Many attempts have come forward to dissuade the rise of email. Many an influencer’s controversial claim, email’s downfall warning has been pretty popular throughout the years. Yet somehow, several studies seem to contradict these assertions so much that in 2019 running for a customer’s inbox was worthwhile, and will be so in 2020 as well.
According to The Radicati Group’s “Email Statistics Report, 2019-2023”, the total number of business and consumer emails sent and received per day will exceed 300 billion in 2020, and is forecast to grow further to over 347 billion by year-end 2023.
Source: Based on The Radicati Group, Inc. Email Statistics Report 2019-2023
Proper implementations are a conspicuous need given this steady increase of usage for both business and consumers. Why bother might you ask? Well, the power of email lies in its inherent value brought to the table. Every 1$ spent generates 38$ in ROI. It is hard to pass such a generous and effective offer, so much that companies are constantly going about fostering ideas to avoid the dreaded “delete email”.
With several laws and regulations in place (e.g. GDPR), email formats have transcended. Nowadays what you thought might be a nice-looking message is another person’s spam box junk. Consider taking this into account as an appropriate warm-up for a sound 2020 B2B email campaign.
Even if you have not bothered with adjusting your system to the technological upheaval just yet, worry not. Strong-man Global Database trainer is here to help you bulk up for 2020, which is right around the corner. If you have not worked on your gains in the previous years, reflect on following our specialized routine. A strong body and gracious email returns is to come.
Deadlift - The Core of Email Campaigns
Your muscle mass is an orchestrated balance of dexterity and finesse achieved by relying on pre-existing support and functionality. It is paramount to our quest that you can not simply work out one part without consolidating the other. The core muscles, those that attach to the spine, provide stability to all movements and earned the title of “pillar”. It transfers forces between the extremities, so most of the movements find their way back to the core. Likewise, content is the backbone of email marketing and, undoubtedly, many businesses’ weaker link.
According to a 2015 study by Microsoft, the average human attention span has dropped significantly from 12 seconds (as of 2000) to 8 seconds by the time of the research. Considering the average adult is able to read at a rate of 300 to 350 words per minute, it is quintessential to deliver a sense of thrill in about 40 words. So, grab a barbell and get to work, there is much to be done.
Instill the idea that people are busy and time is money. Therefore, in 2020 you want to deliver a valuable payload in a short amount of time. There are several techniques to help you maintain an appropriate form when performing your deadlift sets:
-
Concise text, straight to the point, focusing on the always busier world. Do not beat around the bush, say what you have to say. Keep it long enough to cover the subject and short enough to create interest.
-
Shorter copies, therefore shorter sentences. A plethora of adjectives is always there to beautify what is expressed. Unfortunately, they add to the overall length and bring a tedious feel. Cut out what you think is appropriate to ditch and leave the essence intact.
-
Appropriate wording for the appropriate audience. Customers display different interests and represent different generations. It is indispensable to articulate the suitable words to the right people. Some might not like jargon, some prefer terminology use, yet others like a joking manner of delivery. Take into account the different demographics and bear the responsibility for delivering relevant content.
-
Fitting subject line matching the content delivered. You have probably heard many quotes about things being the face of the person. The subject line is the first thing your receivers see and you do want to make a good impression. Follow proper rules so it does not go straight to the spam box
-
Content is key, so avoid sending for the sake of it. Being bombarded with countless emails is a growth deterrent. Dispatch key-content at appropriate times. Leave nothing behind, yet don’t overwhelm your addressee.
The Bench Press - 2020 Visual B2B Email Content
Next on the line in our list is a somewhat popular exercise, essential in developing upper body strength. Not only are you working your chest - accessible design, but also touching on front shoulders and triceps brachii - deliverability. More often than not, a trained chest proves useful in delivering eye-catching appearance and a sense of importance, gravity through the lines. So it is high time you cut off past habits and focus on implementing the “golden ratio”. People appreciate visual email content as long as it’s something both nice and useful to look at:
-
Use rich text format (HTML). Regular plain text does not include formatting or items like tables and images. However, it’s readable for all recipients and devices. Although stats show that plain text currently is more popular for B2B emails, using rich text gives you more possibilities. Hence, training the rich text dexterity muscle would get you ahead of many competitors.
-
Be cognizant of text justification, font, size and line spacing. Appropriate text formatting makes any document readable and comprehensible. Such consistency allows for an easy understanding of the intended message.
-
Forgo text-based images. Markup languages such as HTML and CSS have found their way into the email system. Both languages allow the user to create a bewitching copy, without infringing on a receiver’s data cap. Everything sent on the internet consumes data. On the consumption scale images usually overtake text. Small bitmap images may take the same amount of bytes as a 2,000 characters copy. A thumping 62 times difference in size. Fortunately, there are several compression techniques which allow for a smaller space at the cost of reduced quality. Nevertheless, the difference between text and image is vivid.
-
Apply colour contrast to your copy. There are several theories about how humans perceive nuances of colour, triggering various actions and reactions. Some A/B testing would help with that if you don’t have a designer on your team and no prior data to rely on. But don’t work out too much on that one.
Having worked out our core and chest, we can move on to our arms.
Biceps curl & Triceps Pushdown - Achieving Positive Email Campaigns’ Results in 2020
Are we at a crossroads when working on our arms? Beyond the aesthetics of bigger muscles, lie the primal abilities of lifting, pushing and pulling. Translating that to our digital discussion at hand: lift the content from the ground, push it towards suitable people, pull back on unresponsive inboxes.
There are several key performance indicators characteristic to email marketing: open rate, click rate, click-to-open rate, conversion rate, ROI. Treat them accordingly as this is valuable insight reflective of your choices. Once a problem has been identified, see if coming up with possible solutions is feasible, otherwise, seek external tools. We have touched on delivering content to the right people when performing the deadlift. To add to that, a more professional word would be segmentation based on geographic location, interests, purchase history, age. Get as creative as you desire; personalisation is important, and company intelligence platforms such as Global Database can ease that task for you.
Yet don’t go too hard on getting those juicy biceps centimetres, there is still some matters to discuss. Another group supporting your humerus, ulna and radius is the triceps. So far we have not put into perspective the idea of failing to make it to the inbox.
