Top 11 Email Marketing Tips for Your Small Business Success

Email marketing is a constantly changing field. Whether you’re completely new to it, or you already have solid experience, you can always leverage the best email marketing tips to improve your campaigns’ results.

In this blog post, we’ll focus on the top email marketing tips and tricks for small businesses.

What Are the Best Tips for Email Marketing Success

Let’s explore the top email marketing tips that have proven successful in improving open rates, click-through rates, and eventually increasing conversions as well.

1. Create Catchy Subject Line and Preview Text

When it comes to email marketing, your first goal should be to have your email opened by the recipients. If they skip opening it, there’s literally no chance of converting them via this email – no matter how beautifully designed or well-written it is.

Since the first thing recipients see in their inboxes about your email is its subject line, and eventually the preview text, the best advice on how to increase open rates is to create catchy subjects and preview texts. Easier said than done, right? That’s why we’re here to guide you through the whole process.

To create a subject line that will make users open your email, you must first spark curiosity among your readers. Your subject line should be clickable, but not spammy. It should make your recipients want to learn more about what’s inside, but at the same time it shouldn’t mislead them as to what to expect. The subject line should address the pain points of your target audience and state the benefit for them. In this way, you will build trust and credibility among your readers.

Next, make sure to create a sense of urgency, especially for promotional and sales emails to encourage them to act immediately upon your email. Use words and phrases like “last chance”, “only a few hours left”, and similar, but avoid spam filter triggers like “free”, “urgent”, “cash”, etc. and avoid using all caps lock.

In regards to the word choice for your subject line, use actionable and catchy phrases and verbs. You may also personalize it to include the recipient’s first name. Make your subject line unique, compelling, valuable and straight to the point.

Last but not least, make sure your subject line is short and concise. Write it under 50 characters ideally, in order for it to be visible on most devices and email providers.

Then comes the preheader or preview text of your email, which appears next to your subject line in the inbox. It’s basically your last chance to have your email opened. Use it to add some more information as to what your readers will find inside. As to what is the recommended amount of characters for preview text, it’s under 90 characters, so it’s best to consider having it between 35 and 40 characters long.

2. Craft Compelling Copy

One of the most important email marketing tips is to carefully craft your email content. At the end of the day, it’s your content that readers want to read and discover what it’s all about. 

Let’s explore the best email marketing content tips:

Whether you’re writing an informational, educational, or promotional email, rule #1 is to ensure your content is relevant to your audience. It should address your subscribers’ needs and pain points in some way, to give them that extra value which will encourage them to take a desired action, e.g. make a purchase, or subscribe to your newsletter. Having a strong value proposition will get you one step closer to increasing your conversion rates.

In terms of word choice and writing tips, make sure that your email content is clear, concise, and scannable. To achieve that, include short paragraphs, use headings and bullet points. It is also important not to overstuff your email content with unnecessary words, but rather get straight to the point, as today’s readers are usually in a hurry and quickly scan through emails.

For example, here’s an email example from YouTube Studio. You see how scannable it is? That’s because of the bigger, bold font title, followed by a catchy image and a short paragraph. Then, it naturally flows to the blue CTA button which stands out well against the white background. What’s more, the content is broken down into bullet points that are easy to scan because of the small icons at the beginning of each row, too.

To help you better understand and implement these tips in your next email campaign, we have a guide on how to write marketing emails, including specific examples and best strategies.

Another way to boost your email success is to use AI that can help you immensely in your endeavors. We know that writing is difficult, but using AI isn’t an easy task, either, if you want it to give you the best results and texts. You need to feed it with the right prompts and that’s an art of itself. That’s why we’ve compiled an extensive guide on how to write email prompts.

3. Have Clear CTAs

Looking for even more successful email marketing tips? We’ve got you covered. Your next crucial step towards higher click rates and click through rates is having clear calls to action. Here’s how to achieve that:

Since CTAs’ main purpose is to drive readers to take a specific action, your first goal should be to define what you want them to do. Do you want your readers to make a purchase, sign up for your newsletter, download an eBook, or visit a sales landing page of your new product or service?

Now that you’ve established your goal, consider the best place that makes sense for your CTA button to appear in your email. For example, if you have a section in which you’re listing the benefits of your discounted product or service, it would make sense to place the CTA button with your offer right after the benefits list.

It’s equally important how your CTA buttons will look like and what their copy will be. Make sure to include short and actionable words on your CTA buttons, preferably verbs. Use phrases like “Buy now,” “Read more,” or “Get started.” When it comes to the visual appearance of your buttons, they must stand out and be easily visible. Make them contrasting to the background of your email – use different colors and bold font. 

Last but not least, instead of a button, you can also use an image as a CTA. In this case, one of the most essential email marketing hacks is to include an alt text for that image. Since some email providers might not display your image, your alt text will “show” people what the image was all about. Make your alt text short, yet descriptive and actionable – the way you’d have a regular CTA button copy.

