Email Marketing Automation How to Boost Your Email Marketing

Summary

Successfully creating, implementing, and managing an email marketing campaign can be an arduous task. However, email automation tools and software can facilitate this process as they present marketers with opportunities to streamline and optimize campaigns in a way that can save a lot of time, while still delivering the desired results.

What is email marketing automation?

Email marketing automation refers to the process of using email automation software to create outbound and inbound email cadences. The goal of these emails is to encourage lead generation and demand generation from contacts collected in Client Relationship Management (CRM) systems. Email automation tools also allow marketers to construct email templates that can be easily filled by SDRs with relevant information for each target account.

Completing email cadences with automation sales elements reduces the workload of sales teams and maximizes the number of prospective clients they are able to reach. Automation also benefits marketing teams by giving them more time to prioritize tasks that require more attention. The best email marketing automation software also maintains the timeliness of emails, regardless of the number of recipients.

The best uses of email automation

Email campaigns are often composed of multiple touchpoints distributed and planned in detailed email blueprints. Well-constructed campaigns with automated workflows maintain communication with leads over an extended period of time to encourage them to make a purchase gradually, rather than immediately.

This approach aids lead nurturing and builds stronger relationships. However, it is important to not send automated emails for each touchpoint. Only elements of email cadences that require less personalization can be automated to save time such as:

Content-specific nurturing

Follow-up emails

Welcome series for new sign-ups

Thank you emails

Email newsletters

Event marketing

Thought leadership posts

News posts and updates for lead generation

Re-engagement emails

Deciding which emails would benefit from email automation tools depends on the purpose of the email and the recipient. For example, an email establishing contact with a lead for the first time should have a personalized message which delivers individual attention. On the other hand, email newsletters sent monthly to all opted-in contacts are prime candidates for automation.

Determining when best to use email marketing automation is crucial to guaranteeing its success and avoiding potential prospects feeling that they are receiving blanket messaging.

guide

Before starting with automation, it is essential to first create a detailed email marketing strategy that resonates with prospective clients.

Not sure how to begin? Read our Definitive Guide to B2B Email Marketing to discover tips and tricks for unlocking the potential of email marketing for your business, including how to craft engaging copy and CTAs.

Implementing email automation

In addition to identifying when to utilize an email marketing automation strategy for each campaign or email cadence, it is also important to fuel automation with the right information. No matter how advanced the email automation software is, without the correct data, emails are less likely to produce positive results.

List segmentation and management

As such, it is important to make sure that all contacts and leads are properly segmented into key groupings that can inform automated workflows for email marketing and campaign strategies. This can be achieved with marketing segmentation. Using multiple segmentation techniques, marketers are better able to group leads into different segments and develop automated emails to best appeal to their behaviors and needs.

Lists should be regularly updated to add and remove contacts as necessary to make sure that emails reach target audiences. This can be informed by data such as bounce rates, unsubscribe rates, and spam complaints, as well as data from other lead generation methods in place.

Marketing and sales alignment

To ensure the success of email automation, it is imperative for sales and marketing teams to be aligned with their goals. Not only does this help maintain the consistency of messaging but also the function of emails and development of automated workflows for email marketing.

As a result, sales and marketing teams should align to make the most of email automation software and adjust automated email campaigns based on insights from previous successes or failures.

guide

Not sure how to get started on aligning your teams?

Read our 10 Sales and Marketing Alignment Best Practices to kickstart your strategy for alignment and the optimization of team workflows.

5 best email automation tools in 2022

There are a multitude of different email marketing automation software and tools available for enhancing email campaigns. However, each solution comes with its own advantages that suit the different functions of email campaigns. Below are some of the best email automation tools of 2022, in no particular order.

1. MailChimp:

MailChimp automated emails are a useful tool for marketers looking to automate certain email marketing processes. However, MailChimp automated emails are particularly suited to frequent emails such as email newsletters and opt-in-based lead generation campaigns. MailChimp offers a range of features, analytics, templates, themes, and A/B testing at various prices, as well as a free version.

2. ActiveCampaign:

While it offers marketers many different features, the strongest element of ActiveCampaign is its marketing automation campaign creator. Users can take advantage of a variety of templates that can be customized to suit the specific email functions and segments. With their email marketing automation software, multiple email cadences can be mapped out as part of a campaign that can send responses based on different conditional triggers.

best email automation tools - ActiveCampaign

3. Hubspot:

Hubspot offers a myriad of different marketing automation tools to enhance and streamline different B2B marketing and sales processes, namely the Marketing Hub. Using this email marketing automation platform, marketers can create and send automated emails as well as set multiple triggers, conditions, and actions to guide automatic responses. Although its prices will likely rule out smaller businesses utilizing it, the variety of email marketing tools and opportunities for optimization make it a worthwhile investment.

