When done right, email marketing can contribute 30%-50% of your total store revenue. Email is one of the best marketing channels when it comes to return on investment (ROI): $36 per $1 spent. If your email marketing efforts are not paying off and your ROI is way below average, here are eight things you can do to increase your email marketing ROI in 2023.
1. Personalizing content
Personalization is no longer optional. Subscribers expect content that’s tailored to their interests and personalized. One great way to do this is through dynamic and personalized content.
Refer to your subscriber by their name, show them what they were browsing for, give personalized recommendations, etc. According to research, brands that never or rarely include dynamic content see a ROI of 12:1, while brands that do it often or always see a return of 43:1.
2. Adding engaging design elements to your emails to increase email marketing ROI
If you got your subscribers to open your emails, that’s a big win. However, the journey doesn’t end there. Your email needs to stand out from the rest of the emails your audience is getting. Try using GIFs and live content to bring your emails to life.
- Create GIFs: This needs a little bit more design resources, but GIFs are a great way of attracting recipients to your email and inviting them to engage with your content.
- Add live content: From timer to live polls, live content makes your emails timely and relevant. Remember, marketing is about sending the right message to the right people at the right time.
According to a Litmus study, brands that never include GIFs in their emails see an email marketing ROI of 18:1, while those that do it often or always see a return of 37:1. So when preparing your email marketing strategy, find a way to include animated GIFs, and live content wherever relevant.
3. Testing your deliverability frequently
Deliverability is essential for a proficient email marketing ROI. If your emails land in the spam folder, your recipient won’t look at them. This translates into wasted resources and no results. According to studies, brands that run spam tests before sending emails out see a higher email marketing ROI (39:1) than those that don’t (28:1).
Spam testing your emails is only one way of protecting your email deliverability, there are many other ways you can make sure you keep a healthy email deliverability: having an update preferences center, creating relevant content, optimizing your emails, etc.
4. Previewing and optimizing your emails to increase email marketing ROI
Check that images load, add alt-text, check links, etc. There are plenty of things you need to check before sending out an email to be sure everything works properly. Previewing and testing your campaigns and flows is key to delivering a great customer experience with every email. Research suggests brands that test every email before sending generated an average email marketing ROI of 40:1, while those that never do achieve a 34:1 ROI.
When checking your emails, make sure these elements are correct:
- Date and time of send
- Segmentation
- Copy and design
- Subject line
- Links & alt-text
- Discounts (if applicable)
- Desktop preview
- Mobile preview
- Dark mode testing
If you perform the necessary tests and see anything you can improve, don’t hesitate to do so. Most of the time little details can make a huge difference.
5. A/B testing
Marketing decisions shouldn’t be left to guesswork. You should test what works for your audience and what doesn’t. The results of those tests should define future work. A/B testing is the process of putting to the test two different versions of something (in this case, emails) and seeing which is the best performing one to find conclusive results of what works better for our target audience.
In fact, according to Litmus, brands that A/B test their emails generate an average email marketing ROI of 42:1, while brands that don’t generate 23:1. Check the What, Why, and How of AB Testing Email Campaigns to ramp up your email marketing strategy.
6. Optimizing your email frequency to increase email marketing ROI
How many emails does one of your subscribers get from your brand in a month? If you include email campaigns, transactional emails, and flow emails, you could be flooding your subscriber’s inbox with your email messaging. Knowing the estimated number is essential to know if you are sending too many emails (or too few). According to marketing research, sending 9-16 emails generated an average ROI of 46:1, while sending less or more resulted in lower returns.
7. Maintaining a high-quality email list
A greater number of profiles does not mean a higher ROI. According to a Litmus study:
- Brands with less than 500,000 subscribers report an ROI of 33:1
- Those with 500,000 generate an ROI of 42:1.
- Stores with more than 5 million subscribers report returns of 37:1.
That does not mean that if you have a large list, you will unavoidable have a poorer ROI. The true power of a list resides in its engagement, productivity, and quality.
There’s no good in having many subscribers when a big chunk of them are chronically unengaged, some are fake addresses and some have not been added in a compliant way. That is why maintaining proper list hygiene is essential.
The more subscribers that engage with your messages, the better results you’ll get.
8. Adding resources to your team to increase email marketing ROI
40% of marketers report they’re under-resourced. This can lead to poor outcomes in the quality of the emails and therefore the quality of the results. According to Litmus, investing in a good team and the needed resources could lead to a 15% higher email marketing ROI.
If you are ready to increase your ROI during 2023,
book a free call with us.
More useful information:
- How to Choose the Best Email Marketing Agency for Your E-commerce Business
- An Email Campaign Promoting New Products Makes Record Sales For A Socks Brand – Case Study
- How to Align Your SMS and Email Marketing Strategy to Boost Conversions
