7 best email practices that will build your brand

Email marketing is IN – and in a BIG way. If you’re a creative business owner ready to grow your brand using email in 2022, this post is for you. At Black Diamond Copy Co, we want to make sure you’re getting the best return on your email marketing efforts.

But sending out random emails to your list isn’t going to cut it. You need to tick a few checkboxes to start seeing results in your inbox and your sales. Below are my 7 best email practices to build your brand, increase your impact, and create a loyal following that can’t wait to buy your products.

#1 Always include an unsubscribe button in your emails. 

Accept and respect the fact that people might no longer be interested in your emails, and that’s totally fine! What initially got them on your email list might be irrelevant or no longer useful for them. We promise it’s always better to have people unsubscribe from your list than report you as spam.

We also highly recommend putting an opt-out link in your promo emails to reduce unsubscribes or reports as spam when you’re in an active launch. This allows subscribers to leave your launch list but keeps them on your main list so that down the line, they will still receive a future offer that might be more aligned with their needs.

#2️ Place the call-to-action button in such a way that it’s easily noticeable and tappable

This is less of a copy tip and more of a design best practice. Make your CTA buttons obvious and noticeable. One of the easiest ways is to use color on your button. For example, a brighter color CTA button like red or orange boosted conversations rates by 21-32.5% (QuickSprout).  

This applies not only on desktops but also on mobile devices (pro tip: always send yourself a test email before emailing your entire list, then check both views)

#3 Avoid adding any shortened links in your email CTA buttons.

URL shorteners are useful in some circumstances, but when it comes to your email, it’s best to stay away from them. Why? Using shortened links is an easy way to get your emails marked as spam. Spammers also use shortened links which have compromised the reputation of URL shortener providers –at least inside your emails. 

Read: if you have a bitly URL, don’t use it in place of the longer URL in your emails.

Using a branded domain helps your email platform identify a credible link (and not mark you as spam), and it shows people a branded link indicating where their final destination is. 

#4 Just include one CTA

While we’re on the topic of CTAs, it’s important to note that having one single CTA in your email will increase your clickthrough rates by 371% (WordStream)

Giving your subscribers too many options can cause choice paralysis. Too many options can also confuse your reader and discourage them from clicking any button at all! And we don’t want that happening. 

#5 Limit jargon and difficult words in your emails. 

You want readers to identify themselves in your writing and get addicted to your emails. They won’t be enticed to stay if they don’t know exactly what you’re saying because you’re using big words or jargon that’s not in their lingo. 

Keep your emails as easy to read as possible. This includes your copy and your formatting. Break your copy into smaller chunks. Use bullets to make a paragraph look shorter. We recommend using shorter sentences, too since time is limited. Keep it short, sweet, highly valuable, and straight to the point!

#6 Design a responsive email 

Triple check that your email looks good, responds well, and works wonderfully on all devices, no matter the screen size. Your subscribers will be reading your emails from phones, tablets, desktops, and even Andriod or iOS devices. Making sure your emails are responsive for every subscriber is key. Triple check that your email looks good, responds well, and works wonderfully on all devices, no matter the screen size. 

If they can’t read your emails, how will they absorb the value you’re providing? If they have to zoom in and scroll in because your email template isn’t working on their device, how will they read the compelling sales copy you wrote describing the same frustrations they’re currently feeling?

If your subscribers delete your emails because they are poorly designed or don’t work with their devices, let’s fix that! Because you’re leaving sales on the table and, ultimately, aren’t helping your people with their problems when you don’t consider this element of your subscriber’s journey!

#7 Test your emails!

Whether you A/B test, heat maps, or scroll maps, it’s essential to know what your users are doing when they read your email and how they interact with your CTA button. This gives you incredibly valuable information on what you’re doing wrong and what you’re doing right inside your emails. 

We encourage all of our email clients to test their emails to find the best performers to get the biggest return from their email efforts!

If you’re a business owner, you need to be active in with your email campaigns because they are paying off tenfold. Here’s how email campaigns and email marketing can build your brand: 

1. They lower your bounce rate

2. They increase your sender’s reputation

3. They increase your email deliverability

These things are all super important if you’re focusing on growing your email list and making email marketing a priority in 2022.

If you haven’t implemented these changes yet, please do them ASAP! We’re here for you if you have questions or need help with email best practices, email copy, email tech, or emails in general! Click here to hop on a call to see how we can best serve your email (and other needs)!