Expertise

What is lifecycle email marketing?

Lifecycle email marketing is the act of segmenting your email subscribers based on where they are in the customer lifecycle. 

The customer lifecycle is the set of stages your customers go through, from when they first hear about your brand to making a purchase and everything in between. 

The stages of  the customer lifecycle are typically known as:

• Awareness
• Consideration
• Conversion
• Retention

A survey conducted by Econsultancy found that 74% of marketers experienced an increase in their overall customer engagement rates when using targeted emails. While there are many ways of segmenting your audience, lifecycle email marketing stands out as one of the most effective strategies allowing businesses to send highly relevant content that moves readers to the next stage in the customer lifecycle ending in ideally, unbound brand loyalty. 

Mapping Out Your Lifecycle Email Marketing Key Stages

Lifecycle email marketing is all about customizing emails for each customer’s depending on their familiarity with your brand. Before you can jump in, you’ll need to map out your customer lifecycle stages. The stages are similar for most businesses but they can vary based on the type of product or service you offer or your industry. 

The most common stages within lifecycle email marketing are:

• Awareness: In email marketing, this is when someone first signs up for your email newsletter. 
• Consideration: This subscriber has become highly engaged in your welcome series emails and has a desire to learn more. 
• Conversion: This is when the subscriber has completed the desired action. 
• Retention: Once a customer has completed the desired action, it’s important to keep them engaged in your brand to encourage a repeat conversion. 
• Advocacy or referral: In this stage, you want to encourage them to share their experience with the brand through word of mouth of leaving testimonials. 
• Re-engagement: After a while, subscribers may experience email fatigue and stop engaging with your brand altogether.
  

As mentioned, these are some of the most common stages of lifecycle email marketing and this might look differently for you. We suggest diving into user behavior, patterns, and data to better understand your customer base and how they move through the lifecycle. 

Getting started with lifecycle email marketing

As mentioned above, your lifecycle email marketing stages may differ depending on your business and industry. Here are some key considerations that will help shape what your cycle looks like. 

Step 1: Understanding your customer lifecycle

We suggest diving deep into user behavior, patterns, and data to better understand your customer base and how they move through the lifecycle. Start by analyzing how your customers first discover your brand, what keeps them engaged, and the touchpoints that lead to conversion.

Look at the entire journey, from initial awareness to post-purchase behavior, and identify key stages where customers might drop off or need extra engagement.

By understanding these nuances, you can tailor your email campaigns to meet your customers' needs at each stage, ensuring a more personalized and effective approach.

Step 2: Audit your existing email karketing

Take a look at your recent email marketing and take stock of what stages you’re nurturing most and which ones may not be targeted as well. You might find that you’ve been sending plenty of emails for the conversion stage but not enough for retention, or maybe you haven’t sent any emails directly for the advocacy and referral stages. 

Identifying gaps like these can show you where to be more focused and strategic in your email marketing moving forward.

Building out your lifecycle emails

Awareness

Customers in the awareness stage are just learning about and getting familiar with your brand. Your goal in this stage is to build a relationship with the customer, introduce them to your products or services, and tell them what you’re all about. 

This is when customers decide whether your brand is a good fit for them (think of it as a first date between your brand and the customer), so it’s important that you make a positive and authentic first impression.

A welcome email to those signing up for your mailing list is an excellent opportunity to make a strong impression and build familiarity. It’s also a great time to send emails highlighting your brand story, mission statements, and other introductions to your brand.

Consideration

In the consideration stage, customers decide whether your business is the right fit for them and compare it to similar solutions. At this stage, you want to compellingly show them what you have to offer and how you stand out.

One way this manifests is through comprehensive emails on your products or services. This means highlighting key benefits, features, and use cases. This is also a great place to show vs. tell. Include animations, videos, and gifs that easily illustrate the value you bring. 

Conversion

In this stage, a potential customer is on the verge of taking action. Emails in the conversion stage significantly influence that decision to buy. 

Personalized special offers can resonate really well with recipients as they can be tailored to their specific needs and interests. This can look like offering deals on items they’ve recently viewed on your website or first-time purchase discounts. 

Retention

This stage is where brand loyalty blossoms. Engaging customers beyond the initial conversion is crucial for retention and repeat purchases. During this stage, you can send service or product announcement emails to regularly communicate what’s new with your offer. A monthly or weekly newsletter is also a great way to keep your audience up to date on your brand’s activities and encourage them to explore other resources you may offer. 

Regardless, the emails you send at this stage should be strengthening and affirming the customer’s connection with your brand.

Advocacy

When a customer has developed trust in your brand and offer, they start recommending your brand or organization to others. Referrals are the one most effective way B2B businesses acquire new customers, and according to Nielsen, people are four times more likely to buy a product if they’re referred by a friend. 

When a customer is in the advocacy stage, you’ll want to send them review requests to encourage them to post testimonials, as well as educate them about any referral incentives you have.

Re-engagement

This is a period when your brand has fallen off their radar—they haven’t necessarily decided to stop following you, but they’re not actively interested in your services, products, or messaging. To continue to remain top of mind, we suggest doing regular re-engagement campaigns.

These types of emails could include special incentives like an exclusive discount, or simply “we’ve missed you” emails to show them what’s new. This is a good time to also reiterate the benefits of your offer as they pertain to their unique interest and preferences.

Best practices for lifecycle email marketing

Here are some best practices we recommend to ensuring that your lifecycle email marketing is optimized to build lasting relationships with your customers and drive ongoing engagement.

Segment your audience

The core of lifecycle email marketing is identifying what stage the individual is at any given time. Specifically for lifecycle email marketing, you'll want to segment your audience based on behaviours. This could include purchase history, website interactions, email engagement, or product usage. Patterns in these areas will help you best determine where to place an individual in the lifecycle stages.

Create personal and relevant content

Once you have an understanding of your users behaviours and patterns, use this to personalize your emails. Address recipients by their names, recommend products based on their past purchases, and tailor content to their preferences.

Ensure your emails provide value to your customers that helps move them to the next stage. Offer exclusive discounts, share useful tips, and provide relevant updates.

Timing and frequency

For lifecycle emails timing is crucial. Set up automated emails that are triggered by specific actions, such as welcome emails for new subscribers, cart abandonment reminders, and post-purchase follow-ups. These timely emails can significantly enhance engagement and conversions.

Monitor and measuring success

Along the way, make sure you’re tracking your metrics for each lifecycle stage to see how successful you are in moving folks through the customer lifecycle. Use these insights to refine your strategies and improve your overall strategy.

Testing

You can also conduct A/B tests to see how different email content, subject lines, and other details perform for people in specific lifecycle stages. For example, in your segment of customers who are in the consideration stage, run a test where half of them get an email every two days while the other half get an email every four days and see which group tends to engage more or convert more. This can tell you how frequently to send emails to this segment.

Just make sure you’re comparing apples to apples by comparing the two email versions for the same lifecycle segment, because customers in different lifecycle stages could have different reactions to the same email version.

Ensure brand consistency

Consistent branding helps recipients quickly recognize your emails, which builds trust and familiarity. According to a study conducted by Edelman, "81% of buyers need to trust a brand in order to buy from them," making trust and familiarity two crucial elements of efficient lifecycle email marketing.

Additionally, consistent branding helps differentiate your brand from competitors. This is crucial in the consideration stage to ensure you remain top of mind.

Designing emails for each stage of your lifecycle email marketing

The tips and strategies above can help you get started with lifecycle email marketing, but the success of your campaigns will also depend on how well you design and target your emails for specific stages and audiences.

That’s where Beefree can help. Our extensive email template library includes templates for many different types of emails that align with each lifecycle stage, and our easy HTML email editor lets you seamlessly customize them for your audiences.

You’ll be able to incorporate all the elements of your brand identity which helps you create brand recognition and build brand loyalty throughout every stage of the lifecycle. Interested in seeing how these templates can make your lifecycle email marketing simpler? Sign up for Beefree and start exploring.

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According to Gitnux’s MarketData Report 2024, 16% of all US email users use Outlook as their primary email provider, ranking Outlook among the most widely used email platforms in the country. 

With over 400 million users worldwide, the chances that your emails will land in an Outlook inbox are high if you're an email marketer. With this in mind, it’s important to acknowledge Outlook’s capabilities and limitations to build emails that render well for every recipient. 

Understanding Outlook's HTML design limitations

Despite its popularity, Outlook is primarily used for day-to-day communications between colleagues rather than mass marketing campaigns. Because of this, Outlook has a few limitations when it comes to rendering HTML emails, for instance: 
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Some of the most prominent rendering issues with Outlook Web or App include: 

• Gifs rendering with a play icon over the GIF
• Fonts not matching 
• Additional spaces in the layout 
• Icons stacking on top of one another or misaligned
• Mismatching background images 
• Misalignment across email elements 

These limitations mean that regardless of how much time is spent on creating the most engaging and on-brand email, Outlook may deliver a different outcome to recipients, affecting your email’s readability and impact.

While we recommend opting out of using Outlook as a sending platform and using a professional solution such as HubSpot and Mailchimp, we understand this is not always feasible.

Many email marketers who rely on Outlook have found creative approaches to address its rendering limitations, typically opting for either image-based emails or maximizing the impact of text-only emails. When it comes to HTML emails, while challenging, they remain a viable option for those willing to navigate Outlook’s quirks and optimize their designs accordingly.

Best practices for designing Outlook-friendly HTML email templates

You have two options for creating an HTML email template for Outlook. The first involves manually writing the HTML code with CSS and then saving the email as an Outlook template. While this approach doesn't require additional software tools, it can be time-consuming and requires CSS expertise.

Alternatively, you can use an external email design tool such as Beefree to create your HTML email template. This method is more user-friendly and efficient since it eliminates the need for CSS knowledge and manual coding.

Regardless of which option you opt for, here are some best practices to follow:

• Simplicity is key: Design simple, single-column designs. Complex layouts, while engaging, may not render correctly. 
  
  
• Use tables for the layout structure: Experiment with tables to ensure your design elements stay in their intended position, helping to tackle Outlook's misalignment issue. 

• Use inline CSS: If possible, embed inline CSS directly within your HTML elements to control formatting and layout; this will help minimize Outlook’s limited support for external and embedded stylesheets.
  
  
• Use web-safe fonts: Arial, Times New Roman, or Verdana are all safe bests when designing for Outlook.
  
  
• Alt text: Because Outlook blocks images by default, be sure to always include alt text for images to ensure accessibility but also to ensure that the lack of images doesn’t leave out important context from your emails. 

Designing HTML email templates in Outlook with Beefree

When designing HTML email templates that perform well in Outlook, leveraging the right tools can significantly simplify the process and ensure adherence to best practices.
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Beefree stands out as a versatile platform that not only facilitates creative email design but also supports the specific requirements of Outlook rendering, for instance:

• Designing for simplicity: Beefree’s drag-and-drop functionality allows for the easy creation of single-column layouts. Within Beefree, users can easily customize the alignment, spacing, height, and more of emails for mobile and desktop, ensuring a cohesive experience across multiple devices.
  
  
• Web-safe fonts: Within Beefree, you can set web-safe fonts as your default to ensure the consistent rendering of fonts across all email clients, especially Outlook.
  
  
• Alt text: This can be powered manually or via our AI integration. 
  
  
• Responsive design: While Outlook lacks robust support for responsive design, Beefree enables users to create mobile-friendly email templates through fluid layouts and scalable elements. This ensures that your emails adapt to different screen sizes and devices, enhancing user experience regardless of how recipients access their emails through Outlook.

Before finalizing your email designs, it's essential to conduct thorough testing to ensure they render correctly across different versions of Outlook. We recommend using Beefree’s preview feature to see how your emails appear in various screen sizes. We also recommend sending a test email to multiple Outlook recipients to help you identify any rendering discrepancies between Beefree and Outlook.

While we’d like to guarantee that Beefree will render emails 100% as intended,  it's important to remember that Outlook is an email client rather than a sending platform. As a result, it may ignore, remove, or alter HTML elements from our code. This can cause rendering issues that we can't resolve. Keep in mind that the more complex your design is, the more likely you are to experience rendering issues with Outlook.

Familiarize yourself with our Outlook rendering considerations: 

• Outlook App: https://support.beefree.io/hc/en-us/articles/18904867308818-Exporting-to-Outlook-App#h_01HZ0G5V4RXFPAW35S17P6KBBA 
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• Outlook Web: https://support.beefree.io/hc/en-us/articles/11964534263442-Exporting-to-Outlook-com#01H3WEHFRX79TRG6JSVW69HA0Z 

Embedding Outlook HTML email templates

Once your email is designed in Beefree following the best practices addressed above, you can easily export to Outlook Web or Outlook App.

Outlook Web
Connect Beefree to your Outlook Web account before designing or after completion.  Directly from the builder or via the Email Details page, click “Push to your sending system.” Within seconds, the email will be saved as a new template and appear in your Outlook account.

To learn more about how to complete the integration process, visit: https://support.beefree.io/hc/en-us/articles/11964534263442-Exporting-to-Outlook-com

For a step-by-step process:

Outlook Web and corporate email accounts
If you’re exporting emails designed in Beefree to your Outlook corporate business account, follow the same steps as above.

When integrating Beefree with an Outlook corporate account, you may encounter a message indicating that approval or authorization is required for the connection to succeed. To proceed, you will need to obtain the necessary approvals or modify your Outlook Web business account permissions settings to ensure a successful connection. Outlook App
The Outlook App integration with Beefree allows you to download your email designs as OFT and EMLTPL files that you can then upload into your Outlook App. To download the files, take the following steps:

1. Navigate to the email design you’d like to export.
2. Make and save any changes you’d like prior to exporting your design.
3. Select Push to your sending system.
4. Click the Outlook App connector.
5. You will be prompted to Download the Outlook App.
6. Select Download for Windows if you’d like an OFT file or Download for macOS if you’d like an EMLTPL file.

