New Year, New Campaigns: 5 Keys to Achieving Email Marketing Success in 2020

As 2019 winds down, do you know what marketing strategies you should be implementing in the new year? We’ve highlighted five key concepts to incorporate into your 2020 email campaigns.

1. Automation

The customer experience is said to have more influence on donors than ever before. Marketing automation is one way to ensure that those donors and prospects are being nurtured efficiently and effectively. Use triggers and workflows to automatically send messages to prospects when they take a specific action.

Email marketing automation is now easier than ever to implement. With the ability to A/B test subject lines and calls to action, organizations can leverage software to optimize and personalize their communication. Implement custom copy, sequences, and timing for your segments.

2. Interactivity

Quality content in your emails increases your credibility and establishes you as the authority in your space. Keep it short and sweet. Ideal email design should include a few lines of content, a clear call to action and a seamless experience from reading to donating.

Test out the newest email elements that encourage interactivity like animated buttons, photo carousels, accordion features, polls and more! Your supporters are more likely to share content on social media if they like what they see in your emails. The more interactive your emails, the higher the appeal and response rate.

3. Personalization

Supporters now expect personalized communication. By segmenting your audience and distributing tailored content, you can increase email open rates, lower unsubscribes, and achieve higher conversion rates. Grouping your contacts by age, gender or location is a good start. Use the data you have already to scale your automation with personalized content based on a supporter’s unique history or journey.

Your content should meet your prospects’ expectations while allowing them to learn more about your cause. Today’s email marketing strategy should attempt to connect with each contact at an individual level across their entire supporter journey. Remember, the right content will go a long way in the right hands.

4. Accessibility

Voice assistants are now more popular than ever. Smart speakers can even read emails aloud to consumers. Ensure your emails are designed with accessibility in mind and contain content that is concise and readable by a wide range of devices. Don’t forget to make sure your emails are optimized for mobile viewing!

5. Tracking

In the end, tracking is important when it comes to measuring the success of your email campaigns. Open to Send ratios and Click to Open Rates are two main categories to observe if you’re just starting out. With today’s marketing software you can even evaluate which users opened emails, clicked links, and completed forms. This information can be used throughout the supporter journey and is very valuable!

By implementing these best practices, you can build a robust communication strategy that keeps supporters informed, shares your mission, and helps acquire new donors. As the main means of staying in front of your audience, email plays a significant role in your marketing efforts. Take the steps to understand your supporters and communicate with them the way they like to be engaged to see success in the new year. Contact us to find out how we can help you leverage your database.

Download our eBook: Putting Your Supporters at the Center of Your Email Marketing Strategy

In case you missed it, check out these other resources:

• Four Ways to Simplify Your Email Marketing Strategy
• Four Steps to Content Marketing for Today’s Nonprofit