2019 is here, and with it, a slew of predictions for what’s to come in 2019. As an email marketer, no doubt you’ve seen an email marketing trend list or collection of predictions; more likely, you’ve seen two or three or ten of those lists.
Last week, Marketing Land released their predictions for trends that email marketers can expect to see this year. Of note, they point out the increased importance of a “quality over quantity” approach in 2019. From “Email Marketing Trends to Expect in 2019:”
To reach the inbox every time and maximize revenue from email marketing campaigns, marketers need to ensure they are sending relevant content to high quality value email subscribers and stop focusing on the total quantity of emails sent. In the coming year, that means embracing best practices even more, such as segmentation, data hygiene, email verification and preference centers.
In addition to reaching current subscribers/customers, smart marketers will use data to drive their digital acquisition efforts and better target new subscribers. Again, quality over quantity in acquiring new subscribers will pay dividends for your email program down the road. …Smarter acquisition = greater ROI.
Of course, quality over quantity isn’t just a trend. If you want to drive more value from your email marketing program, quality is a necessity.
That’s why, if you think about it, many of the email marketing trends on their list come down to quality. Improved experiences on mobile, interactive content, personalization—it’s all about prioritizing high-quality experiences for your email subscribers before you set out to send more email.
Here are a few quick ways that you can improve the quality of your email marketing, both in 2019 and in years to come.
Build a Preference Center
Building a preference center puts your subscriber in control of their email experience. This ensures that each email is more timely and relevant, improving the quality of your outreach.
It may also help you hold on to more of your email subscribers. When a member of your email list clicks “unsubscribe,” directing them to a preference center gives you one last chance to change their mind if you provide other email options that better align with their taste for your content. Perhaps that potential unsubscriber felt that you were sending too much email; if you allow them to opt down into lower-frequency mailings, they may decide that it’s worth staying on your email list.
When it takes less effort to retain a customer than it does to create a new one, keeping more of your subscribers around can help you make sure that you put your effort where it counts: into sending high-quality email. For ideas on how to build a preference center that keeps subscribers happy, check out these preference center examples.
Improve Your Email Deliverability
Getting your email delivered is only part of the battle. What matters most is where those emails get delivered. Blasting your email list won’t deliver greater returns if those emails don’t make it to the inbox, which is why a focus on improving the quality of your email program must include a focus on improving your inbox placement.
Mailbox providers determine whether to place your email in the inbox based on the reputation of your sending IP and/or domain. If your email list doesn’t engage with your email, that’s a sign to the mailbox provider that your email is low-quality. Likewise, they might place it in spam.
One way you can prevent low engagement is by taking advantage of your email suppression lists. Suppress disengaged subscribers from certain campaigns so those ignored emails don’t affect your inbox placement rate. Speaking of suppression, you can also suppress current customers from certain promotions to keep everyone happy.
That way, you drive more value, even as you’re sending fewer emails.
Get More High-Quality Leads
When it comes to spending money on leads, it’s important to make sure your paying for the right ones. As Marketing Land points out, “quality over quantity in acquiring new subscribers will pay dividends for your email program down the road.”
Suppression lists will come in handy when it comes down to optimizing your spend. Syncing email suppression lists between partners prevents you from paying for leads who have already opted out of your communication and are therefore unusable. You can also use that list of current customers we just talked about to prevent purchasing customers you already have.
The UnsubCentral platform can help optimize even the most complex partner email program. Marketers can use UnsubCentral to sync email list data across platforms and scrub multiple lists against each other simultaneously.
The Email Marketing Trend You Can’t Ignore
Improving the quality of your lead spend is an email marketing trend you can’t ignore. Check out UnsubCentral’s lead hygiene solution to stop paying for leads you can’t use.