Today’s buyers are more informed and educated than ever. To effectively sell to them, you need to build trust and credibility. And when it comes to email marketing, proof points are also important. That’s why I like to back up my advice whenever possible with verifiable research and market data.

With that in mind, here are five indisputable email marketing truths that you can bank on for email marketing success:

1. Today’s emails must be mobile-enabled: According to the Radicati Group, by the end of this year, mobile email users will total over 2.2 billion worldwide. Mobile email drives 20 to 75% of email opens – the open rate varies by target audience, product and email type. In addition, over 80% of consumers say they would simply delete emails that aren’t mobile-optimized, and almost a third (30%) of users say they would unsubscribe. (Click here for 10 mobile-friendly email design tips)

2. List segmentation gets your messages to the right audience: By sending targeted messages to specific groups across your email lists, your campaigns will be more timely, relevant and effective. According to the Direct Marketing Association, email list segmentation and personalized emailing were the most effective email strategies of 2017. Segmented email campaigns generate 14.31% more opens and double the clicks of non-segmented campaigns. Over half (51%) of marketers consider email list segmentation to be the most effective personalization tactic for improved email marketing, and some marketers have witnessed a 760% increase in email revenue from segmented campaigns. (For more insight, read my blog post on email segmentation.)

3. Triggered emails deliver increased response rates: Triggered emails are automatically sent to your subscribers in response to an action taken by them. Experian says triggered emails earn eight times more opens and substantially greater revenue than standard emails. In addition, triggered email campaigns have average open rates of 45.70% and click-through rates of 10.75%, along with low unsubscribe (0.58%) and spam rates (0.06%). The most effective triggered email types are cart abandonment and welcome emails. (See my blog post on the five triggered emails that deliver the best results.)

4. Subject lines are crucial: It’s not an exaggeration to say a subject line can make or break your entire email campaign. In a recent survey, almost half (47%) of email recipients said they open emails based on the subject line alone, while 68% said they will report the message as spam based solely on the subject line. Personalizing subject lines lifts open rates by almost a third, while subject lines that increase urgency (e.g. words such as “alert,” “important” or “urgent”) can lead to higher open rates as well. While there is no magic subject line that works for everyone all the time, there is art and science to subject lines that should be catered to your specific audience to produce the best results for your industry, business and offering. (See my previous blog post for six quick subject line tips)

5. Email is the predominant communications and marketing medium of choice: Email consistently proves its value to the marketers who rely on it to deliver incremental revenues to their companies. A recent report says that U.S. spend on email marketing will grow from $2.07 billion in 2014 to $3.07 billion by the end of next year. In addition, nearly 90% of marketers surveyed say email is their primary channel for lead generation. Best of all, email has a median ROI of 122% -- more than four times higher than other marketing mediums.

Marketers today can’t rely on intuition alone when it comes to budget and strategy decisions  – or email marketing campaigns. It’s important to use research, data and other proof points to fuel more successful outcomes.

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Outward Media’s accurate, targeted email data can enable you to achieve better email marketing ROI by targeting your best prospects – including top-level executives -- and, ultimately, converting more prospects into customers. Take a look at our case studies to find out more.