To learn more about how to complete the integration process and import HTML, watch the following video:

Or visit: https://support.beefree.io/hc/en-us/articles/11964534263442-Exporting-to-Outlook-com

Ready to start designing Outlook-friendly emails?

Whether you're navigating Outlook's rendering quirks or aiming to enhance engagement through responsive designs, Beefree is an intuitive solution that ensures your messages resonate effectively across Outlook versions and devices. 

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Start designing now - it’s free!

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If you haven’t started exploring AI and how it can impact your content and email marketing, it may be time to join the club. According to HubSpot’s State of Generative AI survey, 82% of marketers report that generative AI has changed how they create content. 

Today’s artificial intelligence can be an influential asset in your email marketing. From creating personalized content to delivering next-level data analysis, AI can support every step of your email creation process.

Understanding AI in email marketing

As AI capabilities expand, the societal perception that AI will eliminate jobs grows. While it is true that AI can transform an email marketing program, allowing for more efficiency, it isn’t a replacement for your email marketing team. 

Instead, AI-powered solutions are power tools to enhance your team's ability to create more engaging, effective, and high-performing campaigns. Additionally, for small teams with limited resources, AI makes email marketing more accessible and allows larger teams to scale production. 

How are email marketers leveraging AI?

Influencer Marketing Hub shows that 63% of marketers are currently using AI in their email marketing. While AI is mainly known for its content optimization capabilities - there are various other ways marketers can harness the power of AI, unlocking its full potential: 

• Automation: AI tools can automate routine and repetitive tasks. For instance, when folks sign up for your newsletter, AI can manage those new contacts and segment them to receive an onboarding email sequence.
  
  
• Personalization: According to Campaign Monitor, personalization can increase email marketing revenue by 760%. AI can spot patterns in customers’ activity and use these to personalize their emails, such as sending them content about a topic or product they’ve been viewing on your site or product recommendations based on their browsing history. 

• Analytics and insights: AI is excellent at gathering and analyzing data for insights that will help you improve your future campaigns. For example, it can identify the best times to send emails to particular customers, increasing engagement. 

• Segmentation: Dividing your mailing list into segments based on customer behaviors and patterns is crucial when sending targeted campaigns to customers. AI can help by picking up patterns and creating segments based on these patterns, allowing you to send relevant content to the right people.

Challenges and considerations of AI

As much potential benefit as AI has for email marketing, no change comes without its challenges. Some challenges to consider are: 

• Data privacy concerns: Data privacy is always concerning when using third-party solutions. Given that AI handles large volumes of personal data, it is vital to ensure that the solutions you onboard comply with regulations such as GDPR and CCPA. Additionally, communicate these changes to users, updating your terms of use and privacy policy to promote transparency. 
  
  
• Errors: Because AI is driven by the data it is trained on, errors or biased outcomes are possible. However, we believe this to be true without AI as well. It is important always to have multiple steps of quality control and assurance and to fine-tune AI prompts to avoid biased responses.
  
  
• Loss of human touch: As mentioned earlier, AI is not meant to replace email marketers but to support them. Regarding email marketing, a human touch and a conversational tone are crucial for engagement, something AI simply can’t achieve alone.

How to get started using AI in email marketing

With all the potential AI has in your email marketing, if you haven’t tried it out yet, now is the time.

1. Audit your email marketing process, jotting down areas of opportunity.  As interesting as AI advancement is, it is not necessary to use AI simply for the sake of using new technology. Once you clearly understand your current email marketing process, you can identify specific areas where AI can enhance your efforts. 

2. Make small but measurable changes. Compare performance between AI strategies and manual strategies. For example, send out two campaign versions, one with AI-generated content and the other with content you created without AI, to see which one performs better. Use these results to determine where AI can make a practical, profitable difference.
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3. Identify the most repetitive or time-consuming aspects of your email marketing. Automating these tasks with AI can significantly improve efficiency and free up valuable time for more strategic activities. Use this list to help you find the right tools. 

AI email marketing tools

With over 70,000 AI businesses worldwide and 42% of companies exploring how to integrate AI, it’s easy to get overwhelmed - so where do you start? Here is a roundup of some of the top AI solutions allowing marketers to optimize their email operations: 

• Grammarly: This solution needs no explanation. Grammarly is a leading AI-powered copy editor helping marketers create clear, concise, and error-free messaging. 

• ChatGPT: The tool that changed the AI game. ChatGPT serves as a solution for ideating, writing, and proofreading copy for marketers. Many tools, such as Beefree, have integrated ChatGPT into their product, empowering users with a built-in AI assistant for all content needs. 

• Phrasee: This tool analyzes past data and uses it to predict and optimize messaging to increase “performance, conversion, and ROI.”
  

• Seventh Sense: Seventh Sense analyzes when your recipients open and click emails, spotting patterns and then automating your email send times to send emails to individual recipients when they’re most likely to open them.
  
  

A new generation of email marketing with AI

The power of AI in email marketing is undeniable. For email marketers, AI solutions can help create more relevant, timely, and stronger customer relationships, inevitably driving higher conversion rates. However, the adoption of AI shouldn’t be just for adoption sake. 

At Beefree, we take pride in slow progress that helps solve users' most prevalent needs. Our implementation of the AI copy Assistant has helped Beefree users save time juggling from tool to tool and optimize email content directly in-app. This is how we recommend you embrace AI, making perhaps small but meaningful changes in your process that allow you to stay ahead in this new, fast-paced era of email marketing. 

If you’re ready to optimize your email marketing efforts and try AI, consider trying Beefree—after all, it’s free! 

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While new marketing platforms pop up everyday, marketers are not tossing email to the side. While some claim that Gen Zers don’t use email and refer to other platforms such as TikTok and Instagram to make purchases,  a recent poll by Media Post reports 53% of Gen Zers still enjoy getting weekly emails from their favorite brands.

‍Jennifer Harmon, Content Strategist and Creator of Convince & Convert, confirms that email marketing is likely to only become more important as changes continue to happen with paid media, cookies, and permissions.

With a ROI of $36 for every dollar spent and 79% of marketers naming email as one of their top effective channels, the idea that email is dead is ... well, dead.

The continuing dominance of email marketing

It isn’t luck or routine that keeps email marketing alive and thriving, but rather it's unique advantages:

• Unparalleled reach: Email marketing provides a direct channel to connect with vast audiences worldwide. With an expected 4.73 billion email users by 2026, marketers can leverage automation tools to send personalized emails at optimal times regardless of geographical boundaries or time zones.
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• Personalization at scale: In addition to being able to reach audiences far and wide, email marketing allows marketers to personalize messages at scale. With segmentation and automation tools, personalization requires minimal manual intervention - a benefit not offered by other digital platforms.

• Cost-effective growth: Unlike other marketing methods that may require investment in print materials or ads, email campaigns can be executed at a fraction of the cost. As the audience base grows, With the right tools, marketers can easily scale email production as their audience base growth.
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Key trends shaping the future of email marketing

As we delve into the growing need for marketers to not only catch the attention of their audiences but also to connect and drive conversions, there are three key trends shaping the future of email marketing:

AI-driven personalization

‍According to Hubspot, segmented emails have 30% more opens and 50% more clickthroughs than general emails send to your mass audience. The need for segmenting and personalization aren’t new but the way we approach them is.

AI today is used as a power tool to collect relevant data about users. For instance, it can use customers’ purchase history or viewing history to email them personalized product recommendations. This is increasingly important, with 71% of consumers now expecting personalized interactions from brands, but it is only the tip of the iceberg.
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63% of marketers of marketers leverage AI to help them get more done, faster. ChatGPT or bullt-in AI solutions tools like Beefree’s AI copy assistant make it easier to find the right messaging for email campaigns, by optimizing existing copy or tailoring copy to unique audiences they might not know much of yet.

Interactive email experiences

Interactive email content achieves 73% higher click-to-open rates, according to Martech Advisor. Interactive email content includes surveys, polls, carousels, gamification elements, and more. Email builders and third-party solutions have made integrating such content easier than ever allowing the every-day marketer to up their email content without the need for developers.

Microinteraction such as small animations or a CTA hover are growing in popularity.These small elements make an mundane task such as reading emails, an interactive experience.

Navigating the challenges and seizing opportunities

While innovation brings a world of possibilities, it also brings a few challenges for marketers. The rapid pace of emerging trends and their life cycle makes it hard for marketers to quickly adopt and stay ahead of the competition without causing email fatigue. Additionally, as highlighted by Norton, 69% of users are more concerned than ever about their data privacy, which in turn makes them more wary of what they engage with.

Email fatigue

Frequent emails result in email fatigue leading to reduced engagement rates, or worse case scenario an increase in unsubscribe rates. To combat this, it's crucial to strike the right balance in email frequency to your industry and audience. While finding the the right frequency is not a one size fits all, we recommend auditing your emails sends.

Start small with sending the right emails at the right time like when a user first subscribers or completes a desired action. Slowly integrate additional content and test its performance. Each email should serve a specific purpose and provide valuable and relevant content, this is where segmentation and AI-driven personalization becomes your best friend.

‍Privacy concerns

While for marketers the ability to collect a wide range of data on user demographics and behaviours is gold, for users this brings concerns. Marketers can mitigate these concerns by making consent and transparency regarding data collection and usage easily understood with an option to opt-out. Not only does this allow users to make informed decisions, but in the long term allows for increased trust and loyalty.

AI biases

While biases is not exclusive to AI, the rise of Artificial Intelligence has brought this concern to the forefront of marketer's mind.

Because AI is influenced by the historic data it processes and individual prompts, it may inadvertently perpetuate responses based on stereotypes and biases patterns. This can lead to content that is skewed and alienates certain segments of the audience.

Much like anything else that is public facing, we recommend implementing internal process to detect biases. This may mean having a review process in place to cross-reference AI outcomes with multiple folks with different background and experiences. Another suggestion is to regularly audit AI prompts keeping diversity and inclusivity top of mind to ensure fairness and accuracy.

Beyond the inbox: Integrating email marketing with other digital marketing strategies

As valuable as email marketing is, 72% of customers say they prefer to engage with brands through multiple channels. By coordinating email marketing efforts with other channels, marketers can build engaging and cohesive experiences for customers. In the same way that all conversations with a friend feel the same - whether they’re in person, over text, or on the phone - a holistic digital marketing strategy allows marketers to create space for immersive interactions that meet customers where they're at.

The future of email marketing lies in its integration with other marketing channels. Some standout ways to do this include:

• Landing pages: For marketers, landing pages helps lead customers to take a desired action, increase conversion. For users, this cohesive integration offers a smooth transition from email to a browsing experience where they can find more information that helps them make educated decisions.
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• Social media: Marketers can leverage the power of social sharing, UGC, and email marketing to amplify their reach and establish a balance of nurturing new and existing audiences. For customers, this means a seamless way to engage with one brand regardless of the channel they prefer, fostering a sense of community.
  
• Content marketing and SEO: Email campaigns can drive traffic to valuable content resources, such as blog posts, whitepapers, videos, and infographics. For customers, this means having an easy way to acquire new knowledge and interact with the brands they love.
  

Embracing the future of email marketing

Change is inevitable in all aspects of life and marketing is no exception, but this doesn’t mean you need to throw out your old playbook. Rather, it's about recognizing how the landscape if evolving and adapting. As mentioned today, some of the key areas driving the future of email marketing include AI and automation, multichannel marketing, and the emphasis on enhanced interactivity. While these might seem like heavy strategies to implement, know that you don't have to do it alone.
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At Beefree, we're dedicated to empowering marketers with the tools and resources needed to thrive in this dynamic environment. Our intuitive HTML email builder, AI copy assistant, and wide range of email and landing page templates support marketers in the search of innovative solutions to respond to the shift in the market's need.

To find out more, sign up for Beefree today!

Diving into the world of email marketing? You're in for an exciting ride! Crafting the perfect email campaign is an art, blending strategy, design, and an understanding of human behavior. While that sounds intimidated, fret not.

Whether you're a newbie or a seasoned marketer, this guide is your golden ticket. We'll walk you through the ins and outs of creating email marketing campaigns that not only captivate but also convert. Ready to boost those conversions? Let's get started!

What is an email marketing campaign?

Think of an email marketing campaign as a way to connect with new and existing customers. It is how businesses, big or small, connect with their audience, share valuable content, and encourage their readers to take action. Whether that be to make a purchase, go to a landing page, or simply to engage with the email content.

Benefits of email marketing campaigns

A study by the Data & Marketing Association found that for every $1 spent on email marketing, the average return on investment (ROI) is $42. Not only is email an cost-effective way to market your products and services, but they are great in building lasting connections with your audiences, regardless of which phase in your lifecycle they live in. Here are some benefits of creating email marketing campaigns to nurture your audience:

• Awareness Stage: Become a familiar face to those who might not know you yet. Introduce your brand, our products or services. This is a great place to set a welcome series once someone subscribed to your list. Email campaigns at this stage help with brand recognition.
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• Consideration Stage: Once your new audience becomes acquainted with your brand, they might start looking to you to help meet their needs. If you're a SaaS platform, this is a great time to send product tutorials or share case studies and testimonials. Campaigns at this stage help to increase traffic to your website and help to nurture your audience to eventually become paying customers! 

• Decision Stage: Once a subscriber becomes familiar with your product and how exactly you can help them meet their needs, you're a solid contender. This is where email campaigns serve as a way to show why you are a better solution and help differentiate you from the competition. Consider sending exclusive discounts, free demos, or limited-time offers to incentivize action.
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• Retention and Advocacy Stage: Once a subscriber turns into a customer, it's time to build a long time relationship! Send thank you emails to express gratitude for their purchase. Additionally, you can send additional support or resources to enhance their overall experience. Email campaigns in this stage encourage repeat customers and build brand loyalty.

10 Steps to creating an effective email marketing campaign

Embarking on an email marketing journey? Perfect! Crafting a high-converting email marketing campaign might seem daunting, but with the right steps, it's a breeze. Let's walk you through the ten steps of this journey, ensuring you're on the right track from the get-go.

