Best Email Marketing Benchmarks for 2020

By now, everyone is aware of the glaring fact that email is by far the most convenient marketing funnel, in more ways than one, at that. While many are discussing its affordability, others point out the ease of communication.

In truth, these are only two of numerous benefits email marketing can bestow upon your brand – if you’re doing the marketing voodoo the right way, that is.

Not every email, no matter how skillfully written, is successful. Some reach wrong audiences while others are disregarded merely on the poor quality of the subject line or because of poorly chosen email service providers.

These are the three factors that call for considerable consideration, because they will influence the success of your email marketing campaigns in the long run.

Finally, Google’s rules change all the time and – let’s face it, Google is the leader in the game. If your messages feature spam-trigger words, or your brand’s visibility isn’t too high, chances are your email marketing campaigns will not fare well, no matter how stellar they are.

It is important to learn (and keep in mind at all times) that your emails represent your brand. The more visits to your website they generate, the greater the visibility of your brand. The greater the visibility of your brand, the better ranking of your website gets.

It’s all linked together, and one factor affects all the others. That’s why the very first step a brand should take is – sifting through the target audiences.

Brainstorm Your Audience Research

Defining target audiences is the ultimate starting point. The overall success of a brand depends solely on the support of its customers. It naturally follows that if you’re targeting people who are not interested in your offer, success will not come.

This has nothing to do with the quality of your offer, mind you. Whether you’re selling used cars or yoga equipment, different groups of people will be interested in your offer. Using the above mentioned example, some yogis may be interested in used cars, and some people interested in used cars might be into yoga, but by no means will the entire two groups be interested in both offers.

Some brands offer a range of different offers or more generalized offers (clothing, for example) that may be suitable for multiple audiences while others offer highly specific products and services that should be marketed solely to enthusiasts in the field.

Therefore, defining an audience or multiple audiences comes first. Call this the first step to a long-term strategy that will boost your brand’s success over time. Ultimately, all brands are looking for loyal clientele who is, in turn, highly likely to recommend the brand to their friends. Again, it’s all linked together.

If you target only one audience, things are somewhat easier. I.e., if you sell makeup, you will be addressing mostly women. Further segmentation will lead you to multiple categories: teenage girls, middle-aged women, older women, etc. All of these categories of people will appreciate a different approach. E.g., teenage girls normally prefer a casual tone, while older ladies prefer a professional tone (usually).

If you target multiple audiences, you will likely have to adjust your brand’s tone to suit each of them.

However, the general way of addressing people should be the same. The goal is to build trust and show your brand as reliable and an expert in the field, so that customers will not look elsewhere for a similar offer (provided you keep an eye on the competitors’ prices, but that’s a different topic we’re not dealing with here).

Which brings us to the next point – segmentation.

Master the Art of Segmentation

While defining an audience is the foundation of success, segmentation is the embodiment of the business promise. Segmentation shows your audience that you know exactly what they need, can address their needs accordingly and can solve their issue in a fast and efficient manner.

You will get the basic information from the subscription form. Merely knowing people’s names will allow you to form a personalized approach. Instead of addressing people with “hey there,” you will be using their name. This is the first pointer that your brand sees customers as actual people and not only as a source of revenue.

For campaign fine-tuning, however, you will need to go deeper. People’s occupation (hence their purchase range), their age and gender are only some of the additional pieces of information that you can use to segment and personalize your offer.

Subscription forms are a great way to obtain basic information, but be careful not to ask for too much. Most people will not take lightly to lengthy questionnaires, so tread carefully in this regard. Instead of asking subscribers to provide personal and work information, offer them a free giveaway in exchange for them filling out a survey. The giveaway doesn’t necessarily have to include something expensive – it may be a free ebook, a discount on the next purchase, a complimentary gift for the next purchase, etc.

Effective Communication

Communication is crucial for marketing, full stop. Before we dive a bit deeper into this, some technicalities need to be addressed first.

It may sound obvious, but you may be surprised how many marketers make the simplest of mistakes – using multiple email accounts to address customers. Create an email address for your campaigns and use it exclusively for this purpose. It will benefit your brand in multiple ways – safe sender lists, brand recognition and visibility, among others.

Next on, create a brand image. Contrary to popular belief, image is so much more than just visuals. The manner in which you address people, e.g., is a representative example.

As mentioned above, different audiences appreciate different communication styles, but to build trust, you’ll need to be:

• Consistent
• Literate

While abbreviations and slang where appropriate may be fine, you should maintain a business voice, no matter how casual. Literacy is crucial and there are no excuses for slacking off in this regard now that there are multiple free apps and extensions available to help with the task (take Grammarly as an example).

Further out, drive home from moment one that the customer matters. This is simply achieved – send a personalized welcome message to each new subscriber. Welcome messages equal first impressions – no more, no less, and we all know how difficult it is to change first impressions. Follow up with a thank you message after each purchase and don’t be afraid to send direct queries. I.e., shopping cart abandonments are best followed by a reminder and a question what went wrong. Chances are, there is a technical issue that you can solve so that future customers won’t have to suffer them.

Last But Not Least

Finally, we live in an interconnected world. This holds especially true for all things virtual, such as are email marketing campaigns, for example.

To maximize your revenue, increase your brand’s visibility and build trust more efficiently and faster, use the benefits of social media. I.e., sharing your offer on your social media pages will allow it to be seen and, by extension, shared by more people. It will also allow for direct communication.

This is also a great way to get to know your audience better, which, in turn, will allow you to personalize your offer more efficiently and seamlessly.

In short, a successful email marketing strategy should follow this template – define audiences, segment and personalize your campaigns, communicate via all means available, stick to your business promise and keep an eye on the competition. Adjust the offer to remain competitive. And that, in a nutshell, are the best email marketing benchmarks for 2020.