100+ Basic Lifehacks for Emailing

You can find in Internet so many recommendations like "make your email personal," "motivate to visit your website" etc. Sounds good, but how to do it? Even the advanced marketer would like to have a kind of “crib” to look in and find something useful. In the following article we compiled some practical advices we overheard, borrowed and tested; you can argue, verify and involve all of this email marketing best practices.

Open Rate

There are many factors that impact Open Rate but the most common are three: Email sender / Time / Subject. Time factor is quite complex topic to discuss, and you can see the real situation only in process of testing, or calculating the Heat map. But subject and sender are much more interesting to talk about.

What may be effective for Subject line?

1. A subject that consists of one or two words. This is not only intriguing but also good-looking for mobile devices
2. Trend words and slang. Of course use it rationally, and only when it is suitable for your audience
3. Put #hashtags, #a_lot_of_hashtags. This way, each word will be separated
4. Use quotations from songs, poems, movies. Of course from popular ones, not from underground that only you and a few of your friends know.
5. Make play with popular holidays, this is certain success. Do not use the first things that comes to mind – 99.9% guarantee that everyone shall do the same.
6. Promotional code in the subject. It makes user open email because code is hard to copy from the subject.
7. Subject essence in square brackets
8. Subject that consists of characters only
9. Personalization by city, interests, clothes sizes etc., not by name
10. Add preheader to email subject
11. Define and periodically use the top subjects (Do not open, We have two news for you). But not very often, or you will be caught
12. Create your information guides at least once a month. Curiosity will make user open the email to find out what the holiday is now.

What should we specify in Sender line?

13. The name of manager. This is the best for email campaigns that need personal treatment (f.ex., reactivation messages).
14. A special symbol that emphasizes your business
15. Add quotes, brackets or lines
16. Different sender names for different email types

Design

There are some email marketing best tips you can easily put into practice not even involving the designer :) First of all, design doesn`t mean just a good-looking banner or pictures in email. Design is a complex structure of the whole message even including the smaller elements (like dividers) that can make email better.

CTA buttons and links

17. Add CTA button to the end of email. This button often provides the most part of redirects.
18. Arrow keys or animation used in CIA button design attract user’s attention

19. Use emoji in buttons and headers
20. Add sales links to your preheader
21. In email header, highlight "Sales" with brighter color or use verbs to emphasize it
22. Add “Change interests” option

23. Add CTA button with website link right below the email header

24. Ask your questions before the CTA button or link. (Want to know how does it work? Just visit our website ->)
25. Propose the customer solution way in the button (Choose for me, What did stylists designed for me?)

Social networks

26. Make a special field for social networks in your email newsletter; use only one network button for one email to collect more clicks
27. Add the number of your social network group subscribers

28. Add the social networks invitation emails to your Welcome messages
29. Add “Share” buttons to your emails

Content and decorations

30. Provide the detailed description of your goods

31. Add the info that helps to learn more about the users in one click and then use it in further mailing

32. Make “Add to Google Calendar” option for your interesting events using the link
33. Use the client nickname if your website requires logging-in

34. Add the option to share the particular blocks of email
35. Sometimes you may compose emails in the same color range

36. Add photo when sending email newsletter on behalf of the manager
37. Catalogue of goods is sometimes better than long descriptions. (Roman.ua)

38. Add questionnaires right to email body, not by redirect link
39. Use the visual frames when designing email

40. Provide the ready sets and images of your goods

41. Add comments from the website to stimulate customers to order your goods and share their opinion.
42. Design the descriptions of your goods

43. Remove the client’s name, greeting etc if email doesn’t require personal treatment
44. Too little text? Larger fonts and alignment by center will be a kind of “visual funnel” for the CTA button

45. Add popular products or sales of the week after the main proposal of your email
46. Add the screenshot of search engine from your website, it attracts user’s clicks too

47. Add the map with your shops locations to the website footer
48. Use horizontal and vertical dividers

49. РDivide your email into separate semantic units

50. If your discount is valid offline - add "Print discount" button
51. Use quotations, they are shared well

52. You can periodically change the products description cards, three-two-one goods in a row
53. Make play with block sizes

54. Use dynamic content to collect data

55. Banner in the first screen increases transfer rate of the entire email - do not forget about it
56. Sometimes you can send Plain-text messages
57. Personalize emails not only by name but also by interests, cities, views, etc.
58. Make accent not on goods only but on a ready image / set

This is how it looks when redirecting to website:

59. One email - one action. There may be some additional options but they should not overshadow the main offer
60. Include the manual on how to use the promotional code (or demonstrate it schematically)
61. Speak about your advantages, repeat your slogan