Step 1: Set clear campaign goals

According to the Content Marketing Institute, 62% of the most successful content marketers have a documented strategy, whereas only 16% of the least successful have one. Before you even type out that first email, it's important to know where you're headed. Setting clear, actionable goals for your campaign is the foundation of any successful marketing campaign.

Whether you're aiming to boost lead generation, ramp up sales, or simply engage more with your audience, having a defined goal will guide your strategy and content.

Think of it as your email marketing compass – without it, you might find yourself lost in the vast sea of content possibilities.

Step 2: Select your email marketing campaign type

Once you've set your goals, it's time to plan how to achieve them.

This is where selecting the right type of email campaign comes into play. Your campaign type should align seamlessly with your goals. For instance, if your goal is to welcome new subscribers, an onboarding email series would be your best bet. Take a look at some of these example email campaigns below:

• Onboarding Emails: Perfect for introducing new subscribers to your brand.
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• Promotional Campaigns: Ideal for showcasing new products, services, or special deals.
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• Re-engagement Emails: Great for reigniting the spark with subscribers who've been a tad inactive.

By aligning your campaign type with your goals, you're setting the stage for a more focused and effective email marketing strategy.

Step 3: Understand your audience

Understanding who you're sending your email campaign to isn't just about knowing their email addresses. Instead, it's about diving deep into the data to identify their preferences, needs, and behaviors. Tailoring your campaigns to resonate with specific audience segments can skyrocket engagement. 

For instance, if you're a clothing brand and notice a group of subscribers frequently shopping for activewear, why not send them a curated campaign on your latest gym gear? By tuning into their interests, you're not just sending emails; you're sending value.

Here are some additional strategies and examples to consider:

• Segmentation: Divide your email list based on specific criteria like purchase history, location, or engagement level. For a tech store, you might have segments like "Gadget Enthusiasts" or "Home Office Tech Lovers."
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• Personalized Recommendations: If you're a bookstore and notice a subscriber frequently buying mystery novels, send them an email highlighting the latest releases in that genre.
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• Special Offers: For a beauty brand, if a segment of your audience often buys skincare products, offer them an exclusive discount on a new skincare range.
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• Feedback Loops: Send out surveys or feedback forms. If a segment of your audience expresses interest in eco-friendly products, launch a campaign showcasing your sustainable range.
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• Behavioral Triggers: If a subscriber often abandons their cart, send them a personalized reminder with a special offer to complete their purchase.

By truly understanding and catering to the unique interests of your audience segments, you're crafting experiences, building trust, and most importantly, ensuring you stay in the minds of your customers.

Step 4: Plan your email schedule

Flooding your subscribers with daily emails might seem like a good idea at first, but let's be real – no one likes an overstuffed inbox. It's all about finding that sweet spot. By planning out an email schedule, you're ensuring that you pop up in their inbox just enough to be remembered, but not too much that you become that annoying friend.

Now, when plotting out that schedule, put yourself in your subscribers' shoes. Think about their time zones – no one wants a 3 AM email alert. Consider their daily routines – are they morning email checkers or evening readers? And of course, tailor your content to fit the moment. A weekend might be perfect for a leisurely read, while a quick mid-week offer might be more apt for a Tuesday.

Oh, and speaking of tailoring content, those follow-up emails? Pure gold. Imagine your subscriber eyeing a product, adding it to their cart, but then getting distracted. A gentle reminder, like "Hey, you left something behind!", can be the nudge they need to complete the purchase. It's these little touches that can boost your conversion rates sky-high.

Step 5: Consider automation

With email automation tools, you can set up your emails and follow-ups to be sent out at specific times, ensuring you never miss a beat. Beyond just timing, these tools can craft personalized email journeys for each subscriber based on their actions.

Imagine a subscriber browsing through a product but not making a purchase. Automation can swoop in with a tailored email nudging them to revisit. Or if someone just made their first purchase, why not send them a warm welcome email? It's all about ensuring every email feels like it's been handcrafted just for them, based on their actions and preferences.

Step 6: Create attention-grabbing subject lines

Let's face it; we all judge emails by their subject lines. It's the first thing your subscribers see, and it can make or break their decision to open your email. Crafting a compelling subject line is like creating a movie trailer—it should give a hint of what's inside without giving everything away. 

For instance, instead of "Sale on Shoes," how about "Step Up Your Shoe Game: Exclusive Sale Inside!"? A sprinkle of curiosity, a dash of excitement, and you've got yourself a winning subject line.

Here are some tips and tricks to master the art of subject line creation:

• Use Power Words: Words like "Exclusive," "Limited," or "Unlock" can add a sense of urgency or exclusivity.
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• Ask a Question: "Ready for Summer?" or "Looking for the Perfect Gift?" can engage the reader's mind instantly.
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• Keep it Short and Sweet: With many people checking emails on mobile, a concise subject line ensures your entire message is visible.

• Personalize: Including the subscriber's name or a recent purchase can make the email feel tailored just for them: "John, Ready for Round Two of Our Bestsellers?"
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• Use Emojis Wisely: A well-placed emoji can make your email stand out, but ensure it aligns with your brand and message.
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• Create a Sense of Mystery: "You Won't Believe What's Inside!" can pique curiosity and drive opens.

And always remember, testing is your best friend. A/B test different subject lines to see what resonates best with your audience. By blending creativity with strategy, your subject lines won't just be read; they'll be remembered.

Step 7: Craft engaging email copy

You've got them to open the email with that killer subject line, now it's showtime! Crafting engaging email copy is all about speaking directly to your audience's needs and interests. Remember our chat about understanding your audience? This is where it pays off. 

If you know your subscribers love eco-friendly products, highlight that in your copy. "Sustainably made, just for you!" or "Eco-chic picks you'll adore!" are just a couple of ways to resonate.

The copy is a perfect dance of information and allure. You copy should tell a story that doesn't just inform but truly captivates and guides your reader through the email with ease.

PRO Tip: Adding language from your customers via testimonial is a perfect way to tell a story and show your readers the value that you offer.

Step 8: Nail Your email design

While words can paint a picture, the design brings it to life. A well-designed email isn't just about looking pretty; it's about creating an experience for your subscribers. Think bold colors, captivating images, and intuitive layouts. For instance, a CTA button that pops or an interactive carousel showcasing your products can elevate the user experience. 

With tools like Beefree, a no-code HTML email builder and a range of templates, you can craft stunning emails in no time at all.

Step 9: Test and optimize

Once you've crafted your emails, it's time to ensure its effectiveness.

By A/B testing different versions of your email, be it the subject line, design, or copy, you can pinpoint what resonates most with your audience. 

Monitor the results, analyze, and optimize for future campaigns. It's all about that continuous cycle of learning and improving. After all, the email marketing world is ever-evolving, and staying ahead of the curve ensures your campaigns remain top-notch.

Imagine you're launching a new product, and you've designed two potential email campaigns to announce it. One email has a subject line that reads, "Introducing Our Latest Innovation!" and the other says, "You Asked, We Listened: Meet Our New Product!" Which one will drive more opens? Which copy will lead to more clicks? 

Start by sending the two versions to a small segment of your audience. Monitor which one gets better engagement. Is it the direct announcement or the one that hints at customer feedback? Once you've gathered enough data, send the winning version to your entire list.

It's not about guessing; it's about making data-driven decisions. By continuously testing and iterating, you ensure that every email you send is optimized for success.

Step 10: Don't stop building your email list

You've got your goals and campaign type down, but who are you sending these emails to? Enter the importance of building a robust email list. Think of it as gathering an audience for your grand performance. A well-curated email list ensures that your content reaches people genuinely interested in what you have to offer. 

A quick tip? Offer value! Whether it's an exclusive discount, a handy e-book, or a sneak peek into upcoming products, give your audience a reason to share their email. Remember, quality over quantity is the name of the game here.

Here are some more actionable tips that you can take to grow your email list:

• Offer Value: People love perks! Whether it's an exclusive discount, a valuable e-book, or early access to a new product, give them a compelling reason to hit that 'subscribe' button.
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• Engage on Social Media: Use your platforms to promote sign-ups. A captivating post about an upcoming newsletter can pique interest.
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• Host Webinars or Events: These can be a goldmine for collecting emails. Attendees are already interested in your content, making them prime candidates for your list.
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• Leverage Pop-ups on Your Site: But remember, timing is key. Don't bombard visitors the second they land. Instead, consider exit-intent pop-ups or time-based ones.
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• Prioritize Quality Over Quantity: It's tempting to chase big numbers, but a smaller, engaged list is far more valuable than a large, disinterested one.

Building an email list is a continuous journey, but with these tips in your arsenal, you're well on your way to email marketing success.

Create Your Email Marketing Campaign Today With Beefree

If you're ready to make a splash in the email marketing world, focus on creating campaigns that really resonate with your audience. Give them something they'll look forward to receiving, and you'll see the results in your engagement metrics. Each email you send is an opportunity to engage your audience in a meaningful way. It's not just about the words and images you use, but also about the overall experience you create for them.

With Beefree's email builder, crafting those moments has never been easier. Dive in, explore, and watch your campaigns come to life in no time! The best part? It's free.

Today, digital interactions dominate, and gamification has emerged as a powerful tool to capture and maintain audience attention. More than 70% of businesses included in the Global 2000 have adopted gamification as a key strategy.

In this article, we'll explore the significance of gamification in email marketing, understand its core concepts, delve into the psychology behind it, and provide insights on implementing and overcoming challenges in your gamified campaigns.

The psychology behind gamification in email

At its core, gamification in email marketing revolves around incorporating game-like elements to enhance user engagement.

This strategy involves understanding human behavior and motivation and leverages the psychological aspects that make games inherently appealing, such as competition, achievement, and rewards. Together, these insights help email marketers determine the best use of gamification to help drive engagement and shape consumer responses.

Here are the 3 key psychological drivers in gamification:

Intrinsic motivation

Gamification triggers users' desire to participate by incorporating challenges, rewards, and competitions. As a result, this creates a sense of achievement in users brought on by the idea of "winning" and reinforces positive engagement.

Operant conditioning

By strategically designing gamified elements that reward specific actions, marketers create a positive association between user engagement and valuable incentives. This conditioning strengthens the likelihood of users repeating desired behaviors, establishing a cycle of ongoing engagement.

Cognitive biases

‍Leveraging cognitive biases like scarcity bias allows marketers to prompt quicker responses by offering exclusive rewards or limited-time promotions.

In short, by appealing to individuals' inherent need for achievement and recognition, gamification becomes a powerful tool for capturing and maintaining their attention.

How to use gamification in email marketing

The concept of rewards and incentives helps amplifies the gamification strategy. Offering tangible benefits like exclusive discounts or access entices users to not only engage with emails but also to seek out additional interactions. Let's delve deeper into how you can use gamification to create a competitive edge and engage users in your next email campaign:

• Points, Badges, and Leaderboards: Creating a competitive edge by rewarding users with points, badges, or leaderboard positions based on their interactions with your emails. This not only helps promote a feeling of accomplishment in users, but also helps foster a sense of community and competitiveness that leads them to climb leaderboards and stand out.
  
  
• Rewards and Incentives: Offering tangible benefits such as discounts, exclusive access, or special promotions to incentivize user participation. This exclusivity makes users feel valued and special, fostering a stronger connection with your brand.
  
  
• Interactive Elements: Enhancing user experience by introducing interactive features like quizzes, polls, or challenges within email content. These elements not only enhances engagement but also provides valuable insights into customer preferences, helping you tailor future content and offerings.

By tapping into users' motivations, whether it be competition, a desire for recognition, or the pursuit of exclusive benefits, you can create dynamic emails that help build a loyal and active audience for your brand.

Benefits of gamification in email marketing

Gamification transforms the user experience from a passive act of scrolling through emails into an interactive and dynamic journey where each click or purchase brings them closer to a tangible reward.

Increased customer engagement:

By turning the email experience into a game-like, subscribers are encouraged to engage with the content, spending more time exploring and interacting with the messages. This heightened engagement not only improves the chances of users absorbing the information presented but also creates a memorable and enjoyable experience, setting the brand apart in the minds of the recipients.

Enhanced brand loyalty:

One of the significant benefits of gamification is its ability to create deeper connections between a brand and its audience. When users consistently engage with gamified email content, they become active participants in a brand experience, leading to stronger brand-customer relationships and increased loyalty.

Higher conversion rates:

Gamification can be a powerful motivator for users to take desired actions. Whether purchasing, sharing content, or subscribing to newsletters, the gamified elements provide incentives and rewards for these actions. This motivational aspect drives increased participation, as users are more inclined to interact with emails, complete tasks, and actively engage with the brand, contributing to a more dynamic and participatory audience.

Improved data collection and analytics:

Gamification allows valuable user data collection through interactions and participation. Users willingly provide information while engaging with challenges, quizzes, or other gamified elements. This enriches your customer database and provides insights into user preferences and behavior. Improved analytics enable marketers to tailor future campaigns based on a better understanding of their audience.

5 Best practices for using gamification in email marketing

Embarking on a successful gamified email marketing campaign requires meticulous planning and strategic considerations. The following strategies and tactics can transform your email campaigns into immersive and rewarding journeys, making a lasting impression on your audience and optimizing your marketing efforts.

