It is projected that the average person will receive 97 emails per day in 2018. That’s up from 108 in 2011 — and that number is expected to continue to grow into 2019 and beyond. Many thought that social media would mean the end of email marketing, but that obviously has not happened.

With Facebook’s upcoming algorithm changes, email offers a great opportunity to put your message in front of your clients and customers. Utilizing your email list can help to ensure that your message is seen by the people who are most likely to take action.

But you still need to cut through the clutter of their inboxes. Here are a few ways to make the most of your email marketing.

Target your emails

Chances are, not every email you send will apply to every person in your database. If you’re emailing about a local event, make sure the list only includes people in that geographic area. If you are looking for people to sign up for a course, you’ll want to filter out the people who have already signed up. If you continue to send your contacts emails that don’t apply to them, chances are they will quickly hit unsubscribe.

Be creative with your subject line

In order for your email to be effective, people have to actually open it! The subject line is a hook to draw your audience in to open the email. Good subject lines are often personal or descriptive, and give the recipient a reason to check out your content. It’s important to keep your audience in mind, and test keywords and phrases to see what they prefer. Be creative!

MailChimp says it well: “When it comes to email marketing, the best subject lines tell what’s inside, and the worst subject lines sell what’s inside.”

Measure, tweak, and repeat what works

Even the most basic email management system will provide information about open rates and click through rates. Each industry has a different average open rate, but according to Small Business Chronicle, the overall average open rate is 38.6%. Your rate may be lower or slightly higher than that. What’s more important to monitor is overall trends. Did you have a particularly high open rate on one particular email? What might have caused it? Does tweaking the subject line have a positive or negative impact? When you discover something that works, repeat it!

Follow up

With 97 new emails coming in every day, it’s easy for even an important email to quickly get buried in your contact’s inbox. How often do you see an email that you mean to come back to, and then completely forget? That’s why it is important to follow up in the coming days or weeks with more information reinforcing your message. Multiple touch points help ensure that people actually take action.

One caveat . . . emailing too frequently can have the opposite effect. Multiple marketing emails in the same day, or emails every day, can quickly become overwhelming. If you notice your unsubscribe rates climbing, you may be emailing too frequently.

What other email marketing tips have you discovered?

Stephanie Quick

Stephanie completed her masters in public relations and corporate communications at Georgetown University in 2015. She lives outside Washington, DC with her two dogs.