Pictures

62. Replace descriptions with graphics and infographics

63. If the entire email consists of pictures only - add at least the brief info about the company or sales terms beyond the footer. Protect yourself against the nitpicking of email services
64. Add the pics of how product looks in real size / on models

65. Get rid of these boring “top / bottom” or “right / left” alignment types

66. If you use the decorative fonts - use the pictures, let clients see your email just like you planned it
67. Picture resolution is everything. Say "No" to pics from the stocks and with gritty, earthy-gray faces
68. Add price categories for customer convenience

Header

69. Add animation to the “Sales” block or popular category - highlight it
70. Add “Enter your personal account” link to the header
71. Show the bonus card balance, the accumulated bonuses
72. Replace the descriptions with icons or vice versa. Then look at user's preferences

Animation

73. Replace the product manuals / service descriptions with animation gif
74. Show the goods represented in the promotion

75. Do not make the entire email animated but use it as accents
76. Use no more than one animation for one scrolling
77. Show products from all sides
78. Add an animated "Play" button to the screenshots taken from video
79. Make a GIF animation from the video fragment and add it to email. It will urge user to watch it full; so, the click is needed
80. Add links to previous newsletters
81. Plan the animation in such way that will motivate user to read full email and stay at the message page longer

How to make clients read your emails down to the bottom?

82. Add more “air” to emails
83. Make them to know that best offers or promotional codes are usually hidden somewhere at the bottom
84. Hide some blocks when viewed on phones, so they will not extend email
85. Arrange the zigzag-shaped visual guides (arrows, chains, threads) extended down to the end of message

86. Number the products

87. Set the goods in such order when every scroll demonstrates the “tail” of the next product; so, user will scroll further because of curiosity

Sending emails

Some simple ways how to keep your subscribers and not make them bored of the same monotonous subjects. So, try to send emails: 

88. Not before events but after (holiday, movie premiere etc.)
89. Send repeatedly to those who did not open the first time, but with a different theme
90. Make a schedule of competitors mailings and do not send emails at the same time with them
91. Reminding emails about the end of sales as Push or Viber - users react them faster.

Newsbreak

92. Send info mails sometimes. Promo messages can make users get tired
93. Tell about your features, website updates (having in mind the client’s profit from this information)
94. Invite clients to your updated website / new section and ask their opinion.
95. Catch the trends (check what is mostly talking about right now). There are 3-4 days until the news is on the top, then interest decreases
96. Images, habits, life style of media stars is a good motivation to buy
97. Send successful email again only changing the subject and banner
98. Find common “pains” (even a little trivial) that are familiar to your subscribers

Offer

99. Set the limited terms, up to a maximum of 5 days
100. Add products sizes, colors, models etc.

101. Make special promotional codes for subscribers (club members)
102. Divide the message into chapters, or consecutive steps

103. Make special blocks with groups / sets of goods
104. Special proposals and collections for calendar holidays
105. Arrange sales of one day / week / calendar number. Accustom your clients to mega discounts available this time
106. Make 1 + 1 sets: this product is usually being bought with that

107. If you use countdown timers - set no more than 2 days. Otherwise there is no urgency for the client to make a decision right now.
108. Photos that show traffic are attracting more clicks

Automation

109. Automate as many emails as possible
110. Make chains of several confirmation mails of subscription, preorders etc.
111. Reactivate not after 3, 6, or 9 months, but accordingly to customer's life
112. Use several different methods of communication in one scenario (email, push, SMS, viber)
113. Do not write "we are watching you, you watched it" - would be better to say "take a look what we have chosen for you"
114. Give a discount on emails about the abandoned basket only in 2nd or even 3rd mail. The customer may be ready to buy product even without any discount.
115. Make a map of the triggers. Really. Right now. So you will see the ways of further development, which triggers you need to strengthen / replace / update.
116. In the first reactivation email, do not say what do you reactivate, and of course don`t give any discounts. Just make your message unlike regular mailings

Common info

117. "Unsubscribe" link have to be accompanied with descriptive text about what client will lose if stops reading your emails
118. Specify the reason why do you send emails to the client: "you are our client", "you have agreed"
119. Add "This is spam" button at the bottom of email, but in fact this link leads to unsubscribe button - it reduces the number of complaints
120. Work with the stripes - it will make your emails noticeable on user`s desktop

Analysis

115. Read the unsubscribe reasons - sometimes you can find pretty sensible notes there
116. Compare spam markings rate of different emails
117. Calculate the subscribe terms of users involved through contests and make special offers for them
118. Check the domain statistics