1. Define campaign objectives: Clearly outline the goals of your gamified campaign to align with your overall marketing strategy. Use data-driven insights to identify the objectives and strategy for your emails. This means regularly tracking key metrics such as open rates and click-through rates. Once your campaigns launch, assess the effectiveness of your gamification elements to refine future campaigns.
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2. Identify target audience: Personalization is key to creating a more engaging experience. Understand your audience's preferences and tailor gamification elements to their interests. By leveraging data and what you know about your unique audiences, you can create better segmented gamified content that tailors to individual preferences. This includes personalizing challenges, rewards, and interactions, making the entire experience more relevant and appealing to different audiences.
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3. Choose appropriate gamification elements: Select elements that resonate with your brand and align with customer preferences. Ensure rewards align with audience interests. Go beyond generic incentives by offering enticing and meaningful rewards such as exclusive discounts, early access, or special promotions. It is crucial to adhere to data protection laws, like GDPR and CCPA, in your gamification practices. Communicate clearly how user data will be used and ensure compliance to build trust with your audience.
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4. Integrate gamification into email design: Ensure a smooth transition to gamified content for an intuitive and enjoyable experience. This means visually appealing emails with a user-friendly interface that offers a seamless transition from the email to the gamified elements.
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5. Develop clear calls-to-action (CTAs): Encourage user participation by crafting compelling CTAs that drive desired actions. Clearly communicate what action you want the user to take and highlight the benefits of doing so. Whether it's clicking a link, participating in a challenge, or making a purchase, the CTA should be persuasive and aligned with the gamification goals.

Overcoming challenges in gamified email marketing

When using gamification in email, it is important to find the right balance between gamification elements and the core message of the email. It's essential to integrate gamified features seamlessly without overwhelming or distracting recipients from the primary content. This lack of harmony brings forth two main challenges:

User fatigue

With the increasing use of gamification in various digital platforms, users risk experiencing fatigue or disinterest in engaging with gamified content. If not managed carefully, this fatigue can decrease overall participation and effectiveness.

Mitigation Strategy: To counter this, marketers should introduce variety and novelty in gamified content, keeping users engaged with fresh challenges and incentives. A/B testing is a great way to experiment with different gamification elements to identify what resonates best with your specific audience.

Lack of brand recognition

Maintaining consistency and alignment with your brand image while implementing gamification can be challenging. If gamified elements feel disconnected or misaligned with your brand identity, it may create confusion or a lack of authenticity among your audience.

Mitigation Strategy: Regularly analyze performance metrics and gather user insight to continuously improve your gamification strategy. Actively seeking insights from your audience about their preferences and perceptions allows you to adapt and iterate on your gamified content.

Unleashing the power of email gamification with Beefree

In an era where consumer attention is a prized commodity, the integration of gamification has emerged as a dynamic strategy to captivate and engage audiences within the realm of email marketing. It's important to remember that the essence of success in this area is rooted in persistent experimentation and creative thinking. Embrace the opportunity to try fresh gamification techniques in your email campaigns to maintain a competitive edge.

No-code solutions like Beefree simplify this process by providing an intuitive and user-friendly solution that empower marketers to seamlessly incorporate interactive and gamified elements into their email designs.

So, create a free account and start infusing some fun and interactivity into your email marketing efforts. Here's to the exciting gamification journey – may it bring you great results and enjoyment!

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In today's fast-paced digital landscape, where algorithms and technological advancements evolve rapidly, we're excited to highlight the ongoing promise of email marketing for those aiming to broaden their reach. Despite the increasing challenge of standing out in crowded inboxes, one consumer need remains unwavering: the desire for a seamless experience.

This is precisely why the combination of email campaigns and landing pages forms an ideal synergy. Together, they empower organizations to seamlessly guide readers from an email to a purposefully crafted landing page, designed to captivate, nurture relationships, and spur action. Let's face it: emails offer limited space for genuine audience engagement. Landing pages step in to meet consumers where they are, providing valuable and relevant content to assist them in making decisions that lead to conversion.

Let's delve into the essential steps for leveraging the potential of landing pages to supercharge your email campaigns.

What is the impact of using landing pages for email marketing?

Unlike a page on your website, a landing page is not part of your site’s navigation. Rather, it is a single page designed with a specific focus and objective, often to help amplify a specific campaign or help increase email subscribers via a sign-up form. 

In email marketing specifically, landing pages are designed to help increase conversion by moving readers toward a desired action in a tailored and cohesive environment. According to a study by Omnisend, landing pages built to drive sign-ups have a conversion rate of 23%, the highest of all forms of “sign-up forms.” 

While emails are often kept short, sweet, and to the point - landing pages offer more real estate to share your why, behind the scenes, and social proof. As a result, this allows your readers to learn more about your brand and products, fostering a deeper connection and engagement.

4 ways to use landing pages in your email marketing

Depending on your desired goal, landing pages vary in structure, design, and layout. Here are the most popular ways landing pages are used in email marketing and how to easily implement them in your email efforts. 

1. Create a sign-up page to capture and nurture leads

Capturing and nurturing new leads is essential for growth. Every email you send is an opportunity to build strong, lifelong relationships with your audiences, but it all begins with a sign-up page. This often simple page can be the bridge between someone being an anonymous reader and an engaged lead.

By designing tailored sign-up pages for multiple campaigns, you can build segmented email lists with automated sequences and consistent messages that appeal to your readers' unique interests.  

It is best practice to keep sign-up forms short and to the point, only asking for essential information, such as name and email address.

In addition, to help nurture your audience, you can ask: 

• Birthday: Personalized birthday emails are a great way to showcase gratitude towards your audience continuously. We recommend not asking for their birth year, though, as some don’t like to share this information. 
• If applicable, professional information like their job title or industry. This will help you send personalized content related to their interests or resources they can use for their work life. 

The Omnisend study referenced above recommends only asking three questions in your sign-up form for optimal performance, so keep this in mind when building your page and form. 

2. Share more information about a specific deal or product

Email marketing campaigns focusing on a particular product or promotion can be amplified with landing pages. 

By pairing both, you can streamline and reduce the necessary steps for users to take desired actions. For example, if you are promoting a limited-time discount on a specific product, your landing page could enable customers to directly purchase the item directly at the discounted rate, eliminating the need to navigate through your website to locate the product and input the discount code.

Free Available Templates: Pair our "Color of the Year Collection" email template with the "Color of The Year Collection" page template, to create an immersive experience when sharing your latest curated selection of products and commitment to staying ahead of the trends.

3. Event registration

If you’re hosting an event like a webinar or conference, a landing page is an excellent way to capture event RSVPs smoothly. 

While your promotional emails are usually short announcements, landing pages offer more information and excite your audience, all while offering a convenient way for them to register.

Once they’ve registered on the landing page, you can use this audience to create a segmented list of registrants, send reminder emails, and post webinar materials to further build brand recognition. This is a really great way for new subscribers to get to know who you are. 

For this type of landing page, you’ll want to include elements such as:

• A straightforward registration form with essential fields like name and email address 
• Date, location, and time (with time zone) of the event
• A brief itinerary or agenda of topics you’ll cover
• A brief introduction to the speakers and their areas of expertise
• A payment form if this is a paid event
• If applicable, a list of perks for attendees, like a special offer on your products, a goodie bag, complimentary refreshments, and so on
• Social media icons to make it easy for registrants to share their attendance or more information about the event to a friend

Free Available Templates: To captivate your audience and maxime registrations, pair our "Agency Webinar Registration Page" with our "Agency Webinar Announcement Email." Whether you're sharing industry insights, showcasing new services, or hosting thought-provoking discussions, this template sequence is your ticket to an unforgettable webinar experience.

4. Asking and receiving valuable feedback

Asking for feedback from customers is abundantly valuable for your business. Not only do you get genuine insight about how you can improve, but you also help build trust with your customers because they see that you’re trying to serve them better.

It’s helpful to set up an email marketing campaign at routine intervals to ask for feedback. A landing page is the perfect way to make it easier (and therefore more likely) for customers to give you their thoughts. On your feedback landing page, include elements such as:

• A simple and user-friendly feedback form, whether you prefer a survey or a blank comment box
• Optional customer contact information so you can follow up on particularly interesting feedback
• An incentive to leave feedback like a special offer the person receives after they submit their answers

Landing page best practices

Landing pages have great potential to boost your business, especially if you design and execute them well. If you’re unsure where to start or how to make your landing pages more effective, use these best practices.

Analyze and understand your target audience

Knowing your audience is one of the most fundamental essentials in marketing, and it holds true in landing pages, too. Understanding your audience allows you to design landing pages that appeal to them and their needs and goals. You want to design your landing pages in a way that is relatable to your audience and aligns with what motivates them to make purchases, sign up for events, or whatever other action you want them to take.

For example, if you have a majority Gen Z audience, interactive elements and videos might help retain their interest, whereas, for older generations, text-only designs may be better suited. If your audience is parents, you might focus more on how your product benefits their families. 

Craft your design with care

With 94% of first impressions being influenced by design, it is crucial that your landing pages are crafted to be user-friendly and help guide and engage the reader without being overly complex. Here are some best practices to keep in mind: 

• Employing a layout that follows readers’ natural eye movement patterns (left to right)
• Break up heavy text with white space and visual imagery 
• Use colors that adhere to your brand’s guidelines to ensure recognition 
• Ensure call to actions clearly define next steps 
• Use type hierarchy, using larger and bolder fonts for headlines and subheadings, and smaller, easy-to-read fonts for body text to ensure readability

A carefully crafted combination of layout, white space, and design influences a page’s ease of navigation and the effectiveness of calls-to-action, therefore encouraging readers to take desired actions.

Ensure your pages are cohesive with email campaigns

Email campaigns help set the tone and user expectations, while landing pages help reinforce your brand's value proposition and encourage users to take action. If you use landing pages to support your email campaigns, staying on brand is essential. 

Brand consistency helps ensure recognition and provides your audience with a seamless and cohesive experience. This results in less friction when going from one form of communication to the next. Whereas having one experience via email and another on the landing page may confuse users on the next steps, impacting your conversion rate.

Utilize social proof

Using a landing page to strengthen your email campaigns means offering customers more ways to learn about you, your product, and what it can do for them. Social proof can be used on a landing page to strengthen your value and what it can bring to your customers.Here are some examples of what you can add:

• Star rating for your product(s)
• Customer testimonials and reviews
• Offering data from your past surveys (e.g., “80% of subscribers say they would recommend this service to a friend”)
• Adding any certifications, badges, and prizes you might have won

Design for mobile first always

When using landing pages to strengthen your campaigns, it’s important to note that 81% of people routinely check their emails on their phones, so chances are that most of your landing page’s visitors will be on mobile devices, too. 

Design your landing page around the mobile experience. This includes avoiding non-mobile-friendly elements such as:

• Pop-ups
• Large images and media files
• Small CTAs
• Small fonts

And embracing the unique needs that come with mobile-friendly design: 

• Creating a design hierarchy and layout that flows naturally when scrolling on a phone
• Ensuring responsive elements that adjust well to each user’s screen size
• Making CTA prominent to reduce the scroll

The future of landing pages for email marketing

Trends in email marketing are always being shaped by advanced technological capabilities, growing user expectations, and an undeniable need for organizations to stand out in the crowded inbox. Here are our top predictions for the future of email marketing and landing pages: 

Increased need for personalization

Personalization has become a need, not a want in email marketing. In fact, according to SmarterHQ “72% of consumers exclusively engaged with personalized messaging.”

The simple act of segmenting your email list shows readers you care and value their time enough to create highly relevant content that meets their needs and expectations. We predict, that we will soon start seeing personalization move into other channels, including landing pages through the use of dynamic content blocks. 

Gamification & interactive elements

‍In the previous years we’ve noticed a rise in the gamification of email marketing. Think of a digital spin-the-wheel to get a discount. Interactive elements not only offer a great way to differentiate yourself in the inbox but also lead to an increase in engagement. In the near future, we’ll see organizations incorporate “gaming” elements, challenges, and reward systems into their landing pages to help increase conversion.
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AI in scale

‍While AI has already made its name in the SaaS space, there is still room for growth in email marketing. AI goes beyond helping organizations create content faster. Rather, it serves as a tool for consumers to make more informed buying decisions.

By integrating chatbots and conversational interfaces, landing pages will become an essential part of increasing conversion as they offer support to consumers on product recommendations in real time without leaving your brand's ecosystem.  

Go from an email to a landing page in seconds with Beefree

Navigating the dynamic terrain of email marketing can feel overwhelming, especially when considering the daunting task of incorporating additional design elements. However, Beefree steps in to alleviate this challenge, making the seamless transition from emails to landing pages a breeze.

Acknowledging the complexity of your to-do list, Beefree offers a solution that not only simplifies the process but also enhances the overall effectiveness of your marketing strategy. In one click, transform your email design into landing page and vice versa.

In addition, our catalog of 1,600+ professionally designed email and landing templates, ensures a seamless experience for your readers. This not only empowers you to enhance revenue and engagement but also positions your campaigns at the forefront of today's dynamic digital expectations.

It's time to embrace the boundless potential of your email marketing approach with Beefree by your side - where connecting with your audience is effortless, stress-free, and ... free.

Getting your audience to engage with your emails isn’t a simple task. 

There are more than a dozen factors that could impact the performance of a given email.

• The audience’s familiarity with your brand
• The list segment - does the email cater to a specific group or interest?
• Email list quality - Are the email addresses valid and active?
• Your average campaign metrics - bounce rate, spam complaint rate, past engagement
• The content - subject lines, preheader, call-to-action
• Use of spam trigger words
  

We know you’ve likely felt an impact from one or more of these. Finding actionable solutions feels daunting.

The good news? You’re not alone. Companies and email marketers around the world encounter these issues regularly.

But you can achieve stronger email engagement by using the tactics below. Let’s help you connect with your email audience.

How to get more email clicks: from content to deliverability

Poor email performance is challenging to address if you’re unsure what to measure. When emails don’t get traction, many marketers focus on fixing a single aspect of their strategy when it’s likely a combination of two or more elements. 

Before you click send, ask yourself:

• What does your email deliverability look like? Are your previous campaigns being delivered to the inbox, or are they landing in the spam folder?
  
  
• Is your email design on-brand and congruent with your other marketing channels (social media, ads, blog, etc.)?
  
  
• Does your email list contain valid contacts, or have some of those emails expired?
  
  
• Are you segmenting your email database by their specific interests or needs and creating customized content for each group?

