Email Marketing Engagement: Improve Opens and CTR

In 2023, AZoNetwork launched our first eBook dedicated to email marketing, diving deep into over a decade's worth of campaigns. Since then, our subscriber base has thrived, ballooning from 900,000 a year ago to now over 1 million active users.

Recently, Danny caught up with Torsten, our Head of Email Marketing, to explore his top strategies and tips, aiming to empower fellow marketers in their quest to captivate audiences through email campaigns.

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Can you describe the evolution of email marketing in the scientific and healthcare industries and how AZoNetwork has adapted its strategies to this?

In my 15 years of email marketing, there's been a shift from broad, undifferentiated blasts to the entire subscriber base towards more targeted, segmented strategies. Understanding and engaging subscribers with content tailored to their interests and engagement history has become key. At AZoNetwork, we've adapted by leveraging data to finely segment our audience, ensuring content relevance and their continued engagement.

How do you segment and update the subscriber base to do this?

Segmentation is based on various criteria, including interest areas and interaction with previous campaigns. Knowing where subscribers are in their buying journey, whether gathering information or considering a purchase, helps us tailor content that will resonate. Our development team's involvement with the email platform enables us to collect and utilize this information effectively.

What challenges do you face when trying to appeal to different audience segments in email creation, and how do you address them?

Targeting niche areas within healthcare and engineering requires effort to tailor content specifically for different groups. While this involves more work, the payoff in terms of engagement and return on investment justifies the effort. It's about understanding the diverse needs within an industry and addressing them directly.

For example, if all your customers work in aerospace, it might be a single industry but there are many different roles and specialisms. If you send a blanket email, engagement will be low, whereas if you can get more sophisticated and targeted groups within that industry, you’ll see a profitable return.

What does a product marketing email campaign look like?

A successful product marketing campaign is built over several stages, starting with general information and gradually focusing more on product specifics. This setup encourages subscribers to the point where they're ready to engage with product-focused content, thereby boosting click-through rates.

What content strategy generates the most leads in the scientific and healthcare fields, and why?

A mix of general awareness, application-focused, and product-related content works best, following a 60/30/10 percentage ratio. Starting with broad information helps generate awareness, moving towards more specific applications, and finally product details. This strategy aligns with the subscribers' buying journey and maintains their interest by providing value.

Which resources have generated the most clicks/leads when shared via targeted email?

Downloads such as ebooks, brochures, and white papers tend to perform very well. Offering something tangible that subscribers can download and view at their leisure adds inherent value, appealing to a broad yet specific audience within the industry.

Could you explain the methodology behind deciding the optimal title length for email campaigns and its impact on subscriber engagement?

Our analysis over 13 years of emails from AZoNetwork shows that shorter titles perform better, likely because professionals appreciate concise, to-the-point communication. Titles around 50 to 60 characters tend to hit the mark, respecting the subscriber's time and increasing direct engagement.

Can you discuss the rationale behind the specific call-to-action (CTA) strategies recommended by AZoNetwork?

CTAs vary significantly with content type. For instance, “download” works well for ebooks, while more straightforward CTAs like “read more” perform better with general content. Our research shows that the use of clear, specific language that matches the content type, creates a sense of urgency without confusing the subscriber.

How do you utilize analytics and metrics to refine and improve email marketing strategies over time?

Focusing on key metrics like click-through and open rates helps gauge the effectiveness of specific emails and overall engagement trends. Monitoring unsubscribe rates also provide insight into content relevance and subscriber interest, guiding strategy adjustments.

With the understanding that the effectiveness of resends can vary significantly, what best practices does AZoNetwork recommend for modifying content and subject lines for resend campaigns?

Changing the subject line and content can significantly impact a resend campaign’s success, potentially turning a non-engaged subscriber into a lead. The aim is to alter the email enough to capture attention without creating undue additional work.