How to Use Email Marketing to Grow Your Business

Email marketing is one of the oldest and most reliable marketing channels available to businesses today. And for good reason—it is highly effective.

A Litmus study shows that this marketing practice has an average ROI of about 3,600%. That means for every $1 you spend on email marketing, you can expect to earn $36 in return.

Not bad, right?

Let’s say you’re interested. How can you grow your business through email marketing?

That’s exactly what this article is all about.

Here are seven simple but effective tips on how to use email marketing to produce the desired results for your business.

7 Tips on How to Use Email Marketing to Grow Your Business

Here are some business email marketing tips to boost target audience engagement.

1. Build a High-Quality Email List

The foundation of any successful email marketing campaign is a high-quality email list.

A high-quality email list comprises subscribers or loyal customers who have given you explicit permission to send them regular emails.

There are many ways to build a high-quality list for your email outreach, such as:

• Offering a lead magnet, such as a free ebook, report, checklist, or webinar, in exchange for an email address

Here’s an example of a Blog Tyrant campaign offering a lead magnet.

• Adding a sign-up form or pop-up to your website, blog, or landing page.

This Qunol pop-up shows up after you spend 30 seconds on the page.

• Creating a quiz, survey, or contest that requires an email address to participate
• Asking for referrals from your existing customers or subscribers
• Promoting your email list on your social media channels, podcasts, or videos

Now, one of the most critical aspects of building an email list is ensuring you have your subscribers’ consent and that they can opt-out anytime.

Consent and opt-out options are not only ethical and respectful but also legal and mandatory.

Depending on where you and your email subscribers are located, you may need to comply with different email marketing laws and regulations, such as the CAN-SPAM Act and the GDPR.

One of the best ways to ensure that you have consent is to use a double opt-in process. This way, you can:

• Verify the email addresses on your email list
• Reduce the risk of spam complaints and bounce rates
• Increase the quality and engagement of your email list
• Improve your email deliverability and open rates
• Enhance your email marketing performance and ROI

You can also use an email marketing tool, such as AWeber or AWeber alternatives, to set up and implement a double opt-in process.

You should also provide an easy opt-out option for uninterested subscribers by adding an “unsubscribe link” in the footer of your emails.

Using these ethical practices, you can build an email list that converts.

2. Segment Your Email List for Better Personalization

After curating a high-quality email list, you want to segment your email list for better personalization. 

You can segment your email list into smaller groups based on certain criteria, such as:

• Demographics (such as age, gender, location, and income)
• Psychographics (such as interests, preferences, and values)
• Behavior (such as purchase history, website activity, and email engagement)
• Stages in the buyer’s journey (such as awareness, consideration, and decision)

Breaking your email list into segments allows you to tailor your email content and offers to the specific needs, wants, and pain points of each segment. 

This will increase the relevance and value of your email campaigns, improve your email marketing metrics, and increase customer loyalty.

3. Craft Engaging and Relevant Email Content

Once you have your email list ready, the next tip on how to use email marketing to grow your business is to craft engaging, relevant, and high-quality emails. 

Your email content consists of three key elements: the subject line, the body copy, and the call to action (CTA).

The subject line is the first thing your subscribers or email recipients see when your email pops up in their mailbox. It determines whether they will open your email, ignore it, or mark it as spam.

So, ensure your email subject line is catchy, relevant, and helpful. 

You can use various techniques to make your subject lines well-optimized, such as using numbers, questions, emojis, promotional content, curiosity, a sense of urgency, or benefits.

Here are two great examples of promotional emails with attention-grabbing subject lines.

Once you get your readers to open your mail, you want to ensure they read it through and take the desired action. As such, you must make your email headline and body copy captivating, persuasive, and valuable.

You can use power words, testimonials, statistics, humor, or stories to spice up your heading and compel readers to go through your email.

Here’s a great example of a catchy email title and body copy.

Image via Really Good Emails

Also, don’t forget to use bullet points, subheadings, images, or GIFs to break up your text and make it more appealing and easy to read.

Here’s a fun fact from Litmus about using GIFs in email marketing.

Image via Litmus

Finally, all the work you have put into crafting a compelling email thus far would be a waste if your CTA fails to compel readers to take action. As such, you want to make sure you are writing a clear and compelling call to action.

You can use various techniques to make your CTAs stand out, such as using buttons, contrasting colors, and whitespace.

Here’s an example of an email that ends with two simple CTA buttons that stand out within the email body.

Image via Really Good Emails

Does it seem like a lot of work?

You can always outsource email marketing to a professional to ensure your marketing emails are always on point and deliver great results.

4. Design Attractive and Responsive Email Templates

My fourth tip on how to use email marketing to grow your business is to design attractive and responsive email templates or use predesigned ones.

An email template is a basic framework for quickly creating on-brand emails. By creating templates for various types of branded emails, you can save a lot of time and effort.

These templates typically include a layout, brand elements like logos and colors, and other ready-to-use design elements.

