Email optimisation is the process of adapting emails to increase open rates and conversion rates, and to build stronger relationships. Ideally, it should be a continual process of tracking how recipients engage with your emails while making changes to help improve engagement rates and increase return on investment. 

Why is email optimisation important?  

Email marketing and optimisation is about building relationships with your customers and inspiring customer loyalty. If the content of your emails is relevant and interesting to each recipient, this will help you to secure a loyal customer following and keep your gallery front of mind when those customers decide to purchase art. This, in turn, supports your sales.  

However, if you are sending generic, non-targeted emails to everyone in your database, these emails may not be as effective as they could be. For example, there’s little point in sending an email on abstract art or an abstract artist to a customer who dislikes that art movement.  

When you optimise your emails, you make sure they meet the right customers at the right time with the right content. 

4 simple steps to optimise your gallery’s customer emails  

1. Monitor metrics to see where improvements can be made 
   Look at metrics such as open rate, click-through rate, conversion rate and unsubscribe rate. The open rate measures how many customers open your emails from the total number of emails delivered. The click-through rate measures the number of clicks on links within the email, from the total number of emails delivered. Both open and click-through rates give you an idea of how engaging your content is in the eyes of the recipient. The more relevant and engaging your subject line and email, the higher your open and click-through rates will be. Also, monitor conversion rate. This measures actions the recipient takes, such as clicking through from the email to your website and enquiring about an artwork. It’s essential as it indicates your return on investment. Also, monitor the number of unsubscribes – if you’re losing customers this way, it’s time to review your email marketing tactics.  
    

2. Segment your customer audience 
   Divide your customers into groups by shared interests based on what you know about them through personal interactions, customer data and behavioural data. For example, an email group could target customers who have displayed interest in a particular artist or movement. Another group could target customers who have signed up to receive notification emails about upcoming exhibitions.  
    

3. Personalisation is optimisation 
   It is email marketing best practice to not only segment your customers but to personalise the content of your emails. For example, address the recipient by their first name and only include highly relevant content. Make sure your email subject lines and call to actions (CTAs) are tailored to pique the recipient’s specific interest to help improve engagement and conversion rates.   
    

4. Optimise for mobile and run tests   
   Consider how your customers tend to read their emails. Increasingly, emails are consumed on the go and not via a desktop. Make sure your email designs are responsive and intended to be viewed on mobile devices. Run test emails so you can see how your designs, graphics/images and text look on mobile devices.  

Don’t forget to continually monitor email marketing metrics to see how improvements can be made and where to focus your optimisation efforts in future.  

Use Cubist Cloud to manage your emails 

A powerful software platform like Cubist Cloud can make it easier to send emails and track who you sent an email to and when. Within Cubist Cloud, you can create customised templates to display the data in different ways, such as by price list or catalogue.  

You can also create search criteria to specify and target certain customers. Essentially, segmenting your customers. You can search for customers that have only purchased artworks by a particular artist or artworks that fall within a particular artist movement or style. Or you can see which customers haven’t purchased anything in a long time – you could send this group of customers a reengagement email. Once you’ve sent your emails, this data is stored in Cubist Cloud’s system so you can track when you sent an email and to who.  

For more information about how to use emails within Cubist Cloud, contact our team today.