Email has often been overlooked in recent years, as newer, “shinier” platforms emerged and marketers got caught up in the promise of something different. But, the fact remains that email is still a daily staple of most people’s lives. Even if it’s not in the limelight as much, its usage is constant – and expected to continue growing each year. Case in point: in 2019, the average worker was said to receive close to 126 emails per day.
So, where does that leave us? If you’re the owner of a small to medium-sized business, email is not to be underestimated. Instead, it must be maximized. But in order to make that happen, your emails need to come out consistently the same across platforms and modes. This is an important step that is often forgotten. To help you improve, here are two key tips to making the most of your email strategy.
1. Remember various modes.
First, understand that how you view an email you’re sending in Constant Contact, Mailchimp, Outlook or any other system isn’t always how your recipient will view it. So, don’t craft your emails based on how a particular email program will read them, but rather how they will best be universally read.
For example, consider dark mode. If your recipient has changed their settings to dark mode, your email may show up differently to them than how you designed it. If you have light text on a dark background, for instance, they may just see the light text and no background since it will be dark set against dark.
This is just one example of how a recipient might view your email, but there are plenty of different modes, platforms and settings that your audience could potentially use. When you design with this in mind, you avoid using platform-specific settings and instead turn to best practices for universal readability.
2. Review and test.
In an effort to “get communications out,” many business leaders put emails together without much thought. But the fact is, if you’re not reviewing and testing your promotional and business emails, you’re not set up for success. So, what’s the best way to get started testing?
You can perform a homegrown test of sorts, by sending out your emails to employees and asking for feedback. But, using dedicated testing sites is a better bet. It will be faster, and will yield you more helpful results. Here are a few of the best testing websites to check out, try them all to find the ones that you like most:
This platform can help you preview your emails through multiple platforms. It gives you numerous options and is considered to be the best of the best.
If you want to preview how your emails will look across an array of devices, this one’s for you. Email on Acid lets you do that on more than 90 clients and devices.
This platform helps you review your reputation as an email sender (did you realize you have one?). This can help you gauge the effectiveness of what you’re sending out, and how willing a recipient may be to read what they get from you.
CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer
While this program was originally meant to help businesses hone in on the best possible headline for a blog post, it works like a charm for subject lines too. You can use it to make sure your subject lines are built for optimal open rates – and perceptions.
While keeping rules for universal readability in mind and making sure to test your emails might not seem groundbreaking, they’re regularly overlooked best practices that can make a world of difference. Are you ready to take email from being a simple communication mechanism, and elevate it to an actual sales tool? Now you can.
