With all the changes happening in social media—new users trying out TikTok, Clubhouse (briefly?) making waves, Instagram moving toward more video—it’s important for retailers to maintain a steady presence in a place customers can rely on. Though for many that means their own website, there’s still one superimportant tool that can get customers to visit those sites: the marketing email.

Email marketing is crucial for reaching customers with news or telling them about sales or added collections—whatever it is you want to share. Because while an Instagram announcement of a sale will certainly drive traffic, it won’t reach everyone, even those who spend loads of time on the app (algorithms make sure of that). An email, however, is almost certain to go to every inbox on your list, though of course not everyone who receives it will open it.

A recent infographic from Email Tool Tester, a service that compares email marketing services, can get your email marketing game up to par. I’ve picked out some helpful facts and tips for a quick glance (but if you’re interested, you can see the infographic and a report on email marketing statistics in its entirety, here).

According to the infographic, 50% of people surveyed buy from marketing emails at least once a month, while 59% of people said marketing emails influenced their purchase decisions. (Also note that the average inbox contains 200 emails.) Some of the most helpful facts and statistics featured on the infographic include:

• Emails under 200 words long are most likely to be engaged with.

• Abandoned cart emails have three times a greater conversion rate than automated emails.

• Welcome emails have the highest open rates (presumably because they often contain promotional discount codes).

• Headers, images, and emojis all influence higher open and click-through rates, as do personalized emails that include the recipient’s name.

• Surprisingly, emails are more commonly opened on a desktop (76%) than on mobile (24%).

• Timing of the send does matter, though the specifics of that will vary from company to company (try looking for statistics on when people shop on your website the most).

Things not to do? Avoid using clickbait-y headlines (people are on to that sketchy trick by now), and don’t try too hard to sound like someone else, as it can make you look scammy.

These tips are especially important as we gear up for JCK Las Vegas—although many of these statistics are geared toward business-to-consumer companies, taking the time to personalize and target your emails to potential buyers at the show will pay off on the show floor. Spend the time now to put together a show-specific email marketing plan (yes, this in addition to the business-to-consumer strategy you may already have in place) to maximize your potential for making sales and connecting with new customers come August.

For the full report from Email Tool Tester, visit here.

(Illustration: Getty Images)

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