Data-driven decision making

Email marketing provides unprecedented insight into your customer interactions. Beyond basic metrics, you can track exactly how customers progress through their journey with your brand. This includes understanding which content resonates most, identifying optimal sending times for different audience segments, and measuring the exact return on your marketing investment.

According to Campaign Monitor, businesses can track:

• Who opens their emails (average open rate: 21.5%) 
• Which links people click (average click-through rate: 2.3%) 
• How many emails lead to sales 
• When people unsubscribe 

This data helps you make each email better than the last. 

Direct access to your audience

Unlike social media where algorithms control content visibility, email provides direct inbox access. This direct line means more control over when and how you reach customers, leading to better engagement rates. 

Email also allows for sophisticated personalization beyond just adding names. You can tailor content based on past purchase behavior, website interactions, geographic location, customer lifecycle stage and more. 

Getting past the spam folder 

It’s not enough just to send emails—they need to reach the inbox. Nearly 1 in 6 emails never make it to the inbox, usually due to poor sender reputation, spam-triggering content, and outdated email lists. 

Dealing with audience fatigue 

Everyone’s inbox is crowded. The average office worker receives 121 emails per day, and that number keeps growing. When people feel overwhelmed, they’re more likely to unsubscribe or simply stop engaging. Research from Constant Contact shows that 69% of users unsubscribe because they receive too many emails. 

Creating content that people actually want 

Coming up with fresh, relevant content for your emails is tough. Sometimes, it’s about shifting the focus from what you want to say to what your audience wants to read. 17% of people unsubscribe from emails if the content feels overpromotional or spammy. 

Build your email list the right way 

Buying email lists might seem like a shortcut, but it usually backfires. Research consistently shows that organic email lists perform far better than purchased ones, with much higher open rates and engagement. Instead of taking shortcuts: 

• Create valuable content people want to sign up for 
• Use sign-up forms on your website 
• Offer something useful in exchange for email addresses, like guides or discounts 

Smart segmentation makes a difference 

Not everyone in your audience wants the same thing. Breaking your email list into smaller groups helps you send more relevant messages. According to Campaign Monitor, marketers who use segmentation see significantly higher open rates and click rates than those sending the same message to everyone. Think about grouping your audience by: 

• How they interact with your content 
• What they’ve bought before 
• Where they are in their customer journey 

Craft subject lines that get noticed 

Your subject line is like the headline of a newspaper—if it doesn’t grab attention, the rest doesn’t matter. While there’s no magic formula, research shows that personalized subject lines get opened more often. Some proven approaches: 

• Keep it short and clear 
• Create a sense of urgency (without being pushy) 
• Ask interesting questions 
• Test different approaches to see what works for your audience 

Compliance and data protection

Email marketing regulations can seem daunting, but they’re actually an opportunity to build trust with your audience. GDPR and CAN-SPAM Act compliance helps you avoid penalties, but it also demonstrates respect for your subscribers’ privacy. Maintaining detailed records of consent, providing clear unsubscribe options, and being transparent about data usage all contribute to a stronger relationship with your audience. 

Keep your lists clean by regularly removing inactive subscribers and bounced addresses. This not only helps with compliance but also improves your sender reputation and delivery rates. Remember to include your physical business address in marketing emails and make it easy for recipients to understand how their data is being used. 

Regular audit of your email practices helps ensure ongoing compliance: 

• Review consent mechanisms quarterly 
• Update privacy policies as regulations change 
• Train team members on compliance requirements 
• Document all email marketing processes 
• Maintain detailed subscriber records 

Make mobile your priority 

Over 40% of email opens happen on mobile devices. Mobile optimization is about responsive design, but it’s also about understanding how people actually read emails on their phones. Consider someone checking their email during their morning commute or between meetings. They’re likely scanning quickly, looking for relevant information. This means your content needs to be immediately engaging and easy to digest. 

Structure your mobile emails with: 

• Clear, compelling headlines that grab attention 
• Short paragraphs that are easy to scan 
• Strategic use of white space 
• Images that enhance rather than overwhelm 
• Clear calls-to-action that stand out 

Remember that mobile users often save longer emails for later reading on desktop devices. Make sure your design works seamlessly across all platforms, maintaining your brand’s visual identity while adapting to different screen sizes. 

Testing: Your path to better results 

The best way to improve your email marketing is to try new things and learn from the results. Stop guessing and start looking closely at what works for your specific audience.  

HubSpot’s research shows that companies that regularly test their emails see 37% better results. The trick is to keep it simple at first. Start by testing one thing at a time, like trying different subject lines with small groups or sending emails at different times. When you find something that works, build on that success. 

The power of smart automation 

Email automation no longer means cold, robotic messages. Today’s automation tools help you send warm, timely emails that feel personal. Think about the last time you got a friendly welcome email right after signing up for a service, or a helpful reminder about items in your shopping cart. These automated touches can make a big difference—personalized automated emails get opened up to 4 times more often than generic bulk messages. 

The key is making sure your automated emails feel personal and work together smoothly. Tools like Templafy can help by managing email signatures and brand consistency across all your communications, while your marketing automation handles the sending schedule. This combination of automated timing and consistent branding helps build trust with your audience. 

Make your email signatures count 

Every email your team sends is a chance to make an impression. Professional email signatures might seem like a small detail, but they add up when you consider how many emails your company sends each day. Tools like Templafy’s email signature management help keep everyone’s signatures consistent and professional while turning them into valuable marketing opportunities. 

B2C success stories 

Dollar Shave Club set the standard for engaging transactional emails. Their transactional emails have open rates of around 70%, compared to the average email open rate of less than 18%. Their success comes from combining humor with clear value propositions that solve real customer problems. 

Airbnb turned their referral program into a powerful growth engine. By launching “Referrals 2.0,” which gave both sender and recipient $25 in travel credit, they increased their booking and signup rates by 300% compared to their previous referral program. Their approach shows how effective referral programs can be when backed by strategic timing and proper incentives.

B2B success stories 

Mailigen improved their email open rates from 20% to 29% by implementing behavioral segmentation. The company had previously struggled with open rates that hovered between 10-20%, which was standard for their industry. They achieved this improvement by using behavioral segmentation, which most email marketers weren’t utilizing at the time.

SmartBear Software, a B2B cloud mobile software company, transformed their marketing through automation implementation, which led to remarkable results: their lead volume grew by 200%, with 80% of global leads generated through automated trial downloads, and 85% of their revenue coming from these trial download leads. The company started with basic email campaigns and quickly expanded to implement lead nurturing across different product groups, even integrating their webinar platform into the automation solution.

Making email signatures work harder 

Email signatures might seem like a small detail, but they can make a big difference in the long run. When done well, email signature banners can help direct traffic to your website, promote new content, advertise special offers and events, and help you stand out from the crowd. This means every business email can become an opportunity for brand visibility and engagement. 

With centralized management, you can transform these everyday touchpoints into valuable marketing assets. Companies using managed email signatures report increases in campaign engagement when including targeted banners in their signatures. This approach works because these messages often appear in trusted, one-to-one communications. 

AI-powered email creation and management 

Writing compelling emails at scale can be challenging, but AI is changing the game. Templafy’s GenAI solution brings trusted, enterprise-grade AI capabilities directly into your email workflow. Instead of switching between different apps or risking unauthorized AI tools, your team can access company-approved AI assistance right within Outlook. 

The key difference is control. Unlike generic AI tools, Templafy’s solution uses custom prompts and your organization’s tone of voice guidelines to ensure consistency across all communications. This means your team can craft engaging emails faster while maintaining your brand voice and compliance standards.