You want your email template to be:

• Attractive and appealing: Achieve this by using a consistent and professional email design that matches your brand identity and personality
• Responsive and adaptable: This is achieved by using a mobile-friendly and cross-browser-compatible design that adjusts to different screen sizes and operating systems.
• Simple and clean: Achieve this by using a clear and balanced design that avoids clutter and distraction.
• Functional and accessible: Create a user-friendly and inclusive design that follows the best practices and standards for email accessibility.

Use an email template builder like Stripo, Constant Contact, or Unlayer to create and customize your email templates.

You can also use pre-designed or customizable templates to save time and effort.

5. Test and Optimize Your Email Campaigns

Tip five on using email marketing to grow your business is to test and optimize your email marketing campaigns.

You should know that what might work for one group of subscribers might flop for another. Testing and optimizing email campaigns can help you determine what works with your audience and why.

You can test and optimize various variables or elements of your email campaigns, such as:

• Subject lines
• Preheader texts
• Body copy
• Images
• Email signatures
• Calls to action
• Layouts
• Colors
• Fonts
• Timing
• Frequency

Now, the most common method of testing and optimization is A/B testing, which is a form of split testing.

A/B testing involves creating two versions of your email, each with one variable changed, and sending them to a random selection of your email subscribers.

Then, you compare the results, such as average open rates, click-through rates, or conversion rates, and select the better-performing email.

Image via Litmus

6. Automate Your Email Marketing Process

The next tip on this list on using email marketing to grow your business is to automate your email marketing process. Email marketing automation involves using technology to automate, streamline, or optimize your email marketing tasks or actions, such as:

• Sending emails at the right time and frequency
• Sending automated emails triggered by certain user actions 
• Sending emails to the right segments, groups, or individuals
• Sending the right email marketing content, format, or layout
• Sending transactional emails to the right audience

Automation can help your business save time, money, and resources, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve your marketing email results.

An email tool or software is a great way to introduce automation to your email marketing campaign. Email marketing software can help you automate and optimize your email marketing tasks, such as:

• Creating and designing your emails using drag-and-drop editors or email templates.
• Scheduling and sending your emails using timers, calendars, or autoresponders.
• Segmenting and personalizing your emails using filters, tags, or merge tags.
• Tracking and analyzing your emails using reports, dashboards, or analytics.
• Identifying the best time to send mass marketing emails.

7. Analyze and Optimize Your Campaigns

My final tip on how to use email marketing is to analyze the performance of and optimize your email campaigns constantly.

This can help you learn from your email marketing successes and failures. It can also help you identify opportunities for improvement and optimize your strategy.

You can analyze and optimize various metrics and indicators of your email marketing performance, such as:

• Delivery rate: The percentage of emails successfully delivered to your subscribers’ inboxes.
• Open rate: The percentage of emails that your subscribers opened.
• Click-through rate: The percentage of emails that received at least one click by your subscribers.
• Conversion rate: The percentage of emails that encouraged your subscribers to take a desired action, such as a purchase, a sign-up, or a download.
• Bounce rate: The percentage of emails rejected by your subscribers’ email servers, either temporarily (soft bounce) or permanently (hard bounce).
• Unsubscribe rate: The percentage of emails that caused your subscribers to opt out of your email list.
• Spam complaint rate: The percentage of emails marked as spam or junk by your subscribers.
• ROI: The ratio of the revenue your email campaigns generate to the cost invested in them.

Here’s a look at some of the most tracked email metrics, according to Litmus.

Image via Litmus

You can use email marketing service providers like GetResponse, Constant Contact, and Hubspot to track and measure your email marketing performance. 

You can also use web analytics tools, such as Google Analytics, to track and measure the traffic and conversions from your email campaigns.

Common Email Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

Even if you know how to use email marketing to grow your business, some common pitfalls can derail your campaign.

Here are some common email marketing mistakes you should avoid:

• Sending emails without permission: Always seek consent from your subscribers before sending them emails to prevent your emails from being marked as spam.
• Sending emails without a clear goal: Make sure you have specific and measurable email marketing goals for each campaign you run. Adopt the SMART guideline: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound to set clear goals.
• Sending emails without personalization: Always personalize your email content and offers based on your subscribers’ data and behavior so your email campaign doesn’t fail.
• Sending boring or poorly-crafted emails: Always make sure your emails are engaging and relevant to the intended target audience. Spruce your emails with infographics, compelling subject lines, GIFs, and other engaging elements.

Final Thoughts

Email marketing is one of the most profitable and powerful tactics for growing your business. By following the seven tips I’ve highlighted in this post, you can use email marketing to:

• Build a high-quality email marketing list and grow your customer base.
• Segment your email list for better personalization and customer targeting.
• Craft compelling and valuable content to attract potential customers and boost customer retention.
• Automate your marketing process to make your email campaign even more effective.
• And avoid the common pitfalls of email marketing.

However, email marketing is not a one-time or one-size-fits-all strategy. It is a continuous and dynamic process that requires constant testing, analysis, and optimization.

Therefore, you should always keep learning, experimenting, and improving your email marketing plans to stay ahead of the competition and meet the changing needs and expectations of your audience. Good luck!