, and he specializes in SEO, PPC, & web development since 2008. Al has over 10 years’ client digital marketing experience and has helped businesses such as Dr. Berg, Patexia, Panel Wall Art, the Ritz Carlton, and countless others use the web to drive online visibility and generate leads. He has even started, developed, and managed an e-commerce website — Unlideals.com and an SEO website, Alseoperth.com.