While there are plenty of marketing tactics and strategies that any brand can consider, email marketing has a unique appeal and set of advantages. Unlike many other forms of marketing, building a strong list of users doesn’t necessarily require ample time in addition to other, universal forms of marketing your brand will do. For the most part, it is also a free (or low-cost) method of reaching a highly-targeted audience.

But that doesn’t mean that email marketing is inherently easy. What does it actually take to build a successful email marketing campaign? Today, we’ll examine the crucial components and share those details with you to help you accomplish such a feat.

Develop Email Templates

Having multiple email templates ready to go will not only save you ample time whenever a new campaign or email marketing effort is launched, but it will also improve the reception of your content. There are numerous types of campaign templates to consider, whether they be for specific subsets of your audience, different types of emails (newsletters, sales announcements, content mash-ups, etc) or seasonal variances.

Within each template, you’ll not only be able to develop unique aesthetics for rich multimedia versions of your email, but also cultivate formats that allow easy integration of calls to action, persuasive openings and other critical components.

So whether it is a matter of saving time, improving appeal or pinging users with better copy, email templates can make a world of difference.

Focus on Improving Open Rates

Another huge consideration when building a successful marketing campaign is maximizing open rates. After all, what good is an email marketing campaign that nobody bothers to read? For this exercise, there are numerous tweaks brands can utilize to improve performance.

First and foremost, it is important to send emails when people are actually around to read them. While sending emails late at night (in the hopes of being at the top of a user’s inbox first thing in the morning) became all the rage a few years ago, many brands have since adopted this technique, reducing its effectiveness. Generally speaking, the best time for sending emails is midday.

Next, avoid spamming your audience with tons of emails and updates. In fact, having a regular, advertising content schedule for subscribers is one of the simplest ways to retain your audience and improve open rates. By sending occasional content rather than playing a game of inflation with the competition, more people will be inclined to open your emails when you have something to say.

And of course, optimizing subject lines is crucial to earning clicks. Most forms of clickbait no longer work, so steer from this abusive practice. Instead, incorporate short but sweet descriptors of what audiences can expect. A bit of enticement is OK and can improve open rates, but don’t resort to misleading subject lines.

Customize Your Lists

Last but not least, consider how much more valuable your single, larger list can be when broken down into smaller sections based on interest and activity. Successful email marketers know that segmenting their lists based on a variety of criteria either specified by the user or observed through past behaviors can ultimately produce more opens, clicks and conversions.

There are many guides on how to properly segment your mailing lists, but the exact process and criteria for doing such will vary depending on the size of your brand and its specific niche.

While it’s quick and easy to begin pinging users with email campaigns, doing so effectively takes practice. Through trial and error – coupled with the above advice – you can begin cultivating a reputation for being a formidable email marketing machine.