Fun, somewhat cringy fact: Over 300 billion emails are sent every day. If your marketing email is one of the billions being sent today, what’s your game plan to make sure it’s effective? (You do have a game plan, right?) Because you better believe there’s a lot of competition for your client’s attention in her inbox. But there’s no need to back down from a challenge. Email is still your best bet when it comes to ROI (I mean, if a 4,400% ROI is good enough for you—!!). 

Just because email marketing has the potential to reap an insane ROI, though, doesn’t mean it’s easy. In fact, there’s a lot that can go wrong with email marketing, but we’re here to make sure it doesn’t go wrong for you. When your email marketing isn’t working—maybe your open rate is abysmal, your click-through rates are embarrassing, or your unsubscribes are straight up depressing—follow these troubleshooting tips to get back on track.

Troubleshooting tips to get your email marketing back on track:

• Scrub and segment that beautiful list. Hard bounces are not your friend. Scrub your list to get rid of inactive email addresses and set your email campaign up for success by segmenting your contacts list, then tailoring emails to each segment. Sure, you can send the same version of your email to everyone, but if you do, your open rate and CTR (click-through rate) will be lower. You’ve been warned. 
• Re-evaluate your subject line. If you’ve ever made an awkward first impression and suddenly regretted so much about everything, you know how important it is to put your best foot forward. Your email’s subject line is your first impression. It should be interesting/intriguing, specific (i.e., not vague), and short and to the point. And for the love of all that is good, please don’t put a bunch of punctuation and get stuck in spam jail! 
• Personalize. Don’t you love it when people remember your name and how you like your coffee? Along with segmenting your list and making sure your marketing emails are as relevant as possible to recipients, you should also consider including personalized content. Everybody loves feeling special, after all, and people respond better (via opens and clicks) to emails that feel personal. Maybe even consider personalizing that subject line!
• A/B testing for the win. You don’t need to guess; you can test! Try A/B testing to figure out which email layouts, subject lines, and content strategies work best with your audience (and each segment of your audience). Repeat this occasionally to make sure you’re still nailing it. 

As you take these steps to boost your email performance, open rates, and CTR, track your results and look for ways to continuously improve. If you’re wondering how your email marketing efforts compare, the average email open rate is 21.33%, but keep in mind, this percentage varies depending on industry. Also, while open rate is important, CTR can be even more important if your end goal is to convert the email into an actual sale. Don’t get completely hung up on opens and forget about other metrics!

You got this! Looking for more email-marketing help? We’re here for you.