Get Maximum ROI from Your Email List

Chanelle Smith
Chanelle Smith

Last updated on

April 6, 2023

Adding subscribers to your email list can be a challenge. It takes a good deal of time, not to mention money. So don’t just let your list sit there – make it work for you!

Get maximum ROI from your email list by following these smart list-leveraging tips from email marketing pros.

Test, test, test

Get maximum ROI from email list

Hey, we’re all human – none of us gets it right the first time every time, so don’t be afraid to try a few things and see what works the best. The technical name for this is A/B testing, where you test option A against option B so you can choose the most effective one.

Some email management services (including MailMunch!) allow you to A/B test easily. They’ll divide a small percentage of your email list into segments, send each of those segments a slightly different email, and see which one was more successful. The more successful option will be sent to the remainder of the mailing list. Super easy!

Don’t be a stranger

Get maximum ROI from email list

Show your subscribers that you care about what makes them unique by using customization tags to refer to them by name in the subject line or in the beginning of your email.

You can also play with segmenting your mailing list demographically – by age, region, etc. – and using different images for each group. Millennials will certainly respond to different images than Baby Boomers will, for example.

Include ways to share

Get maximum ROI from email list

Buttons that allow your subscribers to share your email on social media can go a long way with hardly any effort on your part. If they see value in what you’re sending them, they’ll pass it on to others, broadening your reach for free!

Divide and conquer

Get maximum ROI from email list

Don’t just send every email to your entire subscriber list. Let them opt in to only the subjects that interest them, and then be consistent and build trust by only sending relevant content to each list.

Let technology work for you

Get maximum ROI from email list

Here’s a great tip from Ashley Faulkes of Mad Lemmings: automate as much of the email process as possible. Aside from helping you easily A/B test, email marketing services can go a long way in making things like growth tracking and bulk emailing simple and stress-free.

Email marketing services can also help you automate series of emails so you only have to think about them once – when you’re writing them. This strategy is called a drip campaign and has many applications:

  • Welcoming someone to your email list, then following up with useful content a few days later to make them glad they subscribed
  • Automatically thanking a customer for a purchase and sending them a confirmation number
  • Hosting a “web course” that begins when a subscriber opts in, then sends a lesson a day for a short period of time

Give the people what they want

Get maximum ROI from email list

You’ve heard the old adage, “The customer is always right.” Well, Adam Vavrek from Skyword reminds us in this post that it’s true for email too. Much like allowing subscribers to opt in to only the content areas that interest them, you can also let them decide how often to hear from you. If not given that choice, many will unsubscribe if they feel they’re receiving too many emails from you!

Customer surveys can also work in your favor -- as long as you don’t call them surveys! Make them more informal, asking subscribers for feedback and inviting them to reply by emailing it to you personally. Even if your email is automated, it will feel like a valuable one-on-one interaction to them.

Along those same lines, talk to your subscribers like you would talk to a friend. Casual language in an email converts to click-throughs and sales better because it feels more personal and more trustworthy than a jargon-y email would.

Getting great ROI from your email list doesn’t have to be painful. Find technology that can take work off your plate, always remember that your subscribers are real people, and don’t be afraid to try new things!

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