Email marketing best practices are critical for ensuring your emails are being well received by your audience. Depending on your email program, you might need to adjust your strategy to maximize your return-on-investment for this channel in 2019. Prepare for 2019 by reviewing the best practices every brand marketer swears by. Clean Your Email ListEmail addresses often “go bad” over time. Maybe a follower opted-in with a work email that went invalid after they left the company, for instance.

Delivering to these invalid addresses raises your bounce rate. The higher your bounce rate, the greater the odds you’ll be listed as a spammer. Emails can’t convert if they’re marked as spam. Use an email checker to remove invalid addresses before sending emails.‍

Use UGC to Boost ConversionsThe content of your emails matters more than you might realize. Brands that use user-generated content (UGC) see at least two times higher conversion rates as opposed to traditional model or stock photos. Try adding rich UGC to your emails to showcase your products in an authentic manner. When people see content from their peers that they can relate to, they’re more likely to trust the brand and convert.

‍Build Your Audience Naturally

‍The best way to grow your subscriber list is simply via your website’s opt-in form. If you buy an email list from a third party, you can’t be sure the people on it will be interested in your brand. More importantly, you could be in violation of the GDPR. You might get blacklisted as a result. This is simply one time where taking shortcuts isn’t a good idea in the long run.

‍Segment Your List

‍Followers want to receive content that’s relevant to their needs and interests. That’s why segmenting your email list is so important. Doing so has been shown to boost open rates.

On top of that, you’ll make a better impression on followers if you only send them content they’re interested in. For example, if you’re marketing a sports apparel brand, followers who live in warmer regions won’t need to see messages about your new winter gear. Segment your list so they don’t get sent irrelevant emails.

‍Use A Double Opt-In

‍A single email list opt-in lets new followers subscribe simply by entering their email addresses. A double opt-in requires them to confirm their identity by clicking a link that arrives in their inbox when they first sign up. This may add an extra step to the process of adding followers, but it also protects you from bots (and it ensures your email list is high-quality).

‍A/B Test

‍Engaging marketing campaigns provide followers with interesting or valuable content. Tracking engagement metrics like open rates and click-through rates will tell you whether your content is having the desired impact. Testing different subject lines, calls to action, and other variables will help you improve your content over time.

‍Optimize for Mobile

‍People check their inboxes via mobile devices more often than via computers these days. Make sure your email design reflects this. Avoid large chunks of text by breaking the text up with headers, short paragraphs, and bullet points. Be sure to include relevant subject line information at the start, too. This boosts the odds that your followers will see that information when checking email on a mobile device.

‍Add Volume Slowly

‍Rule of thumb: increase the volume of emails you send with each campaign by about 50% until you reach a point where you’d be sending excessive emails. A follower’s email provider might tag you as a spammer if there isn’t a history of steady delivery volume from your IP delivery address.

Again, effective email marketing is all about staying current with new trends. Remembering these points as you design campaigns in 2019 will ensure you do. As a result, you’ll continue to leverage email marketing to its full effect.

‍Rae is a graduate of Tufts University with a combined International Relations and Chinese degree. After spending time living and working abroad in China, she returned to NYC to pursue her career and continue curating quality content. Rae is passionate about travel, food, and writing, of course.