Take a look at Hubspot pricing for the various plans.

4. SendinBlue:

This service is very comparable with MailChimp. However, SendinBlue not only offers more free features but also has a lower overall cost. SendinBlue also provides a variety of templates based on the function of the email such as lead generation, email newsletters, and events. Users can choose specific triggers for automated workflows for email marketing, with detailed tutorials provided for creating the first automated email marketing campaign.

best email automation tools - SendinBlue

5. Salesforce Pardot:

Among many of the salient features of Salesforce Pardot is the ability to review results at each stage of a campaign. With the email marketing automation platform, Engagement Studio, marketers can create, send automated emails and edit automated workflows for email campaigns programmed with various triggers and responses. An efficient marketing automation tool, Engagement Studio also allows marketers to switch out parts of emails that are underperforming based on statistics as the campaign progresses. This also includes data on when recipients are converting or leaving a sequence.

best email automation tools - Salesforce Pardot

5 ways to boost email marketing

Increase open rates

Even with the best-formulated email marketing campaign and email automation tools, if open rates remain low, emails are unable to live up to their potential. Below are five key steps to follow that can help to improve open rates and the reach of email marketing.

Optimize subject lines:

Well-crafted subject lines are crucial, as they are often responsible for capturing lead interest and first impressions.

Including the prospect’s name can make subject lines more captivating and add a personalized touch. The length of subject lines is also important, as subject lines longer than 10 words tend to have a lower open rate. This is also important for engaging mobile users, as 46% of all emails (Hubspot, 2021) are opened on mobile devices.

Marketers can take advantage of marketing automation software to experiment with A/B testing to determine the correct subject line strategy for their audience.

Make an offer before making an ask:

It is essential to lead emails with an interesting offer (a service or educational opportunity). Offering leads something useful makes a call to action (CTA), or ask, more acceptable and effective as it forms part of an exchange, rather than a one-sided demand. Including this offer in the preheader text of an email can also improve open rates.

guide

Companies looking to make an efficient offering often turn to content marketing to educate leads about their services, the industry, and ultimately, establish themselves as thought leaders.

So, how can you get started on building your own content that leads to conversions?

Read our Definitive Guide to B2B Content Marketing for a wealth of insights into crafting powerful content marketing with long-lasting value.

Establish the best timing for emails:

Finding the right time and day of the week to reach out to leads is a complex process that requires consistent adjustments.
However, this can be facilitated by marketing automation software. MailChimp found that while there is no exact time when an entire audience is opening emails, the optimal time is typically mid-morning during the working week.

Despite streamlined processes with email marketing automation tools, identifying the best timing for sending emails remains far from an exact science. Marketers should make judgments based on a detailed understanding of their audience and implement testing to narrow down optimal timings for their email marketing automation strategy.

Avoid spam filter language:

Jargon lessens the impact of messaging and can dissuade leads from opening emails entirely. Including a conversational tone in emails and addressing topics how target audiences describe them can help emails stand out. Avoid utilizing language which may be considered generic. Email marketing tools and automated workflows can also aid the testing of the effectiveness of different vocabulary.

Segment and clean your email list:

Manage and segment email lists to maximize the effect of email marketing campaigns and avoid receiving spam complaints. Email lists can be segmented using demographics and behavioral patterns to divide broader target audiences into specific groupings. Depending on the industry of target audiences and their needs, the way they interact with email marketing may differ.

Verify your email list with tools:

Following up on the previous item, utilizing an email validation service allows businesses to remove emails that contain typos, temporary addresses, bots, and those that do not meet qualification criteria (such as personal emails). By verifying email addresses, businesses can ensure emails contain accurate and up-to-date contact information, reducing the risk of loss of potential customers due to incorrect data.

By simply uploading your list, you can gain a list of credible contacts for your campaigns in just a few seconds. This results in more accurate metrics since you will not be targeting unreliable addresses. You are also able to protect your sender reputation by achieving lower bounce and undelivered rates this way.

Boost CTRs

As a statistic synonymous with the success of email marketing campaigns, click-through rates (CTRs) are crucial. As Constant Contact reports, as of June 2021, the average click-through rate is 11.28%. To get campaigns closer to this number and beyond, it is essential to make sure to focus on the following strategies:

Improve subject lines.

