Email Engagement has become a crucial metric, especially in light of new deliverability requirements set by major email providers like Google and Yahoo. These changes emphasize the importance of user engagement as a key factor in determining whether your emails land in the inbox or the spam folder. 

In this guide, we’ll explore strategies to boost engagement in your email marketing campaigns, ensuring your messages not only reach your audience but also resonate with them.

Understanding the New Deliverability Requirements

Google and Yahoo, among other email service providers, have updated their algorithms to prioritize user engagement when deciding where an email should be placed. These algorithms consider factors like open rates, click-through rates, and how often emails are deleted without being read. High engagement can signal to email providers that your content is valuable and relevant to your audience, increasing the likelihood of your emails being delivered to the inbox.

How to Ensure High Engagement from Your Email Subscribers

There are a few boxes to check when it comes to getting high engagement rates. Here are nine components crucial to email engagement.

1. Segment Your Email List

Segmentation is key to sending relevant content to the right people. By dividing your email list into smaller, targeted groups based on demographics, past purchase behavior, or engagement levels, you can tailor your content to meet the specific interests and needs of each segment. This personalized approach not only boosts engagement but also reduces the likelihood of recipients marking your emails as spam.

2. Craft Compelling Subject Lines

The subject line is the first thing recipients see, and it plays a significant role in whether they decide to open your email. Create subject lines that are clear, intriguing, and aligned with the content of your email. A/B testing different subject lines can help you understand what resonates best with your audience and drives higher open rates.

Use our free Email Subject Line Generator to help ensure your email subject lines are compelling and inspire opens.

3. Personalize Your Emails

Personalization goes beyond addressing recipients by their first name. Use data you’ve collected about your subscribers to create content that feels tailor-made for them. This could include product recommendations based on past purchases, content relevant to their location, or special offers on their birthdays. Personalized emails show your audience that you understand and value them, leading to higher engagement rates.

4. Optimize for Mobile

With the majority of emails now being opened on mobile devices, it’s crucial to ensure your emails are mobile-friendly. This means using responsive design, ensuring images load quickly, and keeping your content concise and easy to navigate on a smaller screen. Mobile optimization can significantly improve the user experience, leading to increased engagement.

5. Provide Valuable Content

Your emails should offer something of value to your subscribers, whether it’s informative content, exclusive deals, or entertaining stories. High-quality content keeps your audience engaged and looking forward to your next email. Regularly review your content strategy to ensure it aligns with your audience’s interests and needs.

6. Encourage Interaction

Make your emails interactive by including calls-to-action (CTAs), surveys, polls, or links to your social media channels. Interaction not only boosts engagement but also provides valuable feedback and data that can be used to improve future campaigns.

7. Monitor and Adjust Frequency

Sending too many emails can lead to subscriber fatigue, while sending too few can cause your audience to forget about you. Find the right balance by monitoring how different sending frequencies affect your engagement rates. Adjust your strategy based on what you learn to keep your audience engaged without overwhelming them.

8. Clean Your Email List Regularly

Regularly cleaning your email list by removing inactive subscribers can improve your engagement metrics. Inactive subscribers who haven’t opened your emails in a set period of time (e.g., six months) can negatively impact your overall engagement rates and deliverability. A clean list ensures your emails are being sent to an audience that is interested and engaged.

Use Benchmark Email’s Smart Sending to automatically remove unengaged subscribers from your email list. Sign up for a free plan and access this feature today!

9. Analyze and Learn from Your Data

Use analytics tools to track the performance of your email campaigns. Look at metrics like open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and unsubscribe rates to understand what’s working and what’s not. Use these insights to continuously refine and improve your email marketing strategy.

The Importance of Email Analytics

Email analytics provide a wealth of information about how recipients interact with your emails. This data is invaluable for understanding what works and what doesn’t in your campaigns. 

Once you’ve gathered and analyzed your email campaign data, the next step is to use these insights to refine your approach. Here’s how to make data-driven adjustments to your email marketing strategy:

• Identify Patterns and Trends: Look for patterns in the data that indicate what types of content, subject lines, and calls-to-action (CTAs) resonate most with your audience. Also, identify any trends related to the best days and times to send emails.
• Segmentation Refinement: Use engagement data to further segment your audience. For instance, you might create a segment for users who consistently open your emails but don’t click through, tailoring content specifically designed to increase their engagement.
• Content Optimization: Adjust the content of your emails based on what has been proven to engage your audience. This could involve changing the tone of your messages, incorporating more personalized content, or varying the types of media used.
• A/B Testing Insights: Utilize the results from A/B tests to make informed decisions. If one subject line style consistently outperforms another, for example, adopt this style more broadly across your campaigns.
• Sending Schedule Optimization: If your data shows higher engagement rates at specific times of the day or week, adjust your email sending schedule accordingly to maximize visibility and interaction.
• Unsubscribe Analysis: Although it might seem counterintuitive, analyzing why people unsubscribe can provide valuable insights. If a common reason emerges, take steps to address this in your future emails.

Leveraging Technology for Enhanced Analysis

Modern email marketing platforms, like Benchmark Email, offer advanced analytics features that can automate much of the data analysis process. These tools can track user behavior in real-time, allowing for more dynamic adjustments to your campaigns. Utilize these technologies to segment audiences based on behavior, test different email elements more efficiently, and personalize content at scale.

Boosting engagement in email marketing is essential for meeting the new deliverability requirements set by major email providers. By focusing on segmentation, personalization, mobile optimization, valuable content, interaction, frequency, list hygiene, and data analysis, you can create campaigns that not only reach your audience’s inboxes but also engage and resonate with them. Remember, successful email marketing is not just about sending emails; it’s about building meaningful relationships with your audience through thoughtful, relevant, and engaging content.