As it is with every business, the most successful figures are those who distinguish themselves from the vast masses of their competitors. Pioneers in all fields emphasize consistent perseverance along with an open-minded attitude towards experimentation. While it is certainly useful to observe one’s field from an outside perspective and note the reliable business trends that are most commonly used, this should go hand in hand with a perspective that is constantly searching for new methods of growth that are firmly out of the traditional “box”. The field of email marketing is a particularly competitive one. Being such a progressive endeavor compared to most businesses, it’s also a field replete with dedicated professionals who are constantly searching for the next trend. This vast presence of driven competitors makes it all the more important for email marketers looking for maximum engagement from their consumers to pine for innovation in all of their ventures in order to stand out firmly from the crowd.
More Growth Means More Competition
As mentioned above, emailing is an ever-morphing, constantly growing field rooted in the internet, which is itself increasing exponentially in its capabilities. This means that email marketing only breeds immense competition, but that every competitor is faced with the constant reminder of the importance of innovation. Jess Nelson of MediaPost writes, “Email volume has grown 61% over the past two years, according to exclusive data from Adobe Campaign and Email On Acid, meaning that there is more competition for the inbox than ever before.”
Be Mindful of Timing
As with every business endeavor, timing is absolutely crucial when it comes to magnifying results. More specifically in this regard, the time of day and week that your emails are sent out will largely affect your customer engagement. Note consumer reading trends, factor them into your emailing method, and you’ll observe concrete results. “Subscribers are most likely to delete or skim emails sent at 9:00am in the morning, perhaps because their inbox is flooded at the beginning of a workday,” writes Nelson. “The least amount of email volume is sent on Sundays, but that is actually the day of the week that has the highest open rates.”
Engage Both Mobile and Desktop
Being a field that was originally harvested through desktops, email marketers must constantly factor mobile into their campaigns. Although most consumers sort through their emails through their mobile devices, this does not imply that successful marketers should focus solely on mobile and abandon desktop. Although it can be a challenging concept to keep in mind, best results will come from finding a happy medium between both platforms. “The majority of opens are on mobile devices, but mobile has the least conversions,” says CEO and co-founder of Email on Acid John Thies. “People are coming back and re-engaging with the campaign from their desktop computer.” Thies goes on to stress the pertinence of limiting engagement fatigue and duplicate emails, instead formulating content that attract all subscribers, both mobile and desktop.
Don’t Overwhelm Your Subscribers
All consumers are extremely adept at sensing when marketers are overdoing it. While it’s important to keep a consistent flow of interaction between you and your subscribers, it’s worth noting that an over-engagement will most likely produce results opposite of what you’re going for. “It’s worth noting how overwhelmed people are with email,” According to Kristin Naragon, director of email solutions at Adobe Campaign: “It’s worth noting how overwhelmed people are with email. Unsubscribing is the most frequent thing people do to manage their inbox, especially during the holiday season.”