Getting a clear understanding of your previous campaign performance will then help you identify the exact factors impacting your email engagement. As a result, you can use data-driven insights to adjust your strategy and increase overall email engagement and clicks.

According to Mailchimp, the average open rate is 21.33% across all industries, and click rates are 2.62%. Although nuanced, if your metrics fall below Mailchimp’s benchmarks, that’s a sign that there’s room for improvement.

1. Keep emails out of spam and reach the customer's inbox

Even a well-crafted, beautiful email is not guaranteed to land in your recipient's inbox.  

A significant cause of spam placement is a poor email sender reputation (sometimes called sender score). Your sender reputation is a numerical score from internet service providers (ISPs) to measure your email domain’s health and trustworthiness. 

Companies with high sender scores are viewed as legitimate, safe senders, while those with low scores are more likely to be persons or groups associated with spam or phishing attempts. It makes sense that ISPs want to keep those emails out of the inbox. 

Here are the known factors that contribute to your sender reputation:

• High bounce rates - Internet service providers want yours to be 2% or lower.
  
  
• Spam complaint rate - Aim for no higher than 0.1% (1 in 1,000 emails sent).
  
  
• Email list hygiene - Connected to the above, ISPs expect businesses to clean and avoid invalid emails, spam traps, etc.
  
  
• Email blacklisting - Blacklist services keep track of untrustworthy, high-risk senders. If your domain is on a blacklist, your reputation will be hit hard.
  
  
• Email engagement - When subscribers open your emails and click on the content within. It tells ISPs that your emails are relevant. Staying out of spam will help you improve these metrics.
  

The risk of spam placement is higher than ever with Google and Yahoo’s latest revised sending requirements. The two tech giants partnered to enforce new email-sending requirements to protect users from malicious senders and high-risk email content.

An overview of Google and Yahoo’s new email sender requirements

In order to fight spam and phishing attacks, both Google and Yahoo revised their sending requirements for those that send more than 5,000 daily emails. 

According to Google’s Group Product Manager Neil Kumaran, starting February 1, 2024, “We’re requiring those who send significant volumes to authenticate their emails by following well-established best practices. Ultimately, this will close loopholes exploited by attackers that threaten everyone who uses email.”

So, what does this mean for you? Google and Yahoo both now require each of the following:

• Authenticate your emails - Email authentication verifies that an email sent from your domain comes, indeed, from your organization. While not new practices, the different types of email authentication are now required. They include
  

• Sender Policy Framework (SPF) - A record that establishes a list of email domains and IP addresses that your company sends email from
  
  
• DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) - A digital signature that verifies your emails. Your email domain has a public key on its DNS records, while the email service provider has a private key. These keys must align.
  
  
• Domain-based Messaging, Authentication, and Conformance (DMARC) - A DMARC policy tells email receivers what to do if authentication fails (requires SPF and DKIM).
  
  

Email authentication doesn’t just keep you out of the spam folder; it will protect your company and your audience from email fraud. Tools like a DMARC Monitor can simplify the process of authenticating and monitoring your sent emails.

• A one-click unsubscribe method - People should be able to unsubscribe from your email list with just one click, Google and Yahoo state. Adjust your settings to comply with this requirement and honor unsubscribe requests within two days.
  
  
• Maintain a low spam complaint - As described above, Google and Yahoo will take note of your spam complaint rate. Keep it below 0.1% (1 in 1,000 emails). You can do this by removing subscribers who report spam, maintaining a predictable sending frequency (don’t send too many emails), and keeping your emails relevant to the audience. 
  

Assess the performance of your latest email campaigns with the above metrics in mind.

If you bounce emails, observe lower-than-average open rates, and haven’t cleaned your email list, your sender reputation might be low. Additionally, You can check your email sender reputation with domain lookup tools like Google’s Postmaster Tools or Barracuda. A score of 70 and above is acceptable, meaning your sender reputation is not the cause of low performance. 

However, the lower your sender score, the more likely your emails will land in the spam folder (or get blocked entirely). Fewer eyes on your emails result in fewer clicks, less website traffic, and fewer signups/sales.

2. Email validation is essential for improving email marketing results

Invalid email addresses lead to bounces. If you’re unfamiliar, an invalid email address has one or more of the following issues:

• The email address doesn’t use the proper email address format. A valid email contains a username (the local part) and a domain (e.g., company.com), separated by an ‘@’ symbol.
  
  
• The email address uses restricted characters. It’s best practice to use numbers (0-9) and letters (upper or lower case). Special characters (e.g., ! or #) depend on the mail provider. For example, Gmail only allows letters, numbers, and periods.
  
  
• The address doesn’t exist on the specified domain. 

An email bounce occurs when your email service provider cannot deliver your message due to permanent or temporary errors.

As mentioned earlier, the accepted benchmark for email bounce rate is about 2% (20 out of 1,000 emails sent).

Exceeding this threshold is risky as it increases the likelihood that your future emails will be relegated to the spam folder. Recipient email servers will prioritize companies with better reputations than yours.

Email validation for your email list can help to identify invalid email addresses before you send your next campaign.

According to Yahoo, regularly auditing your database is essential for email deliverability. So, at least once a quarter, validate your database and remove invalid and dormant accounts. On average, 23% of your contacts decay every year, according to the ZeroBounce Email List Decay Report. 

Weeding out those poor-quality addresses helps you build a list of real, valid contacts, boosts the visibility of your emails, and provides better opportunities to improve email engagement and conversions. 

Even if you don’t see an immediate improvement in email open rates, link or image clicks, or conversions (whatever your goal may be), you’ll have better data to measure performance. 

For example - if a campaign has a high bounce rate due to invalid emails, you can’t reasonably attribute poor email performance to other factors like email design or content. Those failed deliveries heavily skew your campaign performance metrics. 

With a clean, validated list, you can enjoy the peace of mind of knowing your emails are being delivered. Then, you can accurately assess whether or not an email works or if it’s time to experiment with a new approach.

But before you chalk up a poor campaign to low-quality content or design, know that your audience segment can make a difference. Let’s look at what we mean by email list segmentation and how it impacts engagement.

3. Segment your email list to create more relevant messages

Once you’re confident that your email list is valid and healthy, it’s time to think about

• Who’s on my email list?
• What’s the signup source (a specific blog article, a product page, a social post)?
• Is the reader interested in a specific topic that we can speak to?
• Is this a current customer, a lapsed one, or a new lead?
  

Leads come to your company for various reasons based on their specific needs. They want answers to their questions and solutions for that need. To further study your audience and understand who they are, you can break down your email list into groups based on demographics, behavior, and psychographics. 

Here are some great recommendations to help you start thinking about segmenting your email list:

• Create a list for first-time buyers - They’re new to your service. Welcome and make them feel special by acknowledging their support and suggesting resources relevant to their purchase.
  
  
• Create lead nurturing lists - Some subscribers are brand-new to your company, so don’t treat them like any other subscriber. You can further segment your email leads by tracking what caused them to sign up (a webinar attendee, reading a blog article through organic search, in-person meetings).
  
  
• Create churn lists - A lapsed customer also represents a unique audience. They’ve used your company, so you can skip the introductions and get right to their needs. Try to find out why they haven’t purchased recently or unsubscribed, and tailor your emails based on the feedback.
  
  
• Segment by product interest - If someone is interested in a CRM tool, don’t clutter up their inbox with emails about design tools. If an email lead tells you what they’re interested in, believe them. Create emails explaining your product's benefits and why it’s better than competing options.
  

You can use a wide variety of attributes to justify email list segmentation depending on the nature of your business and your audience. Some companies even use social data such as gender, age, location, occupation, or income level. 

The better you understand the subscriber individually, the better equipped you will be to create a highly effective, personalized email message. Segmenting your list into smaller groups fosters genuine customer relationships and helps build anticipation and loyalty for your brand.

4. Keep your content on-brand and relevant

Creating a cohesive brand experience across all channels builds a recognizable identity for your company. Everything matters – your content, visual assets, and tone of voice all work together to build the public perception of your brand.

To ensure your emails look and sound uniquely like you, assess these key aspects:

• Design: Are your email visuals aligned with the imagery you use on other platforms? From your color palette to the overall vibe of your design, every aspect should further build audience familiarity with a brand. 
• Content: Are your emails addressing topics relevant to your industry? Sticking to your niche and sharing high-quality, educational content helps you build trust and authority with your audience. 
  

In streamlining your email creation process and enforcing brand guidelines, consider tools like Beefree.

With Beefree drag-and-drop functionality and Style setting allows you to effortlessly customize and enforce your email designs to align with brand's identity. Once you've established designs that resonates with your audience, Beefree enables you to save your templates and content blocks for future use. In short, Beefree simplifies the creation on-brand emails and saves valuable time and effort, allowing you to focus on delivering consistent and more engaging messages to your subscribers. Plus, Beefree’s agnostic nature makes it easy to easily export your emails to your sending platform of choice.

Create a Beefree account now – it’s free

Overview: Driving Email Engagement with Effective Strategies

Driving email engagement is an ongoing challenge, but it’s manageable when you know how to measure your performance and reach your audience. 

• Strive for a strong sender reputation - Monitor your bounces and spam complaints. Look out for risks like email list quality and email blacklists that can hurt your sender score. Also, authenticate your emails to comply with Google & Yahoo’s requirements to keep your emails out of the spam folder and maximize your visibility.
  
  
• Validate your email list - Clean up your database at least once per quarter. Using a real-time email validation tool with your email list signup forms will also help you keep invalid emails and spam traps off your email list. A clean email list boosts your email deliverability and enables you to reach the inbox.
  
  
• Segment your lists & customize the message - Be thoughtful when approaching your readers. Every customer wants to feel special, and understanding their interests and needs will help you present a meaningful solution. A personalized email meant for an individual will encourage higher open and clickthrough rates.
  
  
• Keep your brand’s content consistent - You shouldn’t send emails in a vacuum. Work closely with your website team, ads managers, and social media experts to ensure your messaging is on point. Remind your readers why they’re subscribed to your list and how your company offers something different. 

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It's time to get real with your email marketing metrics. Forget vanity numbers like open rates (though, who doesn't love a good open?). We're talking metrics that go beyond the "seen" and show the "sold," the "clicked," and the "aha!" moments marking your campaign success.

Email marketing is about laser-targeting your audience and driving results. But with data points, how do you know what truly matters?

Ditch the guesswork with our 8 must-track email metrics. We'll break down the what, why, and how behind each one, empowering you to optimize your campaigns.

Let’s get to it!

What are email marketing metrics?

Email marketing metrics are quantifiable measures that tell you how your email campaigns perform and how recipients interact with your emails. Additionally, by monitoring your email marketing metrics you can evaluate the effectiveness of your email marketing strategy. Email marketing metrics have four general classifications:

• Engagement: These rates tell you if your audience is  interacting with your messages. Examples are open rates, click-through rates, and email sharing/forwarding.
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• Conversion: These rates measure the success of your campaigns in guiding recipients toward the desired action. The major metrics that show how your email converts are the conversion rates and revenue per email. 
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• Delivery & Health: These rates give you crucial insights into the technical health of your campaigns, ensuring your emails reach the right inboxes and avoid dreaded spam folders. Examples include bounce rates and spam complaints.
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• Growth: These tell you how your email list is evolving, helping you attract new subscribers and retain existing ones. List growth rate and churn rate are examples of growth metrics.

By regularly racking these key metrics, you can use data to confidently fine-tune your email strategy and ensure it is consistently generating results and helping you achieve your marketing goals.

Why are metrics important in email marketing?

With over $10 billion - with a B - generated through email marketing, learning how to read and understand your email metrics helps you get the most of your efforts and maximize results. Metrics aren't just numbers; they're storytellers, truth-tellers, and action-prompters. 

They help you:

1. Optimize your campaigns: By identifying underperforming aspects, you can make informed adjustments. For instance, A/B testing based on metrics allows you to experiment with elements like subject lines, visuals, or call-to-action buttons. This process helps you optimize your campaigns for maximum impact. It ensures you continually improve your strategy.
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2. Craft captivating content: Understanding what content resonates allows you to tailor future emails to cater to their preferences. For example, analyzing open rates helps you gauge the effectiveness of your subject lines. Likewise, click-through rates highlight the content that attracts the most interest. This insight enables you to craft more compelling and relevant content, increasing engagement.
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3. Predict trends and stay ahead of the curve: Regularly tracking metrics provides a historical view of your email performance. Patterns and trends in metrics can indicate changing audience preferences or industry shifts. By staying attuned to these trends, you can anticipate changes in your audience's behavior and adjust your email marketing strategy accordingly. This approach keeps you ahead of the curve and ensures your campaigns remain relevant.
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4. Prove the ROI of your email marketing efforts: Metrics provide tangible evidence of your success, justifying your investment and securing buy-in from stakeholders. They provide quantifiable data on key performance indicators, demonstrating the impact of your efforts. When presenting these metrics to stakeholders, you're not just sharing numbers. You're showcasing the tangible results of your campaigns. This, in turn, helps in securing continued support from key decision-makers.

In short, email marketing metrics transform guesswork into actionable insights. For the next stop, we'll dig into the top 8 email marketing metrics you need to track in 2024.

8 email marketing metrics that actually matter 

Email marketing metrics are like the vital signs of your email campaigns. They help you understand how well your emails are performing and how engaged your audience is. 

Let's break down a few key metrics:

1. Click-through rate

The click-through metric tells how many folks clicked on the links you dropped in your email. It is a direct indicator of engagement, showcasing the effectiveness of your content and the resonance of your call-to-action. It's like the applause after a killer performance - you want lots of it!

Why click-through rates matter

1. Audience engagement: CTR shows the level of interest your email generates. A higher CTR indicates that your audience finds your content compelling and is motivated to take further action.
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2. Content Relevance: Check the links that get the most clicks. You can tell the specific content that resonates with your audience by analyzing the links that receive the most clicks. This knowledge is invaluable for tailoring future emails to match their preferences.
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3. Call-to-Action (CTA) Check: A solid CTR means your CTA is compelling, making people tap their screens. If your CTA is clear, compelling, and strategically placed, it should drive a higher click-through rate.

