Should you rethink your annual marketing plan?

Email is one of the most direct ways to reach your audience online. But it’s only as effective as the content you’re sharing. Here are three ways to make your emails more engaging.

Think mobile-first

According to Litmus, more than half of emails are now opened on a mobile device. As mobile usage continues to increase, responsive email design is more important than ever. Design your emails for mobile first to get your call to action across quickly and provide a clear, captivating mobile user experience. The beauty of responsive design is that you don’t have to sacrifice your desktop experience since you’re optimizing for all screen sizes. Consider ways you can simplify and streamline text-heavy emails, such as using a single-column layout or limiting your email to one primary call to action. Finally, make sure your CTA buttons pop with contrasting colors and finger-friendly button sizes.

Get visual

Did you know our brains process images 60,000 times faster than text? Changing up your email text-to-image ratio and incorporating compelling images is a start. But why stop there when you can woo your audience with the latest visual content, including GIFs, video and emojis? Incorporating GIFs can increase click-through rates by 42 percent, and adding video to your email campaigns can triple your click rates. Another visual trend in email: emojis. According to Campaign Monitor, brands are seeing a 45 percent increase in subject lines that include emojis. Not sure if emojis are right for your brand? Try testing different types of visual content to see what resonates with your audience.

Make it personal

Stop batch ’n’ blasting, and start marketing to individuals. Personalized email communications drive click rates 241 percent higher than standard email marketing messages. Take advantage of personalization through custom fields, such as first name and dealer location, to provide more valuable and relevant information to your target audience. Consider investing in a third-party hyper-targeted or retargeting campaign that precisely targets your ideal audience based on websites they’ve visited or information they’ve shared with third-party data providers. This is a great way to complement your existing contact list and expand your lead generation efforts.