The State of Email Marketing Technology in 2019
In 2019, it is more important than ever to have cutting-edge email marketing technology and campaigns in place to stay ahead of the competition and to keep your prospects and customers engaged. The email marketing technology you use should have features like:

• a built-in sending API or available integration so that you don’t have to send emails through Gmail or Outlook servers that only allow a few hundred emails a day
• workflow automation where you can send automated emails out to prospects at scheduled times
• reply removal where any prospect who replies is removed from the automation sequence
• personalization so that prospects’ first names, company names, etc., can be automatically populated in the email
• sending window hours where you can set specific hours that emails can and cannot be sent
• list management so that you are warned when a prospect is being entered into another campaign when they are going through an existing sequence, thus avoiding awkward double emails
• a “do not contact” feature that allows you to upload opt-outs, current clients/customers, and additional contacts that should never receive outbound emails
• hourly and daily email sending limits so that you can control the number of emails deployed, reducing the risk of having your domain blacklisted or flagged as spam
• in-depth analytics and reporting for you to review that should highlight areas for optimizing your efforts

If you are considering adopting email technology for your marketing strategy, be sure to run the above feature expectations by your sales rep. These features are becoming industry standards because marketers are realizing their importance for efficient and successful email marketing campaigns. Learn more about email marketing and other forms of marketing automation on TribalVision’s website.

2018 Email Marketing Benchmarks: Industry-Specific and General
There is a plethora of online content that showcases email marketing best practices. For an overview of the basics, MailChimp provides in-depth literature on email marketing beginner best practices for those just starting out their email marketing campaigns. This article covers the importance of testing email content, tracking click and open rates, how to avoid writing “spammy” content, building a clean email contact list, and avoiding excess code in your email templates.
Once your email campaigns are set up and optimized with these best practices and you’ve deployed your first few campaigns, take a look at how your results compare to others in your industry. Dave Chaffey from Smart Insights has written an in-depth article on 2018 email marketing results benchmarks broken down by industry. Below are the most important email statistics across all industries:

• Open Rate: 15.75%
• Mobile and Tablet Open Rate: 39.26%
• Desktop Open Rate: 60.74%
• Click-Through Rate: 7.63%
• Bounce Rate: 8.89%
• Unsubscribe Rate: 0.02%

TribalVision Tips & Tricks for Email Marketing
You have your email marketing platform with the latest and greatest email marketing features. You’ve built an email campaign based on the fundamental band practices. You’ve taken a look at your results, compared it to industry standards, and you know where you stand. Through our own email marketing efforts, TribalVision has unearthed a number of email marketing best practices that have helped our internal efforts and our clients’ campaigns:

• A/B test a variety of subject lines since this is the first thing that recipients will see. Include personalization, keep it to 3-4 words, and try out lowercase subject lines and see what brings higher open rates
• Avoid including hyperlinks and attachments until your third email in an email automation sequence so you give time for the recipient’s email server to build trust
• Data points included in the email body text are great for catching the recipients eye and improving the chances of a response. Some examples:
  • Last year, we increased client revenue by x%
  • Last year, we helped prominent clients like X, Y and Z grow their top-line
• Your call-to-action in the email should assume they are interested in speaking, e.g. “When are you available this week to jump on a call?”
• They already know it’s a cold email, so don’t pretend like it is not. Some companies are even saying, “I admit this is a cold email, but I know that after a 5-minute conversation you’ll be interested in learning more.”
• On your last touch point, ask the three questions about why it didn’t work:
  • Was it not a product or service fit? If so, why not?
  • Do you have an existing partner? If so, we have clients who switched to us because of X, Y and Z
  • Was there something off about my approach?
• In your last email, give yourself permission to reach back out: “Maybe our timing is off–I’ll reach out next quarter.”

Recap of Email Marketing Best Practices in 2019
In 2019, email marketing is still one of the top lead generation marketing tactics for many companies. Yet, because so many companies are adopting the tactic, it is important to get up the learning curve and start considering how to distinguish yourself from the competition. Having the right email marketing platform, ensuring your campaigns are built with best practices, and tracking your results is a great start, but there are still many variables to A/B test. While automation reduces time invested, it is important to constantly monitor and optimize your marketing campaigns. Lastly, with the rise of email marketing and contact information regulation, it is more important than ever to make sure your campaigns are compliant and respecting recipients privacy rights.