Email marketing might seem like an outdated approach, but that just isn’t true! It’s still one of the most effective – and lucrative – forms of digital marketing in 2021.

But with so many email marketing methods to choose from, which are really worth the effort? We asked brilliant marketers from the world of online business for their thoughts on modern email marketing and the best ways to do it.

Multi-Format Mastery

Like everything in the world of marketing, novelty and originality are two of your greatest allies. Switch of formats and content types to keep your audience engaged and excited.

“At Supergreat, we offer a user-generated video platform for the beauty community so people can connect to share products, reviews, and tips. To personalize their experience, we look to behavior analytics to see which of our site pages users are most going to and how they interact with the content we feature. That way, we can deliver emails that include a new quote from a Supergreat product review they may be interested in and an excellent photo of their favorite community member in action.” – Tyler Faux, Founder and CEO of Supergreat

“Eye-catching aesthetics is key in every aspect of email marketing. Treat your email subject lines as you would for any advertising or press campaign headline. It is equally as important. Make it something engaging or something newsworthy. Also, emojis have been known to immediately draw the consumer eye to your email, so utilize emojis when you can to perfectly convey your message.” – William Schumacher, CEO of Uprising Food

“Switch up your email campaigns! Consumers are obviously interested in your product or service if they have made it onto your email list. Product emails are important to highlight, promotions are also essential to drive more business. Now try drafting up educational emails just to simply enlighten your customers, without them feeling like they need to buy something, consumers will begin to look for your emails in their inboxes.” – Tyler Boyd, CEO and Co-Founder of Squeeze 

Personalization Power

We’ve all seen those mass emails devoid of personality or a targeted message. Be sure your emails are crafted with a personal touch so that recipients are eager to click.

“Since your goal is to get your recipients to open the email, be creative with your subject line. Incorporate emojis and symbols to make it stand out amongst other emails. Once they spot your email, have a clever subject line that will prompt them to open it.” – Dr. Robert Applebaum, Owner of Applebaum MD

“Email has a unique ability that allows for more personalized messages. Social media and other channels don’t lack this quality. You can create valuable, personal touches at scale and bring in tremendous traffic in the process.” – David Newman, Author of Do It! Marketing

“Do not underestimate the power of a great subject line! Using personalized marketing based on your audience’s interests will attract their attention and help with conversion rates. We typically see a larger conversion rate when email subject lines promote content that your readers will benefit from.” – Chris Vaughn, CEO and Founder of Saucey

“For repeat customers, we make a point to let them know how much we appreciate their loyalty. For example, when someone leaves feedback on our site, they’ll receive an email thanking them for the review. Additionally, within the email, we suggest other products they may also like and even offer discounts. As you can imagine, this works wonders for ongoing business.” – Harris Rabin, Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer at R3SET

“Pre-pandemic email campaigns were much easier to structure and enforce. With the consistent sense of uncertainty, we had to step back from business as usual to ensure we were updating our customers in real-time. Jumping right back into normal marketing strategies wasn’t the plan we were advised to go – easing back into campaigning worked for our business.” – Tirzah Shirai, CEO and Founder of The Blink Bar

Marketing Fundamentals

Email is simply the canvas for your marketing materials and the message you wish to convey to customers. Keep those fundamentals strong to boost your chances of success.

“At its very core, marketing is storytelling. The best email campaigns take us on an emotional journey – appealing to our desires – while also informing us about a product or service.” – Marketing and UX Consultant Melinda Partin

“Start with a very secure email list. The best way to build up your email list is to spread brand awareness and secure emails through market research. Try to get your clientele in early with specific deals and newsletters. Be a presence in their inbox without being a nag. You have to cater to your consumers’ interests; do your research and provide substantial content from those results.” – Joe Parenteau, Co-Founder of Fable

“Email marketing is still a top way to drive business. It is an easy and subtle way to constantly be in contact with your consumers. Successful email campaigns are notably structured and subjected to the goals of the company. What do you want to achieve by creating this email campaign? If you can ask yourself this question and then properly structure your emails based around your end goal, you will be successful.” – Lo Bosworth, CEO and Founder of Love Wellness 

Analyze, Adjust, and Upgrade

There is no shortage of powerful email marketing analytics tools you can use to your advantage. Stay tuned to your dashboards to analyze performance and make the necessary improvements in real time.

“A/B testing lets you experiment with multiple versions of email campaigns to see which one has the best results. Tailor the emails to the recipients by including their name and personalized information, like their birthday. Keep in mind that timing is everything so research when you should send the emails to increase the likelihood of being opened.” – Carrie Derocher, CMO of TextSanity

“Your email segment is arguably the most important part of email campaigns. You want to send the right message at the right time to the right customer. It’s important to track your customer’s on-site behavior and use them to improve your segmentation. For example, if you are launching a new product, make sure to send the email to customers who visited your page recently or added a different product to their cart. This level of personalization ensures that you are sending the right message to the right customer.” – Danielle Calabrese, COO of De La Calle 

“Maximize your email campaigning potential by setting concrete goals. Sending emails with your goal in mind ensures the email design is more simple and its message is straightforward. By doing this you are able to choose graphics and subject lines effortlessly.” – Michael Waxman, CEO and Co-Founder of Sundays for Dogs

Email marketing is back and better than ever. In truth, it never really left! Use these pro tips to reinvigorate your email marketing campaigns, then watch the traffic – and sales – start to flow.