Email marketing has been one of the most effective ways to communicate with your audience, build relationships, and drive business growth. But in today’s fast-paced digital world, sending out random emails won’t get you far.
You need to follow best practices that ensure your emails reach your audience’s inboxes, encourage them to engage, and drive meaningful results.
I’ve personally been involved in email marketing for a few years, and along the way, I’ve learned that there’s a fine balance between creating emails that are not just well-designed but also highly engaging.
More importantly, I’ve realized that if you don’t follow good practices, your email might end up in the spam folder, which is the last thing anyone wants.
In this article, I’m going to share some email marketing best practices that have worked for me and helped me improve both engagement and deliverability.
Whether you’re new to email marketing or looking to improve your current strategy, these tips will definitely help you get better results.
Email Marketing Best Practices for High Engagement and Deliverability
1. Build a Quality Email List
The foundation of any successful email marketing campaign is a high-quality email list. It’s better to have a small list of engaged subscribers who genuinely want to hear from you than a large list of uninterested recipients who won’t open your emails.
My personal tip: Never buy email lists. Purchased lists often contain invalid, inactive, or spam email addresses. Worse, it can lead to high bounce rates and damage your sender’s reputation.
Instead, build your email list organically by using sign-up forms on your website, blog, or social media pages. Offer something valuable in return, like a free eBook, discount, or special offer.
Best Practices:
- Use double opt-in to ensure subscribers confirm their email address.
- Place clear, visible sign-up forms on your website.
- Offer valuable incentives, like free resources or exclusive content.
- Ensure you’re compliant with laws like GDPR by getting explicit permission from subscribers.
2. Segment Your Audience
Once you’ve built a quality list, the next step is segmentation. Not all your subscribers are the same, they have different interests, behaviors, and preferences.
Segmenting your list allows you to send more personalized and relevant content to different groups, which can significantly boost your engagement rates.
I’ve noticed that when I started segmenting my email list based on customer behavior, preferences, and demographics, my open and click-through rates increased.
People respond better to emails that feel tailored to their interests rather than generic blasts.
Best Practices:
- Segment based on purchase history, demographics, location, or engagement level.
- Create segments for new subscribers, long-term subscribers, and inactive subscribers.
- Send targeted content and offers that match the needs of each segment.
3. Craft a Compelling Subject Line
Your subject line is the first thing people see when they receive your email. It’s the deciding factor on whether they’ll open it or ignore it. A boring or misleading subject line can result in low open rates or even cause your email to be marked as spam.
From my experience, writing a compelling subject line is both an art and a science. You want to be clear about what your email contains while also making it interesting enough to spark curiosity.
Best Practices:
- Keep your subject lines short and to the point (under 50 characters works best).
- Avoid using all caps or too many exclamation marks, which can trigger spam filters.
- Personalize subject lines with the recipient’s name or location when possible.
- Create a sense of urgency or curiosity by using action words like “Don’t Miss Out” or “Last Chance.”
- Test different subject lines using A/B testing to see which works better.
4. Write Engaging Email Content
Once your subscribers open your email, it’s the content that will either keep them engaged or make them exit quickly.
Focus on writing clear, concise, and valuable content. Remember, your subscribers’ inboxes are full, so get to the point quickly while keeping the content interesting.
When I started writing shorter emails with clear call-to-actions (CTAs), I noticed a significant improvement in my click-through rates. Subscribers appreciate it when they don’t have to wade through a long email to understand what’s in it for them.
Best Practices:
- Write in a conversational tone, as if you’re talking to a friend.
- Make the content easy to scan with short paragraphs, bullet points, and subheadings.
- Focus on the value—what’s in it for the reader? Whether it’s tips, a promotion, or news, make it worth their time.
- Include a clear call-to-action (CTA). Whether it’s “Shop Now,” “Learn More,” or “Download Here,” make sure it stands out.
5. Optimize for Mobile
With more than half of all emails being opened on mobile devices, it’s essential to optimize your emails for mobile viewing. If your emails aren’t mobile-friendly, you risk losing a large portion of your audience who won’t bother reading or engaging with your message.