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How to calculate CTR

Divide the unique clicks by the number of delivered emails, then multiply by 100.

Let’s say you sent out your email to 1,000 subscribers, and after, you find out that 150 people clicked on your links.

Your Click-Through Rate is 15%. It means 15% of your audience decided to click on your links.

A Click-Through Rate (CTR) of 15% is generally considered quite good. It indicates that many of your audience found your email content compelling enough to take action by clicking on the links. 

A typical CTR can vary by industry and the nature of the email, but a rate of 15% suggests that your email engaged a substantial portion of your audience.

Tips to increase click-through rate

• Compelling Content: Craft engaging and relevant content that entices readers to explore further.
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• Clear CTAs: Ensure your calls-to-action are clear, prominent, and aligned with the overall goal of your email campaign.
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• A/B Testing: Experiment with elements like CTA placement, wording, or design. That will help you identify what resonates best with your audience.

2. Unsubscribe rate

Unsubscribe Rate metric that reveals the percentage of recipients who choose to opt out of your email list. It's a measure of disengagement and signals when subscribers stop receiving your emails.

Why unsubscribe rates matter

• Audience feedback: Unsubscribe Rate provides direct feedback from your audience. When someone unsubscribes, it's a clear signal that something about your emails might not resonate with them.
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• Content evaluation: A sudden spike in unsubscribes after a specific email indicates it's time to evaluate the content or frequency of your emails. It helps you identify potential issues and make adjustments.
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• List health: Monitoring the unsubscribe rate helps maintain a healthy email list. High unsubscribe rates might be a sign that your list needs cleaning. It may also mean you're overloading subscribers with too many emails.
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How to calculate unsubscribe rate

To calculate the unsubscribe rate per email campaign, divide the number of unsubscribes by the number of active subscribers, then multiply by 100.

Let's say you sent out 1,000 emails, and during that time, 20 subscribers decided to bid farewell and clicked that unsubscribe link.

So, your unsubscribe rate is 2%. It means 2% of those who received your email decided to part ways.

This rate is acceptable because a low unsubscribe rate is generally considered positive. Keep monitoring this metric to ensure it stays healthy, and adjust your email strategy if needed.

Tips to reduce unsubscribe rate

• Feedback loop: Some unsubscribe forms ask why people are leaving. Use this feedback to tweak your content strategy. It's like learning what songs people want to skip.
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• Frequency poll: If you see a significant increase in unsubscribes, assess the frequency of your emails. Finding the right balance ensures you stay in touch without overwhelming your audience.
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• Content variety: Try to keep your content fresh and varied to maintain subscriber interest. A diverse range of content reduces the likelihood of audience fatigue.

Unsubscribe Rate is a metric that helps you stay attuned to your audience's preferences. While losing subscribers is inevitable, using this data wisely allows you to refine your approach and keep your email list healthy.

3. Conversion rate

Conversion Rate is the metric that tells you how many recipients clicked on your email links and took the desired action afterward. It depicts the moment when engagement translates into success.

Why conversion rates matter

1. Actionable engagement: Unlike clicks, which show interest, the conversion rate zooms in on the real deal—actions. It could be making a purchase, filling out a form, or any goal you set for your email.
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2. Effectiveness gauge: A high Conversion Rate means your email grabbed attention and convinced people to follow through. It's a solid indicator that your email is effective in driving results.
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3. Campaign impact: Conversion Rate ties directly to your campaign objectives. Whether it's boosting sales or nurturing leads, this metric shows how well your emails contribute to these outcomes.

How to calculate with an example

Divide the number of conversions by the number of emails delivered, then multiply by 100.

Let's say you sent out an email campaign, and out of the 200 clicks, 10 people made a purchase.

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So, your conversion rate is 5%. 5% of the folks who clicked on your links became happy customers.

In the example provided, the Spam Complaint Rate is 0.5%. Generally, a Spam Complaint Rate of 0.1% or lower is considered acceptable in the industry. In this case, 0.5% is on the higher side.

A higher spam complaint rate can impact your sender reputation and deliverability. It's essential to investigate the reasons behind the complaints.

Tips to improve conversion rate

1. Define your goals: Clearly outline the actions you want your audience to take. Whether making a purchase or signing up for an event, a defined goal makes tracking conversions more meaningful.
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2. Optimize landing pages: Often, the conversion journey doesn't end in the email; it continues on a landing page. Ensure your landing pages are aligned with your email content to facilitate a seamless transition.
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3. CTA clarity: Make your call-to-action (CTA) crystal clear. Ambiguity can be a conversion killer. Guide your audience on what steps to take next.

4. Spam complaint rate

The Spam Complaint Rate is the guardian at the gate, telling you how many recipients marked your email as spam. The metric ensures your emails stay in the inbox and out of the dreaded spam folder.

Why spam complaint rates matter

• Deliverability Concerns: A high Spam Complaint Rate is a red flag. Email providers take spam complaints seriously, and if your rate is too high, it could impact your email deliverability.
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• Content Evaluation: High spam complaints suggest that something in your email content or frequency irks your audience. It's a signal to evaluate and tweak your approach.
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• Brand Reputation: Consistently landing in the spam folder harms your brand's email reputation. Maintaining a low Spam Complaint Rate is crucial for a positive sender reputation.

How to calculate with an example

Divide the number of spam complaints by the number of delivered emails, then multiply by 100.

If you sent out 1,000 emails and received 5 spam complaints:

So, your Spam Complaint Rate is 0.5%. Keeping it low ensures your emails keep landing in the inbox where they belong.

How to keep it low

• Opt-In Strategies: Ensure your subscribers willingly opt-in to receive your emails. Unwanted emails are more likely to be marked as spam.
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• Clear Unsubscribe Option: Make it easy for subscribers to opt-out. A transparent unsubscribe process reduces the likelihood of spam complaints.
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• Content Relevance: Send content that aligns with subscriber expectations. Misleading or irrelevant content increases the chances of being marked as spam.

5. Bounce rate

Bounce Rate is the email metric that tells you the percentage of emails that couldn't be delivered successfully. Those are emails that fail to reach their intended recipient's inbox.

Why bounce rates matter

• Delivery health check: Bounce Rate is your go-to for checking the health of your email delivery. A high bounce rate could indicate issues with your email list or the quality of your contacts.
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• List cleanliness: Regularly monitoring bounce rates helps keep your email list clean. Removing invalid or inactive email addresses ensures you send to an engaged audience.
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• Sender reputation: High bounce rates can negatively impact your sender reputation. Email providers pay attention to bounce rates when determining the credibility of senders.

How to calculate a bounce rate

Divide the number of bounced emails by the number of sent emails, then multiply by 100.

If you sent out 1,000 emails and 30 of them bounced:

So, your Bounce Rate is 3%. It means 3% of your emails hit a roadblock and couldn't be delivered. 

A Bounce Rate of 3% is generally considered acceptable. It's common to have a small percentage of bounces due to some factors. It could be temporary issues with the recipient's email server or invalid email addresses on your list.

But, if you notice a sudden increase or if it consistently exceeds 5%, investigate and take corrective actions. 

Tips to reduce bounce rate

• Segmentation and targeting: Ensure you send emails to relevant audiences. This reduces the chances of bouncing due to mismatched content.
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• Regular list cleaning: Remove invalid or inactive email addresses from your list. It's like decluttering your guest list for a smoother party.
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• Use double opt-in: Implementing a double opt-in process ensures subscribers genuinely want to receive your emails, reducing the likelihood of bounces.

6. Deliverability rate

The deliverability email marketing metric measures the percentage of emails that successfully reach your recipients' inboxes.  

Why deliverability matters

• Inbox presence: Deliverability rate checks if your emails land in the inbox, not the dreaded spam folder. High deliverability means your messages are reaching your audience effectively.
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• Sender reputation: Email providers consider your deliverability when assessing your sender reputation. Consistently high deliverability contributes positively to your reputation as a sender.
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• Engagement impact: Emails that reach the inbox have a better chance of being opened and engaged. A high deliverability rate sets the stage for successful email campaigns.

How to calculate with an example

Subtract the bounce rate from 100%. 

If you sent out 1,000 emails and 970 of them successfully reached the inbox:

So, your Deliverability Rate is 97%. It means 97% of your emails successfully navigated the inbox maze.

A Deliverability Rate of 97% is excellent. It shows that most of your emails successfully reach the intended inboxes. That is a positive sign for the effectiveness of your email campaigns.

Tips to ensure high deliverability

• Clean email lists: Regularly update your email lists to remove invalid or inactive addresses. This enhances deliverability by focusing on engaged recipients.
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• Authentication protocols: Implement authentication protocols like DKIM and SPF to verify your identity as a sender. This adds credibility and improves deliverability.
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• Engagement strategies: Craft engaging content that encourages opens and clicks. Positive recipient interactions boost your sender reputation.

7. List growth rate

List Growth Rate measures how fast your email subscriber list is expanding. It's is the percentage by which your email list grows over a specific period.

Why list growth matters

1. Audience reach: A growing email list means a broader audience for your messages. It expands the reach of your campaigns and potential engagement.
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2. Fresh perspectives: New subscribers bring fresh perspectives. A diverse audience can provide valuable insights and enhance the overall engagement with your content.
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3. Long-term sustainability: A healthy List Growth Rate contributes to the long-term sustainability of your email marketing efforts. It ensures a continuous influx of potential customers and supporters.

How to calculate list growth rate

Divide the difference between your current and previous list size by your previous list size, then multiply by 100.

If you started the month with 1,000 subscribers and ended with 1,200:

So, your List Growth Rate is 20%. It means your email party gained 20% more attendees during the month. A 20% growth rate is quite good. It generally suggests effective strategies for attracting new subscribers.

How to boost list growth

1. Engaging opt-in forms: Craft engaging and clear opt-in forms on your website, landing pages, and social media. Make subscribing easy and enticing.
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2. Lead magnets: Offer lead magnets like e-books, exclusive content, or discounts to encourage sign-ups. Provide value to your audience from the get-go.
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3. Social media promotion: Leverage your social media channels to promote your email newsletter. Use teasers and highlights to spark interest and drive sign-ups.

8. ROI on emails

Return on Investment (ROI) on emails assesses the profitability of your email marketing campaigns. It's the revenue generated for each dollar spent on your email marketing campaign.

Why ROI matters

1. Business impact: ROI on emails directly ties to your email efforts to business outcomes. It measures how well your campaigns contribute to revenue generation and overall business success.
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2. Resource allocation: Understanding the ROI helps in optimizing resource allocation. It guides decisions on budget, time, and efforts invested in email marketing based on the returns achieved.
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3. Performance benchmark: ROI is a benchmark for the success of individual campaigns. It enables you to identify high-performing strategies and areas that might need improvement.

How to calculate ROI on emails

Subtract the cost of your email marketing campaign from your revenue from the campaign, then divide it by the campaign cost.

For example, if your email campaigns generated $5,000 in revenue, and the cost was $1,000:

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So, your ROI on Emails is 400%. It means for every dollar invested in email campaigns, you generated a return of $4.

An ROI on Emails of 400% is excellent. It shows that your email marketing campaigns generate substantial returns compared to the costs. 

Tips to improve your ROI on emails

1. Segment your audience: Tailor your emails to different segments of your audience based on factors like demographics, behavior, or purchase history. Personalized and targeted content tends to perform better.
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2. Optimize email timing: Experiment with sending emails at different times and days to find the optimal schedule for your audience. Understanding when your subscribers are most active can boost engagement.
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3. Create catchy subject lines: The subject line is the gateway to your email. Create attention-grabbing and compelling subject lines that entice recipients to open and explore the content inside.
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4. Clear calls-to-action (CTAs): Make your CTAs prominent, clear, and enticing. Guide your audience on the actions you want them to take, whether making a purchase, signing up, or downloading.
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5. A/B testing: Experiment with different elements of your emails, such as subject lines, visuals, or CTAs, using A/B testing. This helps identify what resonates best with your audience and allows you to optimize accordingly.
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6. Monitor analytics: Regularly analyze the performance metrics of your campaigns. Identify what's working well and areas for improvement. Data-driven insights help in making informed decisions.
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7. Maintain list hygiene: Regularly clean and update your email list. Removing inactive or invalid subscribers helps maintain a healthy list and ensures your messages reach an engaged audience.

The Power of Design: Elevating email metrics with Beefree

Beyond just the numbers and data crunching, how your emails look and work can make a big difference in getting people interested and clicking through. In the fast-paced world of email marketing, where every click and conversion is a big deal, having emails that are responsive, eye-catching, and well-optimized is key.

That's where Beefree comes in. With its user-friendly interface and intuitive features, Beefree empowers you to create emails that not only meet but exceed the expectations set by the metrics that truly matter. It's not just about meeting expectations; it's about blowing them away. Beefree ensures that your emails are not just visually appealing but also strategically crafted for maximum impact, making a real connection with your audience. The best part? It's free! 

Start designing now!

In our latest blog post, we explored the importance of email newsletters and the value that they can bring to your organization. In short, they serve as a way to ensure consistent and timely communication between businesses and their diverse audience. While many factors influence the outcome of your email newsletters, there are a few tried and true strategies and steps for creating newsletters that we suggest following to ensure their success.Whether you're a seasoned marketer or a small business owner venturing into the email marketing realm, this step-by-step guide, enriched with tips and insights, will illuminate the path from conceptualizing your newsletter to hitting that send button and beyond.

What is the Purpose of a Newsletter?

The purpose of email newsletters is often condensed to brand awareness, promotion, education, and retention, but what's underneath that:

• Brand Loyalty: By providing useful content, tips, or insights, you can add unimaginable value to your audience that, in turn, will make you the go-to brand for your audience in your specific niche.
• Stronger Relationship: Sending consistent, cohesive, and timely communications keeps your audience engaged and helps nurture a relationship between your brand and its followers.
• Traffic: If your content resonates with your audience, they'll want to learn more. This helps drive traffic to your social, website, and any other resources linked in your email newsletter. 

