5 Ways to Increase Email Engagement and Boost Your ROI
Creative email marketing tips that will make you more money.
Whether you’re new to email marketing or not, your number one priority should be to continuously experiment with, test, and evolve your methods of increasing subscriber engagement. It’s the most important metric because it measures how your audience interacts with your content—and whether or not you can expect a return on your investment.
It’s important to remember that there are many ways to measure engagement and ROI, and these five tips will always increase your chances of improving both. The best part? There's no limit to how creative you can get, so be sure to experiment with your own methods, too!
In this article:
Tip 1: Segment and Personalize
Tip 2: Bring it with Value
Tip 3: Commit to Consistency
Tip 4: Surprise and Delight
Tip 5: Use Creative Prompts
Keep reading to learn the why and the how—plus real-world examples.
So, what the $%!# is email engagement and ROI?
Skip ahead if this part is nothing new to you.
What is Email Engagement?
Email engagement is how your subscribers interact with your email campaigns, measured by the open rate* and, more importantly, the click-through rate. Is your subscriber opening the email and following through on your intended call to action? The more engaged your audience, the higher probability of ROI.
Side note: *Open rates are still worth tracking at a high level, but the well-established impact of iOS privacy settings makes it almost impossible to track opens accurately. You're better off using opens as a guide—if your overall open rate average changes drastically, take that as a signal to investigate. Otherwise, avoid using opens to trigger your automations or define the success of a campaign—they just can't be trusted!
What is ROI?
Ahh, the good stuff we’re all here for. Return on investment is most commonly referred to as the money earned after an initial marketing spend, whether on email, digital ads, postcards—or another venture like producing and selling art prints. The results of this measurement can tell you how successful your campaign was or how to adapt in the future.
On average, the industry standard for email’s return on investment is $36 for every $1 spent—and that number increases significantly (up to 45:1) depending on several factors, including industry type. This jaw-dropping return is one reason businesses of all industries need to take this reliable, data-driven marketing channel seriously!
Outside of engagement and revenue, other measurable key performance indicators (KPIs) for email include increased brand awareness, new and returning users, subscriber growth, and many others specific to your business goals.
How do I increase email engagement?
The joy of being an email marketer (or a business owner acting as the email marketer of their company—shout out to y’all!) is experimenting with creative ways to strengthen audience engagement. The more authentically we nurture our audience through a personalized experience, the more genuine a connection we build. This leads to trust, which leads to engagement and a higher likelihood of converting subscribers with something they find beneficial. When you run content tests and experiment with email, remember to analyze your data and keep doing more of what works.
“For every $1 marketers spend on email marketing, they receive $36 in return.”
5 Ways to Increase Email Engagement and Boost Your ROI
Tip 1: Segment and Personalize
Why it matters: Prioritizing a personalized, value-driven experience to the right customer at the right time is the secret sauce if you want to convert a window shopper into a paying customer.
How to implement: Go beyond first name fields and deliver the right email to the right person at the right time. Accomplish this with audience segmentation, custom recommendations, and email automations that work for you.
Real-world example: An avid reader is browsing the website of their local bookseller. They create a book list inside their account instead of making a purchase because they can’t decide what to read first. (Totally calling myself out here.) A few hours later, the bookseller sends the subscriber an automated email that includes book reviews from customers who enjoyed the same titles. The timing is perfect and helps the customer make a buying decision.
Another more straightforward example using segmentation (if we’re sticking to the book theme) is to create a segment of subscribers who’ve indicated they like casual, quick reads. Then ahead of the summer holiday, send the segment a curated list of best-sellers perfect for reading poolside.
Tip 2: Bring It with Value
Why it matters: Your email subscribers care about two main things; the authenticity behind your brand and how your product or service delivers value to their circumstances.
How to implement: Before creating an email, define a measurable goal like increasing sign-ups for a class by X%, selling X amount of a new product, or simply nudging readers to your blog. Then, tailor your message to serve your subscriber while attaining the goal. Whatever you do, resist the urge to send an email just for the sake of it—you’re better off skipping a week.
Real-world example: A baby boutique rarely sells its products at a discount due to its commitment to quality materials and paying its employees a thriving wage. The shop wants to increase engagement while learning more about subscribers' preferences. They send an email highlighting two different blog topics: a post about extending the life of their handmade toys and a post about how to recycle the toys when children outgrow them. A week later, the click-through rate on each blog post is analyzed within the email service provider dashboard, and the toymakers find out which topic their customers found most valuable so they can plan more helpful content for the future.
Tip 3: Commit to Consistency
Why it matters: Stay top of mind by committing to a regular email cadence. Give your subscribers a reason to think of your business when they have a problem you can solve—anything from needing beautiful artwork for their home to picking up lunch from their favorite deli or even booking a sales call when considering a marketing solution.
Going too long without sending an email puts you at risk of being marked as spam or not making it to the inbox at all. Awkward, right?
How to implement: Decide on an email schedule and stick to it. Once a week, twice a month, or at the least, monthly. Businesses with a constant flurry of news or promotions will segment their email messaging multiple times a week.
Real-world example: For a bit of a shameless plug; my company, Laurie Shipley Design, sends weekly DIY email tips for entrepreneurs, small businesses, and anyone who wants to cultivate community through email marketing.
Tip 4: SURPRISE AND DELIGHT
Why it matters: No one wants to be constantly pitched to in an aggressive way. We want brands that align with our values, and we fall nearly head-over-heal when they offer something special without expecting something in return.
How to implement: Think about your brand values and how you want your customers to feel when they engage with your business. Then find ways to incorporate small, unexpected gestures that reinforce your ethos.
Real-world example: Selling prints? Send a fun email about selecting paint colors for the various rooms in your home based on the emotion you want to evoke. Selling your prints comes secondary to this valuable nugget of inspiration.
Other ideas to surprise and delight:
Use memorable packaging and freebies like stickers in outbound orders.
A personal ‘thank you’ email just because? YAS. Easy, impactful, and thoughtful.
Host a free community event to teach your local subscribers a print technique.
One caveat; obviously, businesses use promotions for a reason—they work, and I’ll never advise against them. In fact, if you need a little push on your revenue goals for the month, running a sale is an effective strategy! Just remember to position the benefit from the customer's perspective because that's what it should be about.
Tip 5: USE Creative PROMPTS
Why it matters: The point of email marketing is to drive your subscribers to take action, not to let your content live and die within the confines of the email. How can your offer or prompt excite readers to engage with your emails?
How to implement: Focus your content around a primary call to action (CTA) and be clear on how your reader should engage. Too many CTAs lead to confusion, less engagement, and a lower chance for a positive ROI. Use clear language, visual hierarchy, and color to influence your reader to act.
Real-world example(s): The baby boutique example from tip 2 was an excellent case study, but here are a bunch more because the ideas are limitless.
Ask for a review on a recent purchase
Suggest blog articles or products based on how a contact has interacted with previous content
Invite subscribers to submit UGC (User Generated Content) and ask for permission to share it with your email audience
Use an email template with 2-4 images of different product themes and ask your readers to click on their favorite
Send the first chapter of a story you wrote and invite your contacts to join you on Patreon where they can read the entire book
Remember, engagement isn’t just about replies to your email, although that's a great start if you have a specific question to ask your audience. And, there are few limitations, if any, so get as creative as you want!