4. Design Beautiful Visual Appearance

No matter how closely you follow the best email marketing techniques, if your email doesn’t have an appealing design, chances are that your click through rate and conversion rate will drop. That’s why your email design is another of your top priorities. But what does it mean to have an appealing email and most importantly, how to create one?

If you’re just starting with email marketing, one of the best email marketing tips you can get is to consider using an email marketing platform. It would not only make your life much easier, but it would also help your email campaigns become successful.

Most email marketing platforms will provide you with some ready to use templates or easily customizable layouts. With SiteGround Email Marketing, you can create stunning emails fast with our free email templates which leverage experts best practices. We have a template for every need – promotional, newsletter, welcome emails, or seasonal (Black Friday, Cyber Monday).

You can also heavily rely on layouts for building your email campaigns. Layouts allow you to play around with the different elements of your email and customize them by your own choice and brand criteria. To help you create engaging email campaigns, we’ve also compiled a list of email layout examples.

5. Insert Appealing Images

Whether you’re using an email template or email layout, you must spice it up with appealing images. This is one of the best email marketing tips you would ever get since most people “consume” your emails visually. You need to grab their attention with the images in your email campaign.

They should be relevant to your content and value proposition. But they should also correspond with your brand guidelines, so that readers can guess right away that the email is coming from your brand (even if they don’t notice your logo right away!).

Appealing images are hard to find, though. 

You either need to use free stock images, invest in paying for paid images, or even hire a professional photographer. 

Another way to deal with images is using SiteGround’s Email Marketing platform that offers a free built-in AI image gallery, which provides you with a wide range of photographs and illustrations in a variety of categories.

Just like with the CTA images, the rest of your images should also include an alt text in order for readers to read what they are about, even if the images are not visible on some email clients.

You should also make sure to have your images linked to whatever page you want your readers to visit – sales page, downloadable asset’s page, or similar. If you decide to include a button on the image, ensure that the whole image is a link, not just the button, because users tend to put more attention on images rather than texts.

6. Incorporate Social Sharing Buttons

We understand. Including social sharing buttons in your emails is not the most popular tip. Indeed,it often gets overlooked. But it literally takes no effort, so why shouldn’t you try? 

In order for this to work, you have to create an email that’s interesting enough to be shared. You need to provide your readers with some incentive as to why they should share your email. Make them enter a contest when they hit the share button, or give them a discount code for sharing your content. Once they share your email, this will lead to two main benefits for your business:

• Reaching a broader audience

When one of your readers shares your email on social media, it goes directly to the “wide world”, meaning that it will reach users who might not be in your audience and who will learn about your brand. That’s a fantastic way to get new subscribers or followers.

• Building your brand credibility

When your users share your email, it also works as a kind of a recommendation. Their friends, acquaintances, and followers will not only learn about your brand or business, but they will also know that they can trust your brand, as it’s already used by someone in their network.

7. Ensure Mobile Responsiveness

Mobile responsiveness is no longer one of the email marketing secrets, but rather a must-have. To maximize engagement and avoid losing potential customers, it’s crucial that your emails are mobile-friendly. Here are some strategies to ensure your emails are optimized for mobile devices:

• Use responsive email templates

Start with a responsive email template that automatically adjusts to different screen sizes. Many email marketing platforms offer pre-designed templates that are mobile-ready, saving you time and ensuring consistency across devices.

• Optimize image sizes

Large images can slow down load times, particularly on mobile devices with slower internet connections. Compress images without losing quality and use formats like JPEG or PNG. Additionally, consider using CSS for background images to further enhance load speed.

• Design clickable CTA buttons

Make sure your call-to-action buttons are easily clickable on small screens. Use a minimum size of 44×44 pixels for touch-friendly buttons, and ensure they are visually distinct with ample spacing from other elements to prevent accidental clicks.

• Ensure adequate sizing of links and text

Text links should be large enough to tap easily. Avoid placing links too close together, and use a font size of at least 14 pixels for body text to maintain readability without zooming.

• Prioritize conversions

Place the most important content and CTAs at the top of your email. This ensures that even if recipients don’t scroll, they will see the key message and action you want them to take.

Before sending out your email, test it on various devices and email clients to ensure it displays correctly. 

By implementing these email marketing tips for mobile, you can enhance the mobile responsiveness of your emails, leading to higher engagement rates and improved customer interactions.

8. Apply Smart Segmentation and Personalisation

One of the best tips for effective email marketing is to apply segmentation and personalization in your email campaigns. To truly connect with your audience and drive engagement, it’s essential to leverage smart segmentation and personalization.

Segmentation allows you to divide your email list into smaller, more targeted groups based on specific criteria such as demographics, behavior, purchase history, or engagement levels. By tailoring content to these segments, you can deliver messages that are more relevant and valuable to each recipient.

