Today, no one is surprised when they receive an automated email. In fact, we all know that most emails from brands aren’t exactly unique, and we are certainly not the sole recipients of this message. This is also the reason why so many mass-sent emails often result in so little attention from the subscribers. Still, businesses are in no rush to abandon this practice, and for a good reason. After all, email marketing remains the top means of generating profit, with the highest ROI rates across all available channels.
Besides, smart practices can help brands avoid the dangers of mass email sending — both technical ones, like getting blocked, and marketing ones, like attracting little attention from the subscribers. It all goes down to seven simple steps, described below.
Clean and Update Your Email List
Ideally, mass emails should be sent only to your existing subscribers — or, at least, people who are already familiar with your brand. But it’s even more important to send emails to active email accounts — if you hit too many invalid inboxes, you risk triggering a spam alarm and blocking your IP. To avoid this, ensure your email database is clean and up-to-date by removing all inactive accounts.
Another helpful suggestion for keeping your email database up-to-date is to use professional services that allow bulk searches of contact info. But wait, stop! Shouldn’t mass emails be sent only to existing subscribers? Yes, but the real emphasis is on people who are already familiar with your brand. Some of these people may have changed their email addresses, and professional contact finders can help you access their updated information.
Other leads might have been exposed to your brand over an on-site event or conference, meaning they may not be a part of your contact list — yet. Or, you could have engaged people on social media but not included them in your email lead database — yet. A tool that supports contact lookup or email extraction from social media sites can be extremely useful in all these examples.
Whatever the case, make sure your database is as complete and up-to-date as possible. After all, the whole point of sending a mass email is to reach as many interested customers as possible, right? Well, yes and no. Rapid database expansion has a major catch, leading us to the next point.
Make sure your IP is warm
You do not need to worry about IP warmness when your business grows naturally (along with your lead database). But if you rapidly expand the database for mass email sending, you risk triggering email spam alarms. So, cleaning and updating your database once or twice a month is best. The same time interval is acceptable for increasing the number of mass emails you send out. If you do it too often, you may get flagged and blocked by your email provider, and that is definitely not what you want.
So, always set out on a mass email campaign with a properly warmed-up email IP. This also means that you cannot send out mass emails too seldom, either. Most reputable email systems store user data for a maximum of 30 days, so you have to show some regular activity, your history sends the reset button, and you risk getting blocked again.
Segment recipients, if possible
We all know that it is crucial to segment your leads, but the whole point of sending out mass emails is to save time on this chore, right? No! It’s true that, in some cases, you can send the same message to absolutely all subscribers on your list, but these cases are fewer than one might think. If, for example, you run a major e-wallet system that changes its fees for all users starting next month — yes, it is OK to send the policy update to all subscribers without any segmentation.
But if you run an online store and want to inform your subscribers about upcoming sales and discounts in a specific area, the same logic will not work. So, in most cases, you will have to segment your lead list. The segmentation for a mass email campaign doesn’t have to be too narrow, but you still need to ensure the message you send out will have some potential value for the recipients.
Have a Clear Subject line And CTA
With technical details out of the way, you can finally focus on the creative aspects of your sales manager’s responsibilities — conveying your message to the target buyers. One of the primary reasons why so many mass-sent emails end up — unopened — in subscribers’ trash folders is that they lack a catching subject line. Which, by the way, is often the message’s primary CTA, too. We’re all busy, so make it worth the subscribers’ time.
A common mistake when creating a subject line for mass emails is ignoring the email snippet — the first few lines of the text a recipient will see straight after the subject line. Make sure they go well together to hook your readers. And don’t forget to optimize both for mobile! A cup of morning coffee is an excellent incentive for sifting through one’s mail inbox — from mobile, of course.
Make Use of Visuals And Color
Suppose you have hooked the subscribers to open your email; now, the goal is to retain their attention for a bit longer. But not for too long — especially if you are marketing to Gen Y and Z with their mobile-nativeness and infamously short attention spans.
The recipients who clicked on your email already have some idea of what it’s going to be about — so don’t lose their attention and get to the point quickly. Using visuals and colors, along with short text paragraphs, is the surest way to have your message read. Short videos, when appropriate, are also nice — especially when marketing to Gen Z.
Embrace The Art of A/B Testing
Embracing the art of A/B testing in sending mass emails can significantly elevate the effectiveness of your email campaign. Instead of relying on guesswork, you can systematically test different email elements like subject lines, sender names, content, call-to-action buttons, or even sending times. By sending variations of emails to various audience segments and analyzing the response rates, you can gain valuable insights into what resonates best with their subscribers.
A/B testing helps optimize email campaigns and improve open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates. It can help you to refine content and tailor messages based on the audience’s preferences and behaviors. Ultimately, integrating A/B testing into mass email strategies enhances engagement, fosters customer loyalty, and maximizes the ROI of email marketing efforts.
Don’t Forget The Unsubscribe Button
In today’s world of mass email marketing, the unsubscribe button is a sign of good manners and an additional chance to hook your audience. It’s not a common practice yet (so you can have a shot at it before it gets boring), but many companies are adding a final CTA next to their unsubscribe button.
The message is clear: “That’s where you can quickly unsubscribe if you want, but before you do, consider our final offer/ last sale/ amazing products, or even — take a look at this sad panda/baby seal/ puppy, etc.” Of course, a link to a video or a GIF with a sad puppy is not a classic marketing CTA, but this step appeals to users’ emotions and keeps some of them from unsubscribing. Well, at least this time — can’t keep the puppy sad, after all. And that gives marketers another chance to reach their leads later — hopefully, with a better offer because puppies are not all-powerful, no matter how sad they are.
Use a Professional Email Service Provider (ESP)
Utilizing a professional Email Service Provider (ESP) is paramount if you want to streamline your email marketing efforts. Opting for reputable ESPs such as Mailchimp, Constant Contact, or SendGrid equips you with a suite of essential features, including in-depth tracking, comprehensive analytics, and efficient unsubscribe management. These platforms offer user-friendly interfaces and customizable templates, ensuring visually appealing and engaging email campaigns.
With advanced analytics, you can assess the performance of their emails in real-time, allowing for data-driven decisions and targeted improvements. Furthermore, these ESPs comply with industry regulations, ensuring that your campaign adheres to email marketing laws and guidelines. By choosing a trusted ESP, you can enhance your email campaigns, optimize engagement, and build stronger, more responsive customer relationships.
Measure The Results
The final tip is always to measure the results of your mass campaigns — sad seals and puppies may prevent users from unsubscribing (once), but you really have to try harder next time. Besides conversions, the common analytics parameters after each email marketing campaign are open and click-through rates.
But there is always room for more data — for example, the time when most emails were opened, the way your subscriber segmentation worked, and much more — depending on your business specifics.
Following these steps should prevent your messages from ending up in the trash, but of course, there is no limit to perfection when fine-tuning your marketing efforts. A practice that never grows old is to make your messages short, to the point, and worthwhile for the potential customers. When you know how to hook each of your audience segments, you should have no problem engaging them with regular emails.
