Written by: Antoine Bonicalzi, Marketing Director, Cyberimpact

Email marketing is one of the best ways to market your startup.

It often gets overlooked because it’s not new. Yes, email marketing has been around, it’s “old school” but it’s still growing and evolving. Businesses of all shapes and sizes are using email to grow and prosper.

Your campaigns are only going to be effective if people actually open and read your emails. So here are eight quick email marketing tips to make your messages stand out.

We’ll focus on improving the subject line as well as the preview text. Never be ignored again!

email marketing tips

1. Invest some time working on the subject line

Unfortunately, I see a lot of very basic email subject lines, like “Company ABC March Newsletter”. I’m sorry, but nobody cares about your newsletter. What’s in it for your subscribers is what’s important.

Are you sharing great new tips? Are you promoting an irresistible offer? Your subject line needs to communicate the value you are providing. Invest some time and creative energy on your subject line. It can make or break a campaign.

2. Think about the preview text

The email preview text (also called pre-header text) is the blurb that shows up next to the subject line in your inbox (see image above). Some email marketing platforms will allow you to specify a preview text of your liking.

If that’s not the case for you, be conscious that the first few words in your email’s content will be used as the preview text. This text should be an extension of your subject line. Use it to entice your subscribers to click and read your email.

3. Use urgency

A little urgency and scarcity in your subject line can be very effective. Don’t overdo it and don’t manufacture false urgency. But, if you are legitimately promoting an offer that will end soon, say it!

4. Don’t capitalize all words

When you send an email to a friend or a colleague, do you capitalize all the words? Probably not. You want to send emails that look and feel like they are coming from a real person. Leave capitalization to book titles!

5. Keep it short and sweet

Your subject line will get truncated if it’s too long. Mobile email clients in particular display very few characters. It is recommended to write subject lines with fewer than 50 characters. The same thing goes for the preview text, we recommend a maximum of 50 characters.

6. Personalization and relevance

We all like to receive emails that feel personal and are relevant to us specifically. For that reason, don’t hesitate to use personalization in your subject line when you can.

The simplest form of personalization would be to insert your subscribers’ name in the subject line. For example: “Antoine, will you join us at this awesome event?” Test it, you might be surprised.

Relevance is also super important. Don’t always send the exact same email to your whole list.

I’m crazy about rock climbing. So I’ll be much more inclined to open an email if the subject line goes something like “Get 40% off your next pair of climbing shoes” than if it’s a more generic “40% off selected items in store.”

7. Try using emojis 😉 🐱

When’s the last time an email subject made you smile? Emojis can have that effect. They are very useful to convey or underline an emotion.

Using emojis might not work for your brand, but who knows, it just might! It’s certainly worth testing. According to a recent report from Experian, 56% of businesses using emojis in their email subject line have had a higher open rate.

8. Who is the email from?

The sender’s name is the third element that your subscribers see at first glance. And it can also play a role in optimizing your open rate. You can use the name of the company, the name of a person or a combination of the two.

I personally prefer the third option in most cases (for example, “Antoine from Cyberimpact”). Your subscribers need to recognize that name though. Do they know your name or the name of your company?

I invite you to test these different elements and see what works for you and your brand. Every time you increase your email open rate, it’s a win! Good luck!

About Antoine
Antoine Bonicalzi has been involved in digital marketing since 2009. Occupying key roles in several agencies, he has helped hundreds of small businesses succeed with digital marketing. Today, as the Marketing Director for Cyberimpact, a Canadian email marketing platform, Antoine has the responsibility of growing its user base across the country. His role involves communicating the secrets of email marketing to Canadian business

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