Finesse email structures.

Make enticing offers.

Create engaging CTAs.

Focus on personalization.

As CTRs are reliant on recipients opening emails, many factors are similar to those included for improving open rates. Emails should encourage prospects to interact with CTAs and strong content offers. Personalized content aids CTRs by motivating different target audiences to engage with emails. This will also result in landing pages and content marketing generating greater results.

Improve conversion rates

As an outbound marketing method, converting leads is one of the main functions of email marketing. Conversion rates are another feature of email marketing that can be improved with strategies that focus on the optimization of several email elements, many of which are similar to those of the two metrics previously discussed.

Implement automation based on behavioral triggers by using email marketing tools.

Optimize emails for mobile.

Customize content.

Grab attention with subject lines.

Segment lists carefully.

The most notable difference for enhancing conversion rates is the importance of automation. Email marketing automation has the potential to improve conversion rates by delivering emails based on a variety of triggers such as welcome emails, purchase reminders, and inactive subscriber bumps, as well as top-of-funnel and bottom-of-funnel conversion events.

This combined with optimized email formats, customized content, and attention-grabbing subject lines that appeal to specific audiences within target segments can help improve conversion rates.

guide

As the starting point for any campaign, determining target segments is essential for driving the personalization prospects expect and ultimately ensuring that strategies are successful.

Get started with our Definitive Guide to B2B Market Segmentation and learn more about the various methodologies and tactics for identifying actionable
data to fuel your campaigns.

Boost list growth rates

Not only does actively growing lists drive lead generation but it also helps to account for contact decay. List growth can be improved by implementing a variety of techniques that take advantage of the channels that a company has access to.

Email growth:

Emails themselves can be leveraged to increase mailing lists by providing readers with unique content that may lead to more shares. These shares can be incentivized and combined with opt-in campaigns and links in employee signatures to encourage interaction and list growth.

Social media growth:

Social media platforms present great opportunities for list building as they are a perfect way of sharing CTAs. Contests, newsletter previews, interactive CTAs, and backlinks are some of the many ways that social media platforms can be leveraged for list growth. LinkedIn is particularly effective as posts can easily include links to gated content as well as create discussions around important topics. Managing social media strategies across multiple platforms can also be facilitated with marketing automation software.

Website growth:

One way of boosting list building with website content is making sure that lead forms are kept as short as possible. Although the priority is to collect useful information, long forms can often dissuade visitors from completing them. Asking website visitors for feedback, including reviews, and creating a content blog visitors can subscribe to are some other effective ways to boost list growth.

Growth with a partner:

Finding the right partnership that is mutually beneficial for both parties can be useful in many ways, including list growth. Depending on the agreement in place with a partner, promotions can be published across a partner’s network, increasing their reach. Co-marketing can be another way to work with a partner to improve list building and overall brand awareness while splitting the workload. If planned ahead, these campaigns can also benefit from email marketing automation tools.

Traditional marketing growth:

Hosting live and in-person events can be an efficient way of collecting new contacts for email marketing lists. Online webinars are also effective for building lists, however, in-person “traditional” marketing events have the potential to create a more personalized, memorable experience from one-on-one interaction. Data collected can then be fed into marketing automation tools to drive future campaigns.

Maximizing forwarding and sharing rates

Increasing the rate that emails are forwarded and shared can be facilitated by specific CTAs asking for readers to share the email with someone they know. However, forwarding and share rates are most commonly enhanced organically with quality email content.

Marketers should prioritize research and segmentation to accurately personalize emails and encourage the sharing of content with others. Many marketing automation software platforms support this functionality with various templates and interactive features.

Conclusion

B2B Email marketing automation tools, when implemented correctly, can be an incredibly useful asset for outbound marketing, lead generation, and demand generation. Creating an efficient and successful email marketing campaign can be a daunting and time-consuming task. However, with the right strategy and email automation software, the results of email marketing campaigns can be boosted and maintained.

Email marketing is just one of the many strategies to prioritize as part of an omnichannel or multichannel marketing strategy.

INFUSE works with clients to develop custom campaigns designed to reach specific target markets, even beyond the inbox. With our Deep Media Nurturing solution, we are poised to employ integrated, omnichannel nurturing that facilitates your prospect’s natural progression along the buyer journey.

Contact the team at letstalk@infuse.com to get started.