A step-by-step guide to creating an email newsletter

Navigating through the nuanced newsletter creation process, we'll explore a 10-step journey that marries strategic thinking with creative execution. Each step, from defining your newsletter’s purpose to meticulously tracking its performance, serves as a crucial milestone, ensuring your message not only lands but also captivates and engages your audience.

Step 1. Define Your Newsletter Goal

Embarking on the newsletter creation journey without a clearly defined goal can make defining your email's content, design, and overall strategy a challenge. Whereas a clearly defined goal helps harmoniously align each element towards a singular purpose.Let’s delve into a few examples of newsletter goals to spark your inspiration:

• Engage and Inform: Keep your audience abreast of the latest industry news, trends, and insights.
• Drive Sales: Promote new products, offers, or discounts to boost sales.
• Increase Participation: Encourage participation in events, webinars, or surveys.
• Build Community: Foster a sense of community among subscribers by sharing user-generated content or stories.

In addition, your goal should also take into consideration the following:

• Who is your audience? Identifying your audience's demographics, preferences, and behaviors will help tailor the goal to an action you know your readers will take. For example, you wouldn't promote events in New York if most of your audience is based in Australia. 
• What's the primary value of this email? Every newsletter delivers something of value - be it knowledge, discounts, or entertainment.
• What are our business goals? Internally, what is your organization trying to achieve, and what is your current focus? 

Step 2. Build a Newsletter Subscriber List

Building a robust, engaged subscriber list is paramount to ensuring your newsletter’s voyage is fruitful and impactful. A subscriber list isn’t merely a collection of email addresses; it’s a community of individuals, each with their unique interests, preferences, and needs, all uniting under the banner of your brand.Here are a few tips to guide you in building your subscriber list:

• Craft Compelling Sign-Up Forms: Ensure your newsletter sign-up forms are visible, accessible, and enticing across your digital platforms.
• Leverage Multiple Channels: Utilize your website, social media, and other digital channels to promote your newsletter sign-up.
• Offer Incentives: Entice potential subscribers with exclusive content, discounts, or insights available only to newsletter crew members.
• Ensure Ease of Subscription: Make the subscription process as seamless and straightforward as possible to encourage sign-ups.

Step 3. Segment Contacts and Create Lists

As your subscriber count grows, understanding and organizing them becomes pivotal to ensuring that your newsletters resonate and engage with your unique audiences. Segmenting your contacts allows you to tailor content to their specific interests, allowing for highly personalized experiences. This action helps build a deeper connection between your brand and its audience. Here are some tips for audience segmentation:

• Understand Subscriber Preferences: On your sign-up form, ask questions beyond the simple "name and email address" to understand their interests. For example, something as simple as a job title can provide much insight. 
• Monitor and Adapt: Continually assess the effectiveness of your segments, and their actions will help you make necessary changes to optimize your email newsletter's design, content, and overall strategy.

Step 4. Select an Email Newsletter Tool

Finding the right tool for you and your team can be a formidable quest. Yet, it’s a pivotal step in ensuring your newsletter engages and delights your audience.When embarking on the selection of an email newsletter tool, consider the following key features:

• User-Friendliness: Find a tool that allows anyone on your team to seamlessly craft, edit, and visualize your newsletter without too big of a learning curve. Complex tools can often result in a loss of productivity. 
• Deliverability: Your email newsletter tool should ensure your emails are rendered beautifully regardless of email client or device to ensure your newsletters reach the inbox, not the dreaded spam folder.
• Template Variety: Mostly, every email tool offers templates to help you kick-start your email newsletters. Before committing, ensure those templates align with your brand, audience, and needs. Extra points if the platform allows you to create, save, and reuse your own

PRO Tip: Find a tool that allows collaboration to happen within the platform to minimize juggling between multiple tools and further increase your team's productivity.Now, an email newsletter tool is not to be confused with an email-sending platform or an email marketing platform. While these may overlap, an email newsletter tool is often an additional tool added to help optimize your email design process. Because of this, it is important that the email newsletter tool you choose should seamlessly integrate with your existing sending platforms like HubSpot, Mailchimp, or Gmail.A great example of this is Beefree.

Beefree: Email creation without limits.

Beefree is an intuitive email builder whose agnostic nature allows easy export to your sending platforms of choice. Its collaborative features allow for decentralized teams to work together on email newsletters and campaigns effortlessly. With a catalog of 1,600+ email templates, we pride ourselves in having something for everyone, and our drag-and-drop editor makes the learning curve a breeze.

Step 5. Start From Scratch or Use a Template

You have two choices when it comes to creating a newsletter: to personalize an existing template or to craft your own from the blank canvas of possibility. Both paths, while divergent, lead to the creation of a newsletter that is uniquely yours. Let’s explore these two options, ensuring your newsletter is not only a reflection of your brand but also a beacon that resonates with your subscribers.

Option 1: Personalize an Existing Newsletter Template

This path allows you to embark on your newsletter journey with a sturdy vessel crafted by experts and ready to be infused with your unique brand essence. This option comeswith its own range of benefits:

• Efficiency: Save time and resources by starting with a pre-designed structure.
• Consistency: Ensure your newsletters maintain a consistent, professional appearance.
• Inspiration: Draw inspiration from expertly crafted designs.
• Flexibility: Adapt and modify the template to align with your brand and message.

As mentioned, Beefree’s newsletter template library offers thousands of free options, ready to be molded, adapted, and transformed into a newsletter that speaks your brand’s language and connects with your audience.

Option 2: Start with a Blank Newsletter Template

The "start from scratch" approach allows you to build your newsletter from the ground up, ensuring every element, from layout to content, is meticulously curated and distinctly yours. This path unveils its own unique advantages:

• Unbridled Creativity: Experience the freedom to explore your creativity without being bound by pre-designed constraints.
• Unique Design: Develop a newsletter that is distinctly yours, ensuring it stands out in the crowded inbox.
• Full Control: Maintain comprehensive control over every component, ensuring each aspect aligns perfectly with your brand.
• Tailored Experience: Design a user experience that is meticulously tailored to your audience’s preferences and journey.

Step 6. Must have elements to have in your email newsletters

Let's get to work designing your newsletter with Beefree, where designing your newsletter becomes a seamless blend of creativity and functionality. While the ensuing steps are crafted with Beefree’s email editor in mind, these are all elements that any email newsletter must have to ensure your newsletter design is visually compelling and effectively communicates your message, regardless of the tool you choose. Let’s dive into the meticulous art of newsletter design.

Carefully Crafted Layout

Whether you're starting from scratch or using a template, the content sections needed will be determined by the purpose and goal of your newsletter. Ask yourself: "What is the information that my readers need to know to be enticed to complete the desired action?"The layout of your emails should be placed in a manner that is easily digestible and helps guide and engage the reader through the newsletter. This can be done by maintaining a balance between text and visual elements.Tips for adding content:

• Maintain Consistency: Ensure your content aligns with your overall message and brand voice.
• Be Concise: Craft your message to be clear and to the point, respecting your reader’s time and attention.

With Beefree, drag and drop your content blocks, such as text, images, and buttons, into your email. If you're starting with a template, our first suggestion is to first assess the email and see if any sections don't align with you. Like we did for our template below:

Regardless, a well-crafted layout is has a balance of text and visual elements, ensuring your content is both engaging and easily digestible.

Visual Elements

Long gone are the days of text-only emails. Images, videos, and GIFs are visual anchors in your newsletter, capturing attention and enhancing your narrative. They also help provide balance in your emails to help guide and break up text-heavy sections.Tips for including images:

• Quality Matters: Ensure your images are optimized for emails viewed on desktop and mobile. 
• Alignment: Your images should be visual representations of your brand and the message that you are trying to convey in the email. Otherwise, they might distract the reader from your message rather than engage. 

If you're starting with a template on Beefree, you can easily change the images by clicking on the image and clicking "change image" on the sidebar. If you're starting from scratch, you can navigate to the “Content” tab and simply drag the “Image” content block into your template. You can upload your own images and store them using our File Manager to retrieve them for future use.Beefree also offers a stock image and GIF library to incorporate visual elements into your newsletters easily.

Brand Elements

Infusing your newsletter with your brand elements ensures that your emails are recognized immediately by your readers. Brand elements include your logo, brand colors, pre-defined fonts, icons, etc.Tips for adding brand elements:

• Consistency is Key: Ensure all elements, from colors to fonts, are consistent with your brand guidelines.
• Visibility: Ensure your logo is placed prominently, ensuring immediate brand recognition.

Within Beefree, you can easily set your style guidelines to ensure everyone on your team can design on-brand messaging. You can also save content blocks that are frequently used to save time when building your emails.All of these are better known as "email design systems," which are built to help you save time, resources, and cohesiveness in all of your communication efforts.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCmxbuk4PRA&t=56s

Prominent CTA Buttons

CTA buttons should be influenced by the goal you want the reader to take. They should be placed throughout the newsletter to ensure the reader can take action at any time.Tips for creating CTA buttons:

• Stand Out: Ensure your CTA is visually prominent. This means not hiding them in between elements, adding ample spacing around the CTA, and ensuring the color of the button doesn't blend in with its background. Although it should stand out, it should still remain harmoniously integrated into your overall design.
• Concise Text: Use clear and concise copy that clearly communicates the action you want the reader to take. Do not leave any room for interpretation.

In Beefree, you can create pre-defined CTA buttons that align with your most frequently sent emails. Adding new buttons is as easy as dragging the “Button” content block into your email.

Step 7. Make Sure Your Newsletter is Legally Compliant

Navigating through the realm of email marketing also involves ensuring that your newsletter adheres to the various legal standards and regulations that govern digital communication. Ensuring legal compliance is not merely a step but a fundamental pillar that upholds the integrity and legality of your email marketing endeavors. From adhering to data protection regulations to ensuring transparent communication, legal compliance safeguards your brand, reputation, and the trust that your subscribers place in you.Here are some general suggestions to ensure your emails are compliant:

• Adhere to Regulations: Ensure your newsletter complies with regulations such as GDPR or CAN-SPAM, safeguarding both subscriber data and communication.
• Transparent Opt-In: Ensure that your subscription process is clear, transparent, and provides adequate information regarding the nature of your newsletters.
• Easy Opt-Out: Provide a clear and straightforward process for subscribers to opt out of your newsletters anytime.
• Protect Data: Ensure that subscriber data is stored, processed, and protected in adherence to relevant data protection regulations.

In addition, email footer requirements are upheld by email-sending platforms. In Beefree, under "Rows," you will see various footer options that adhere to HubSpot and Mailchimp guidelines ready for use. If you use a different ESP, be sure to build your footer with their unique requirements in mind.

Step 8. Preview and Test Emails

In the final stages of our newsletter creation journey, previewing and testing stand as crucial waypoints, ensuring that your crafted message is not only visually appealing but also functionally flawless across various email landscapes. This step involves scrutinizing your newsletter through the lenses of different devices and email clients, ensuring that each subscriber, regardless of their digital window, experiences your message in its full splendor.

Beefree "preview mode"Here are a few tips to ensure your previews and tests lead to a standing ovation in every inbox:

• Multi-Device Testing: Ensure your newsletter shines across all devices, from desktops to smartphones.
• Different Email Clients: Verify that your design and functionality remain intact across various email clients, such as Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo.
• Link Functionality: Ensure all your links, from CTAs to social icons, are functioning and leading to the correct destinations.
• Spelling and Grammar: A final check on the language, ensuring that your message is not only clear but also error-free.

Step 9. Track Performance and Create Iterations

This final step involves diving into the analytics, exploring how our subscribers interacted with our newsletter, and uncovering triumphs and areas ripe for enhancement.This step is crucial for ensuring that each newsletter is a stepping stone towards deeper engagement and connection with our audience.Here are some navigational tips when it comes to tracking performance:

• Analyze Engagement: Dive into metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and engagement with specific content.
• Subscriber Feedback: Pay attention to any direct feedback or responses from your subscribers.
• Iterate and Enhance: Use the insights gained to refine and enhance subsequent newsletters, ensuring continual improvement.
• A/B Testing: Consider employing A/B testing in future sends, exploring what content, design, and strategies resonate most.

Start Creating Your Own Newsletters Today

The path to creating your own successful newsletter lies ahead! We hope that with the knowledge, insights, and tools shared, you feel equipped and ready to start forging connections, telling stories, and engaging your audiences in a way that is unique to you!If you need somewhere to get started and inspired, browse through our extensive catalog of free templates. We guarantee you'll find something that fits your needs ;)Happy designing!

When it comes to making your customers feel special, nothing says "We're glad you're here" like a personalized birthday email. Not only that, but they are great sources for driving up engagement and strengthening brand loyalty.After all, who doesn't love a freebie or a discount to spoil themselves with?Whether you're currently sending birthday emails or want to start, below you'll find some of our best strategies for crafting and optimizing birthday messages that delight your recipients.

What is a Birthday Email?

Birthday emails are powerful automated email campaigns brands use to provide a more personalized customer experience. While on the surface, they might seem like a simple gesture to brighten your customer's day. These emails are strategically crafted and inserted into every big e-commerce brand’s email marketing efforts.

What is the Purpose of a Birthday Email?

Birthday emails have multi-purposes. While they are created to help celebrate a subscriber's special day, they also drive up email engagement and brand loyalty. Here’s how:

• Deepen Subscriber Connection: A personalized birthday wish can strengthen the bond between a brand and its subscribers. A simple message can make your subscribers feel important, keeping you at the top of their minds the next time they purchase. 
• Drive Sales: Exclusive birthday discounts or offers can incentivize subscribers to purchase. 
• Boost Engagement: Birthday emails often see higher open and click-through rates than regular promotional emails.

Do Birthday Emails Work?