I learned this the hard way when I noticed that my click-through rates were significantly lower for mobile users. After optimizing my emails for mobile, I saw a big improvement in engagement from mobile users.
Best Practices:
- Use a responsive email design that adapts to different screen sizes.
- Keep subject lines shorter for mobile viewing.
- Use large, easy-to-click buttons for CTAs.
- Ensure images are optimized for quick loading and that they display correctly on mobile.
6. Test and Analyze Your Emails
Testing is one of the most important aspects of email marketing. Every audience is different, and what works for one business might not work for another. By regularly testing different aspects of your email campaigns, you can find out what resonates best with your subscribers.
For instance, when I started A/B testing different subject lines, I discovered that my audience preferred curiosity-based subject lines rather than promotional ones. This kind of insight can only be gained through testing.
Best Practices:
- Test different subject lines, content formats, and CTAs.
- Use A/B testing to see which versions perform better.
- Track metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and conversions to understand what’s working and what’s not.
7. Keep Your Email List Clean
One of the biggest factors affecting your email deliverability is the quality of your email list. If your list contains invalid or inactive email addresses, it can lead to high bounce rates, which can harm your sender’s reputation and even cause your emails to be marked as spam.
I make it a point to regularly clean my email list by removing inactive subscribers and validating email addresses. This helps me maintain high deliverability and engagement rates.
Best Practices:
- Regularly remove hard bounces and invalid email addresses.
- Use email validation tools to ensure email addresses are valid and active.
- Re-engage inactive subscribers by sending a win-back campaign, and remove those who remain unengaged.
8. Timing Matters
The timing of your emails can have a significant impact on their success. Sending emails at the right time ensures that they’re opened and read when your audience is most active. This can lead to higher engagement rates.
After experimenting with different send times, I found that my audience was more likely to engage with my emails during mid-morning on weekdays. Of course, the best time to send emails varies based on your audience, so it’s essential to test different send times.
Best Practices:
- Use data and insights from previous campaigns to determine when your audience is most active.
- Test different times of day and days of the week to find the best send times for your audience.
- Consider your audience’s time zones, especially if you have subscribers from around the world.
9. Comply with Email Regulations
No matter where you’re sending emails from, it’s important to comply with email marketing regulations like the CAN-SPAM Act (USA) and GDPR (EU). These laws protect recipients from unsolicited emails and require businesses to include certain elements in their emails.
One simple thing I’ve done is ensure that every email includes an easy-to-find unsubscribe link. This helps me avoid complaints and ensures that only people who want to hear from me stay subscribed.
Best Practices:
- Include a clear unsubscribe link in every email.
- Make sure you have permission from your subscribers before sending them emails.
- Comply with GDPR and other local regulations by keeping your data secure and being transparent about how you use subscriber information.
10. Monitor Deliverability and Sender Reputation
Finally, keeping an eye on your email deliverability and sender reputation is crucial to long-term email marketing success. If you have low deliverability, it means your emails are landing in spam folders rather than inboxes, which can hurt your engagement rates.
I make it a habit to monitor my sender’s reputation and check my bounce rates regularly. If I notice any issues, I take steps to resolve them by cleaning my email list or tweaking my content to avoid spam triggers.
Best Practices:
- Monitor your bounce rates, spam complaints, and deliverability metrics.
- Use email authentication protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to protect your sender’s reputation.
- Regularly check your sender reputation score using tools like Sender Score.
Conclusion
Email marketing is a powerful tool when done right. By following these best practices, you can improve both your email engagement and deliverability, ensuring that your campaigns are successful and your audience remains engaged.
Whether you’re just starting out or looking to improve your current email marketing strategy, these tips can help you get better results and grow your business through email marketing.
Personally, I’ve found that applying these best practices has made a world of difference in my email marketing efforts.
Not only am I reaching more people, but my engagement rates have also significantly improved. If you follow these tips, I’m confident that you’ll see positive changes in your email campaigns as well.