Are Your Emails on the Right Track? Use This Checklist to Find Out!

Between deliverability, click-through, and open rates — emails might feel like a secret code that you just can’t seem to crack. The truth is — emails can be challenging. But there are three things just about every email list is in need of, and they’re totally easy to implement.

If you’re building your email list and want a simple checklist to see if you’re on the right track, this is for you!

1 – A Qualified List

The first step to making sure you get the most out of your email marketing is to make sure you have a good list. The people you’re sending your emails to should be a qualified, interested group of people. If they’re old contacts or clients from a friend’s business — they might not be a good fit for your product, and your emails are going to fall flat every time. 

In order to determine whether or not your list is “qualified” — ask yourself these three questions …

• • Where did my contacts come from? If your contacts came from your own lead generator, websites, or social media — that’s great! But if your contacts came from a business pal or someone else, they’re much less likely to engage. Make sure your contacts are from a place you can trust in order to optimize your engagement.
  • What have they engaged with in the past? Segmenting your list might sound like a big, scary challenge, but that isn’t the case. When you determine what sort of products or services each contact has engaged with in the past, you’ll know what sort of emails to send each group.
  • Is there anyone else I need to add? It might seem silly, but too many business owners forget to add contacts to their CRM platforms. Think through any place that you capture leads and make sure that each of those places is represented when you end emails. 

Once you get your list into a good state, the rest falls into place much easier.

2 – An Enticing Story

It goes without saying, but nobody will open your emails if they aren’t, well, interesting. In order to tell an interesting story with your emails, you have to put yourself in the reader’s shoes. And the great news is — that shouldn’t be too hard to do.

You get dozens of emails every day. There are emails you open and emails you don’t. Start to pay attention to what emails you consistently open and what emails head straight to your trash folder. Then, start to mimic those same trends in your emails.

The emails you open likely tell an enticing story, offer incredible value, or make the reader want to know more. Start to employ these same tactics in your emails and watch your open rates skyrocket.

3 – An Opt-Out Link

Bear with us — this one might seem counterintuitive. But the best emails always give the reader a chance to opt-out. It might seem scary at first to give your list the power to stop receiving your emails, but the truth is, letting people opt-out will make a huge difference to your deliverability and credibility to email servers.

We won’t bore you with all the techy details on this one, but just trust us. An opt-out link will actually make a huge difference in the long run (even if it feels threatening at first).

Emailing your potential customers shouldn’t be so hard. And if you implement these three email hacks, it doesn’t have to be. Work through the steps in our checklist and let us know how it affects your emails. Share your results in the comments below!