9 Ways to Elevate Your Email Marketing Campaigns

Whether it’s the first time or a yearly occurrence, let’s say you’ve put together a great event, with an interesting lineup of speakers, topics and venue. Your next step would be to find effective ways to promote your event and get audiences to sign up for it. 

Today, there are a whole host of strategies that your marketing team can adopt to put the word out about your event. These strategies are constantly evolving to make your relationship with your audience more relevant and meaningful. But, did you know that among all strategies that have been designed so far, email marketing remains the most impactful and cost-effective way to reach your target audience? 

Various studies reveal that email marketing consistently surpasses every other online marketing strategy in terms of ROI. It has proven to generate $42 for every $1 spent. And professional marketers have recorded a 760% increase in revenue from using just email campaigns and curated email lists. 

But, despite its proven effectiveness, and its supposedly wide adoption, many marketers have also pointed out that they haven’t reaped the complete benefits that email marketing claims to have. 

Here’s where the possible gaps could be. 

4 Reasons Why Your Email Marketing Campaigns May Not Effective 

You’re focusing on trendier channels  

With the rise of newer digital marketing channels, it’s likely that you are paying more attention to trending platforms like social media, influencer marketing, or paid advertising, inadvertently neglecting the potential of email marketing. 

A lack of email marketing resources or experience  

If you run a small business, you may be operating with limited marketing resources and budgets and not have sufficient time to plan, lay down objectives and execute email marketing campaigns effectively. This can result in underutilisation or sporadic email marketing efforts. 

Fear of being perceived as spam 

You may be hesitating to engage in email marketing for fear of being perceived as a spammer or being intrusive. However, adopting best practices, ensuring opt-in consent or legitimate interest and delivering relevant content can mitigate these concerns. 

Reading the wrong data to measure email marketing success  

Your business may be looking at superficial metrics when it comes to measuring email marketing effectiveness.  

A Merit expert says, “Businesses typically look only at open rates and click-through rates for email marketing insights. But, to build a truly effective email campaign, they need to gain a more comprehensive understanding of bottom-line results.” 

For example, they need to look at conversion metrics, revenue attribution, customer engagement and loyalty, segmentation and ROI analysis. These can help businesses make informed decisions, optimise campaigns, and maximise the true value of email marketing. 

9 Strategies to Build a Successful Event Email Marketing Campaign 

There are tried and tested ways to keep track of the evolution of email marketing techniques, and design campaigns that deliver great results. Let’s look at the best ways to build a great email marketing strategy for your business event. 

Define clear objectives & segment your audience 

Determine what you want to achieve, whether it’s driving ticket sales, increasing event registrations, or promoting engagement. For example, your objectives can be to increase event registrations by 30% compared to the previous year, promote engagement and networking opportunities during the event, or to create more buzz about your event in your industry. Once you set the objectives, you have a clear goal to work towards. 

Segment your email list based on relevant criteria such as demographics, interests, or previous engagement with your events. For example, if your event is a digital marketing conference.  

Some ways you can segment your email lists are by targeting professionals in managerial roles who are responsible for digital marketing strategies, focusing on individuals who are experts in social media marketing, or catering to small businesses that are interested in digital marketing. 

Email segmentation allows you to tailor your messaging and offers to specific audience segments, increasing the relevance and effectiveness of your emails. 

Craft compelling email content 

Create attention-grabbing subject lines and compelling email content that communicates the value and unique selling points of your event.  

Use persuasive language, highlight key benefits, and include relevant information like event details, speakers, agenda, and special offers. 

Personalise your campaign 

Leverage personalisation to make your emails more engaging. Address recipients by their names, provide personalised recommendations based on their interests or previous event attendance, and send targeted emails with relevant content. 

Keep emails mobile-friendly 

Ensure your event emails are mobile-friendly and responsive to cater to the increasing number of users accessing emails on mobile devices. Optimise the email layout, font sizes, and images to provide a seamless experience across different screen sizes. 

Build anticipation with pre-event emails 

Create a series of pre-event emails to generate excitement and anticipation. Send save-the-date emails, sneak peeks, speaker highlights, agenda previews, and exclusive offers to encourage early registrations and build momentum. 

Implement timely and strategic send times 

Determine the optimal send times for your event emails by considering your target audience’s preferences and behaviours. Test different send times and analyse open and click-through rates to optimise your email schedule. 

Incorporate strong Calls-to-Action (CTAs) 

Include clear and compelling CTAs in your emails to drive desired actions. Use actionable language and make it easy for recipients to register, purchase tickets, share the event, or engage in other relevant activities. 

A/B test your campaigns 

When you A/B test different versions, it allows you to optimise performance and determine what resonates best with your audience, leading to higher engagement and conversion rates. 

Stay on top of metrics 

Continuously monitor and analyse the performance of your event email campaigns. Track metrics like open rates, click-through rates, conversions, and ticket sales. Use the insights gained to optimise future campaigns and improve overall results. 

The Potential of Generative AI Tools on Email Marketing 

Generative AI tools like ChatGPT have a game-changing impact on email marketing. They offer a range of features to elevate your email marketing game, like analysing customer data to create personalised content and enhancing open and conversion rates.  

Real-time response capabilities enable interactive experiences, improving customer engagement. With automation and scalability, generative AI tools optimise email campaigns for increased effectiveness and customer satisfaction. 

Spotify, for example, employed AI-driven personalisation techniques to enhance its email campaigns. Using AI tools, Spotify analysed user data, including listening preferences and behaviour, to generate personalised recommendations and playlists tailored to each individual subscriber’s taste.  

This approach allowed them to deliver highly relevant and engaging email content, leading to increased user engagement, retention, and overall satisfaction with their music streaming service. 

Merit’s Expertise in Marketing Data Intelligence 

Using our proprietary technology, we source, filter and qualify marketing data from thousands of online sources. We further enrich the data with expert research to deliver accurate contact lists that yield maximum conversion rates. Merit’s marketing data has proven to: 

• Multiply your event RoI with the best target data possible  

• Drive attendance at niche events and conferences 
• Be accurate, up-to-date and tailored for your exact audience  
• Be fully compliant (GDPR in particular), transparent and audit-friendly  

We are more than just a list broker; with a proven 10-year track record in building and validating over 100 million global contacts a year, our clients can rely on us to target relevant and engaging audience groups. 

To know more about Merit’s marketing expertise, visit https://www.meritdata-tech.com/service/data/marketing-data/