Email marketing remains one of the most effective channels for acquiring new customers and retaining existing ones. As a result, it is critical for marketers today to understand the best practices in email marketing to drive results.

In this conversation, Chase Dimond provides valuable insights and perspectives on email marketing, running a successful marketing agency, and how artificial intelligence is changing the marketing landscape. 

Dimond shares important points that can help marketers improve their email marketing efforts. His experience as an expert running a top marketing agency and other businesses makes his advice practical and applicable. This conversation covers concepts that any marketer can learn from in order to enhance their email marketing and strategy. The insights shared are useful for marketers at organizations of all sizes and across all industries.

By learning from Dimond's recommendations, marketers can optimize their email collection processes, personalize email content using AI, set up effective automation, and communicate results to clients. With emails done right, it becomes an even more powerful channel for any marketing team.

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AI Enables Advanced Personalization for Segmented Audiences

Artificial intelligence tools allow marketers to create hyper-personalized email content. This means email content can be tailored and targeted to smaller groups of subscribers, even down to segments of 10 or 50 people. 

Sending emails with content customized to each subscriber's interests and needs drives higher engagement and conversion rates.

The advanced technology of AI lets it analyze all the customer data a business has, such as past purchases and browsing history. From this data, the AI can provide each subscriber with unique product recommendations and highly relevant messaging. This use of AI takes email personalization to an advanced level compared to just using the person's first name.

The technology allows marketers to treat each subscriber like an individual rather than sending blanket, generic emails to the entire list. Overall, AI gives email marketers the power to significantly increase personalization in their campaigns. This ultimately leads to higher opens, clicks, and sales.

Actionable Steps to Personalize for Segments: 

• Leverage AI tools to create hyper-personalized email content tailored to small subscriber segments. Start by dividing your list into micro-segments of 10-50 people with common interests and preferences.
• Feed your AI tool all available customer data like past purchases, browsing history, etc. to enable it to analyze interests and needs of each micro-segment.
• Have the AI generate customized product recommendations and messaging for each subscriber based on their micro-segment profile. This takes personalization beyond just using first names.
• Treat each subscriber like an individual and avoid sending one generic email blast to the entire list. The AI will ensure each person receives content tailored just for them.
• Continuously refine your micro-segments over time as the AI gathers more customer data. This will allow emails to get progressively more personalized.
• Closely track open, click-through, and conversion rates. Hyper-personalized AI-generated email content should lift all key metrics versus generic email blasts.
• Consider A/B testing micro-segmented AI email content against traditional generic blasts to quantify the engagement and revenue lift.

The key is leveraging AI to unlock deep personalization at the individual subscriber level. This advanced targeting ultimately boosts email metrics and sales. Start small with micro-segments and expand as the AI gets smarter.

Optimize On-Site Email Capture for Maximum Conversions

Most businesses fail to optimize their email collection efforts. They often use ineffective pop-up forms to capture email addresses from website visitors. These pop-ups typically convert at very low rates in the single digits. However, properly designed and tested pop-ups should convert at rates between 5-15% to build an email list efficiently.

When pop-ups are optimized for mobile, provide compelling offers, and target engaged users, conversion rates can reach this higher range. Strong email collection efforts provide businesses with a powerful owned marketing channel. Capturing email subscribers directly gives a company the ability to continually market to those people over time. This is much more affordable and effective than continuously re-acquiring website visitors through paid advertising.

Marketers should test and refine their on-site email capture pop-ups or other forms to maximize conversion rates. This will provide the fuel for an owned email channel that drives results.

Continually Optimize Core Email Automation and Segmentation

Many businesses put core email automation in place long ago without continual optimization. For example, they set up abandon carts or checkout flows years back but have yet to revisit them. Core automation like browse abandonment, cart abandonment, and checkout abandonment emails need regular split testing. This ensures the copy, offers, and design are improved over time.

Another key optimization is sending more tailored, segmented email campaigns each week. Sending blanket emails to every subscriber will not maximize revenue. However, marketers can boost results by leveraging segments based on past behavior and interests. The more targeted and relevant emails subscribers receive, the higher engagement and conversion rates will be. 

Core email flows need perpetual optimization through testing. Sending frequent, personalized emails to aligned segments gives customers the content they want. This personalized and optimized approach leads to long-term revenue growth.

Specific Action Items: 

• Audit your current website pop-ups and forms used for email capture. Identify any with low single digit conversion rates.
• Test redesigning pop-ups for mobile optimization. This will lift conversions since most traffic is now mobile.
• Offer an irresistible lead magnet like a coupon or exclusive content in exchange for the email sign up. This provides more incentive.
• Target pop-ups to appear for engaged users - those who have spent time on site or viewed key pages. Don't show to everyone.
• Continually A/B test pop-up content, design, timing and targeting to push conversion rates up to 5-15%.
• Leverage email service providers for pop-up and form creation, then use built-in split testing to optimize.
• Audit core email flows like browse abandons, cart abandons, etc. Identify any that haven't been optimized recently.

Continual optimization of on-site email capture and core automations is crucial. This provides fuel for your owned email channel to drive more revenue long-term.

Transparency and Communication Are Key for Service Providers

For marketing agencies and freelancers, communicating work activities and results is key to retaining clients long-term.

Even when performance is strong, thoroughly reporting on campaigns and being proactive with clients builds trust and satisfaction. Providing clients with a constant understanding of the work you are doing for them and the outcomes it drives prevents misperceptions. Integrating into the client's team, tools, and workflows is also valuable. When clients feel an agency or freelancer is seamlessly part of their team, they are more likely to continue the relationship.

Transparency through consistent reporting and open communication ensures successful ongoing client relationships for service providers. Demonstrating you are truly a partner in their business wins lasting trust.

Optimize Foundations First, Then Leverage AI for Personalization

When done right, email marketing delivers a high return on investment for businesses. But it requires optimization in four key areas - email collection, core automation, segmentation, and send frequency.

First, strong email capture through website pop-ups or forms builds a strong subscriber list. 

Next, setting up core abandon carts and browse abandonment flows, then continually improving them, boosts revenue. 

Third, sending more segmented and personalized emails based on subscriber behavior improves results. 

Finally, optimizing the overall number of weekly emails to subscribers balances engagement with conversions.

Artificial intelligence can then take personalization to the next level through individualized content and product recommendations. However, AI works best when these email marketing foundations are already robust.

For marketing agencies and freelancers, transparency is essential. Consistently reporting on work activities and performance keeps clients informed and satisfied. Combining great results with excellent communication ensures successful ongoing client relationships.

Optimizing key facets of email marketing operations leads to impressive ROI. AI propels personalization forward, and service providers retain business by integrating into client teams and processes.

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