When customers receive content that feels tailored to them, they are more likely to feel valued and understood. This fosters a stronger connection with your brand, leading to increased loyalty and long-term customer relationships, as well as higher conversions.

Here’s how to implement smart segmentation and personalization:

1. First, gather data from various touchpoints, such as website interactions, past purchases, email engagement, and customer feedback. Use this data to understand your audience better and identify meaningful segments.

2. Next, based on your analysis, create segments that align with your marketing goals. Common segmentation criteria include age, location, purchase history, engagement level, and interests.

3. Third, use dynamic content and merge tags to personalize emails. This can include addressing recipients by their first name, recommending products based on past purchases, or sending birthday offers. Personalization should extend beyond just the subject line to the body of the email and CTAs.

Apply these segmentation email marketing tips in your next campaign and you’ll create more meaningful interactions with your audience. This will lead to higher engagement, stronger customer relationships, and ultimately, better business results. The key is to treat your subscribers as individuals, not just email addresses.

9. Utilize Automations

Your next step in the field of email marketing best practices is automations. By leveraging email automations, you can streamline your marketing efforts, deliver personalized experiences, and achieve better results with less manual effort. Automations not only save time but also ensure that every subscriber receives the right message at the right time, enhancing their journey with your brand.

Here’s how to implement email automation:

• Identify key opportunities

Start by identifying opportunities within your customer journey where automation can add value. This could include welcome emails, abandoned cart reminders, birthday offers, or re-engagement campaigns.

• Choose the right tools

Select an email marketing platform that supports automation features. Check out SiteGround Email Marketing, as it offers not only automated welcome emails, but also automations that allow you to create a sequence of emails based on specific triggers.

• Define your workflows

Map out the customer journey and design workflows that align with your marketing goals. Determine the triggers (e.g., signing up for a newsletter, making a purchase) and the corresponding email sequence.

• Create personalized content

Develop email templates and content that are tailored to each stage of the workflow. Personalize messages using dynamic content and segmentation to ensure relevance.

10. Analyze Statistics

Tracking and analyzing your email marketing metrics and KPIs is crucial for understanding the effectiveness of your campaigns and making data-driven decisions. Without tracking, you can’t accurately measure the success of your email campaigns. 

Understanding how your emails perform helps you gauge whether you’re meeting your marketing goals. Analyzing data over time also allows you to spot trends and patterns in your audience’s behavior, helping you tailor future campaigns to their preferences and habits. By pinpointing what works and what doesn’t, you can make informed adjustments to your email content, design, and strategy to improve engagement and conversion rates.

• How to track and analyze email marketing statistics

1. Before diving into analytics, establish clear objectives for your email campaigns. Whether it’s increasing open rates, boosting click-through rates, or driving conversions, having defined goals will guide your analysis.

2. Next, leverage the analytics features of your email marketing platform to track these metrics. SiteGround Email Marketing, for example, offers detailed reports and insights into your email performance.

3. Make sure to also analyze metrics across different audience segments to identify which groups respond best to your campaigns. Compare performance across various campaigns to determine what strategies are most effective.
4. Last, but not least, regularly review your email statistics and use the insights gained to adjust your strategies. This iterative process ensures continuous improvement and alignment with your marketing goals. By regularly reviewing key metrics, you can identify areas for improvement, optimize your strategies, and ultimately achieve better results.

11. Perform A/B Testing

Another of our email marketing recommendations is to perform A/B testing to optimize your email campaigns. A/B testing, also known as split testing, is a powerful technique that allows you to compare two versions of an email to determine which one performs better.

Here’s how you can implement A/B testing effectively:

1. Start by identifying what you want to achieve with your A/B test. Are you looking to improve open rates, increase click-through rates, or boost conversions? Having a clear goal will guide your testing strategy. 

2. Then, select one element to test at a time to ensure clear results. Some common variables include: subject lines, email content, call to actions, and send times.

3. As a next step, divide your email list into two random, equal-sized groups. Send version A to one group and version B to the other. Ensure the sample size is large enough to yield statistically significant results.

4. Send out your emails and allow enough time to gather data. The duration of the test will depend on your email frequency and list size, but typically a few hours or a day is sufficient.

5. When you get the results, compare the performance of the two versions based on your chosen metric (e.g., open rate, click-through rate). Use statistical significance to determine if the results are not due to chance. Once you’ve identified the better-performing version, roll it out to your entire audience. Use the insights gained to inform future campaigns and continue testing new variables.

However, remember that A/B testing is an ongoing process. Continuously test new ideas and refine your approach to keep improving your email marketing strategy.

Implement These Email Marketing Tips in Your Next Campaign

Now that you have these email marketing tips and tricks in your possession, you no longer have to worry about how to master email marketing campaigns. Start implementing these in your next campaign and see the results for yourself.

Let us know in the comments below how that goes and which of these tips was new and most useful for you.