Absolutely! When it comes to engagement metrics, birthday emails are the party animals of the email marketing world. In fact, according to Experian, birthday emails generate “179% more clicks, 481% more transactions, and 342% more revenue per email.”Our educated hypothesis is that everyone loves a little extra attention on their birthday, and when brands deliver that in the form of tailored offers and heartfelt messages, subscribers are more likely to engage (and buy)!

10 Happy Birthday Email Examples (and  their strategies)

Birthday emails are a unique blend of celebration and strategy; finding the right balance is important. We've scoured the email universe and handpicked 12 of the best birthday emails. Each example showcases a different approach, from heartwarming messages to irresistible offers.As we unwrap each one, you'll discover what makes them stand out and drive results. By the end of this list, you'll be brimming with ideas and ready to craft birthday emails that resonate and convert.

Make your offer stand out 

This birthday email example from Chipotle showcases a brilliant marketing strategy. The "Gift of Guac" is not only quirky and engaging but also entices the receiver with a tempting offer on one of Chipotle's delicacies. Not only that, but the offer is applicable anytime during their birthday month, which promotes return visits.In addition, the call-to-action button attracts the reader's eye and offers clear instructions for the next steps.

Keep it Simple and Stay on Brand 

When it comes to birthday emails, Outdoor Voices nails it by embracing the beauty of simplicity.A common mistake with birthday emails is that it is really easy to go overboard. Outdoor Voices does a great job of embracing the “less is more” approach to design and copywriting, which aligns with their overall brand identity.Another differentiating factor, when compared to Chipotle’s approach above, is that the offer is not the star of the email. Instead, the customer is. This strategy is great for strengthening connections with readers as they often feel less “sales-y. ”Regardless, they do a great job of ensuring the offer is still noticed by adding an on-brand CTA that stands out.

Nike's birthday email also beautifully embodies its athletic and dynamic brand essence. Featuring an athlete surrounded by playful hand-drawn elements, the email captures attention and reinforces Nike's iconic image. The straightforward offer of a 10% discount on a $100 purchase, combined with the exclusive feel of 'Member Access,' effectively incentivizes the recipient to shop.

Use a Humorous Approach

The following birthday email from Markiplier incorporates humor to create a memorable and light-hearted message. The message feels personable as it makes a joke about aging that a friend would make, yet emphasizes genuine appreciation.The offer for a discount on Markiplier store items adds an incentive to the comedic touch. If there's a lesson here, it's this: a good laugh can reel 'em in, but pairing it with a genuine offer? That's the cherry on top!

Exclusivity For The Win

If you're an avid Sephora shopper, you'll know their birthday mini sets are (unfortunately) not curated for the individual; however, this email makes you feel like it is.While using your reader's name is a great example of personalization, in this case, it isn't the star of the show.Sephora's unique layout, design, and use of high-quality images exude the feeling of "these were hand-picked just for you." The use of supersized imageslaid out was intentional to make these "minis" feel larger (and, in turn, more exclusive) than they are, which likely makes "Mary" feel special.They also subtly hint with a subtitle that "Mary" is receiving this exclusive offer because they are part of their "beauty insider" program, further promoting the feeling of exclusivity and encouraging customer loyalty.

Time Is Of The Essence? or Not? 

The following two emails offer a different approach to birthday offer expiration dates.PixelBoosts offers a 30% discount to be redeemed within three days. Crafted for those looking to renew their subscriptions, this birthday email does a good job of blending the personal touch of a birthday email with a gentle nudge toward "stick around with us!"

On the other hand, the email below extends the festivities and gives the reader the entirety of their month to redeem their discount. The phrase "pick your own present" offers a sense of autonomy and personalization.

There are pros and cons for both strategies.While offering limited-time offers such as PixelBoost can be a great way to encourage urgency and conversion, finding the right time to send this email is important. According to Campaign Monitor, 55% of birthday emails are sent on the recipient's birth date. For limited offers such as 3 days, the challenge comes with not knowing whether the recipient will open the email in time as they might be taking some much-needed R&R.For birthday emails with a much longer deadline, while they offer recipients ample time to open and purchase, you risk them forgetting about your offer. In this case, reminder emails will be essential, turning birthday emails into birthday campaigns.As always, we recommend testing and monitoring what works best for you and your organization.

Personalized Product Recommendations

According to Epsilon, "80% of consumers say they're more willing to purchase when provided with a personalized experience." While, a birthday email alone is a strong example of this, Rachel Jackson's birthday email takes it one (or ten) steps further. 

While we usually see product recommendations being personalized with the power of dynamic content and consumer behavior, Rachael Jackson takes a unique, maybe simpler, but still impactful approach using the recipient's birthstones. 

The use of high-quality images and meaningful descriptions engages the recipient to learn more about their birthstone, which only further helps promote the feeling that "this was made for me." 

Use Interactive Elements 

When done right, videos, gifs, and polls are great ways to catch your readers' attention and guide them toward the desired action.While the email below is simple, the animated birthday cake and candle GIF catches the reader's eye and embodies the essence of celebration, warmth, and festivity. Again, while simple, the GIF enhancesthe user experience, making the offer more enticing and the email more interactive.

Loyalty Points Boost

Simons' birthday email effectively leverages a loyalty program by offering double points on the largest purchase made during the birthday month. The CTA "treat yourself" is strategically used to encourage a larger-than-usual purchase, possibly enticing the reader to buy something they might have been eyeing for a while. The double points incentivize the consumer as they are more willing to buy, knowing they will receive something in return.

Simon isn't just sending out birthday wishes but making it a win-win for everyone.

Best Practices for Engaging Birthday Email Campaigns

The best birthday emails are more than just a celebratory message; they're an opportunity to deepen your connection with your subscribers. To make sure that your birthday wishes stand out in a crowded inbox, it's important to follow some tried-and-true best practices.From creating an automatic birthday campaign to the art of the perfect call-to-action, here are our top secrets to crafting unforgettable birthday emails.

Automation is Your Birthday Campaign BFF

No one is to be left behind. Setting up an automated birthday campaign ensures subscribers feel acknowledged on their special day. It's not just about convenience; it's about consistency.Automation permits timely and personalized gestures that say, "We remember, and we care."

Send More Than One Birthday Email 

One email is great, but why stop there? Celebrating a subscriber's birthday isn't just about the day itself; it's about the anticipation and the afterglow.Start with a warm pre-birthday greeting, followed by the main birthday wish, and perhaps a gentle reminder or a thank-you note a day or two later. It's a prolonged celebration that keeps the connection alive and makes your brand memorable.

Ensure a Smooth Redemption Process 

If you're gifting your subscribers a birthday treat (and we highly recommend you do!), make the redemption process a breeze. The last thing you want is for them to jump through hoops on their special day. Whether it's a discount code, a freebie, or exclusive access, ensure they can claim it effortlessly.Part of this is ensuring a clear and compelling CTA. Whether you're nudging them to shop a birthday sale, read a special message, or claim a gift, your CTA should stand out.

Design Unforgettable Birthday Emails with Beefree

Whether it's a heartfelt message, a special discount, or an exclusive offer, it is proven that birthday emails strengthen brand-consumer relationships. And with only 31% of retail email marketers sending birthday greetings, there's a huge opportunity for you to stand out.As shown above, playing with color, layouts, images, and interactive elements is the name of the game. And while it might seem challenging and time-consuming at first, it doesn't have to be.With an intuitive drag-and-drop interface and a catalog of over 1,600 templates, Beefree makes designing birthday emails a piece of cake ;).Not sure where to start? Try this free birthday email template.

Navigating the world of email marketing can be a maze, especially when you're trying to pinpoint the perfect moment to send out that meticulously crafted newsletter. It can be even more complicated when there are multitudes of studies on the World Wide Web that offer different insights into what the "perfect time" is.Yes, we wish it were as simple as stating, "Friday at 10 AM," but the truth is various factors influence when the "right time" is for you and your audience. And while we cannot tell you directly "This is THE time," what we can do is share some of the nuances that will help you get one step closer to making data-driven decisions.

Why is newsletter timing important?

Ever heard the saying, "Timing is everything"? Well, in the world of email marketing, that couldn't be more true.Finding the right time to engage with your audience is crucial to determine the effectiveness of your communication. For example, sending newsletters at a time when your audience is more likely to be in their inbox (i.e., 9 am -5 pm for business professionals) can help increase open, click-through, and conversion rates.As a first step, we suggest looking at your existing data and trying to identify patterns in your audience's behaviors.

When is the Best Time of Day to Send a Newsletter

Every audience is different. Your subscribers might have unique habits, quirks, and preferences that set them apart from others, so try to identify those first. Based on your findings, here are some times that may work for you and your audience:

Morning (6 am - 11 am):

• 6 am - 8 am: According to Sleep Advisor 30% of millennials check their emails within 15 minutes of waking up. They are likely still in bed on their mobile phones. 
• 8 am - 11 am: Email open rates rise as the workday kicks off. Campaign Monitor's data suggests that over half of all opens happen between 9 am – 5 pm, with peak open times just before and after lunch.

Afternoon (12 pm - 5 pm):

• 12 pm - 2 pm: Lunch breaks offer a window where subscribers might take a quick glance at their emails. Because lunchtime is usually a time to decompress, the length of your emails should be kept short and to the point. 
• 2 pm - 5 pm: The afternoon sees a mix of mobile and desktop opens. While some might be looking for a distraction, others might be too engrossed in work.

Evening (6 pm - 10 pm):

• 6 pm - 8 pm: While this might not be a great time to send B2B emails as professionals are winding down from work, this time is great for lifestyle, entertainment, or e-commerce newsletters.
• 8 pm - 10 pm: This is when identifying your audience's unique quirks will come in handy. If, for instance, you're targeting bartenders, then for many, this is actually the start of their work day! But, if your audience is an NYU professor, we suggest waiting until the morning. 

While your sending time will vary, one thing remains the same - emails must be optimized for mobile and desktop screens. By ensuring they're optimized for both viewing experiences, you're meeting your audience right where they are, no matter the time of day.

Best Day of the Week to Send a Newsletter

The day of the week you choose to send out your newsletter can significantly impact its open and click-through rates. Various studies have shared their own findings based on their unique audiences. Here's the consensus:

• Mondays: Monday emails can be hit or miss. While the open rates are comparable to the other days of the week, the click-through rates are not. Our guess is that this might be because most people are clearing out their inboxes from the weekend and might be overlooking or ignoring the actual email content. 
• Tuesdays to Thursdays: These days are often considered the prime days for sending newsletters. Midweek emails have higher open rates as people are more active and engaged with their inboxes.
• Fridays: As the week winds down, so does the effectiveness of email campaigns. However, if your content is more relaxed or weekend-focused, Friday might suit you.
• Weekends (Saturday & Sunday): Open rates tend to drop during the weekends as people are less likely to check their emails. 

The studies show us that, likely, everyone will be sending out emails on Tuesday. Part of your strategy could also be sending emails when there's minimal competition! If you're bold and want to stand out, maybe test out a weekend send and see how that works!

Factors That Influence the Best Time to Send Email Newsletters

Location & Time Zone

Time zones can be tricky, and what's prime time in one region might be the middle of the night in another.A fascinating tidbit from Mailchimp suggests that newsletters sent at 10 am in the recipient's local time zone often hit the sweet spot. But here's the twist: cultural nuances and typical workday rhythms can shake things up. For instance, a country with a siesta culture might not appreciate midday emails as much as one without. The key? Know your audience, understand their routines, and tailor your timing to match.

B2B vs. B2C

The industry you're in can also play a pivotal role in determining the best send times. B2B (Business to Business) emails, for instance, often see higher open rates during the workweek, especially on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, as reported by Campaign Monitor.On the other hand, B2C (Business to Consumer) emails might perform better during weekends when consumers have more leisure time to check their personal emails.

Seasons and Holidays

As the holiday jingles start playing, e-commerce brands often witness their email engagement soar, with subscribers eagerly hunting for those Black Friday deals or festive offers; however, industries like real estate or B2B services might find that their emails experience a lull during these busy times.If seasonality may be a hindering factor in your marketing efforts, start thinking early on about how to adjust your time and day during the seasons. After all, if you typically send emails on Thursday, when November rolls around, you should avoid sending them on Thanksgiving.On the other hand, you can leverage the seasons to help guide your email marketing strategy.According to Omnisend's research, holiday campaigns have a 45% higher open rate than non-holiday campaigns.

Tips for Determining the Best Time to Send Your Email Newsletter

If you've made it this far, you're familiar with all the nuances influencing "the perfect time" for sending your newsletter. While it can seem like there is a lot of conflicting information out there, we want to help avoid the overwhelm! As mentioned earlier, let your data guide you and spend some time monitoring results, over time you'll find the optimal time for you. Here's what to focus on:

• Audience Segmentation: Segmenting your audience based on behavior, location, or preferences can help tailor your send times based on time zone, seasonality, and peak attention time. 
• Monitoring Newsletter Performance: Keep a close eye on your email metrics. Tracking open rates, click-through rates, and engagement over time can provide insights into when your audience is most active.
• A/B Testing: Don't be afraid to experiment! Send the same email at different times or days and monitor which performs better. Over time, this can help you pinpoint the most effective send times.
• Subscriber Feedback: Sometimes, the best approach is the direct one. Consider running a quick survey asking your subscribers when they prefer to receive emails. Their feedback can be invaluable.
• Analyze Past Campaigns: Look back at your previous campaigns. Identify which ones had the highest engagement and see if there's a pattern in the send times.

Boost Newsletter Engagement With Eye-Catching Design

Sending an email at the perfect time is all about optimizing engagement, but finding the right time is only half the battle. The other half? Ensuring it's presented in a visually appealing manner. An engaging design captures attention, enhances readability, and encourages clicks. Beefree makes ensuring all three a breeze.With over 1,600 email and page templates and a drag-and-drop editor, Beefree makes it super easy to create emails that resonate with your audience and quickly export using your favorite sending platform.The best part? It's free. Sign up now and happy designing!