15 Best Practices for Email Marketing Lead Generation

We’re all chasing leads daily, trying different tactics and mediums to improve our results. If you trust 89% of marketers, email marketing is still the best way to generate leads in 2024. 

Generating leads through email marketing is both an art and a science that involves creativity, optimization, and a deep understanding of your audience’s needs and behaviors. If you’re serious about leads, we’ve curated 15 best practices that will help you get better results from your campaigns. 

From A/B testing to automation, segmentation to gated content, we’ll uncover tried-and-tested tactics to improve lead generation while building meaningful connections with your audience. So, let’s get started. 

What are Email Leads?

An email lead is a person who has exchanged their contact info for something valuable, such as an ebook, offer, or gated content. At its core, an email lead is a marketing-qualified lead (MQL) that has shown interest in your product or service. 

The exchange of contact information, such as an email, marks the beginning of a relationship that can be nurtured into a conversion. 

Keep reading to find practical tips and strategies for executing the above plan and ensuring you’re geared to get the most out of your email lead-generation campaigns. 

What is Email Lead Generation?

Now that you’ve got a basic idea about email leads let’s look at how to start the email lead generation process. 

Think of email lead generation as gardening. Each lead you capture has the potential to evolve into a valuable customer, like a seed that grows into a thriving plant. 

It’s a cost-effective and highly efficient way to engage your target customers and move them further into the buyer’s journey by providing relevant information, updates, and offers.

What makes your email lead generation campaigns successful?

Want to implement the above ideas for starting your lead generation campaign? In the next section, we’ll look at these ideas and more tips.

15 Best Practices for Generating Leads via Email Marketing

As you saw above, generating leads involves a lot of planning. To make it easier for you, we’ve outlined 15 best practices for your lead generation campaign. Let’s look at each one. 

Optimized Opt-in Forms

Optimized opt-in forms are critical for converting casual website visitors into paying customers. A well-timed opt-in form can effectively power your lead generation engine. 

They’re not just a medium to capture information but are also critical to guiding prospects further along their journey. 

Your opt-in forms should enhance the user experience instead of being intrusive and ensure potential customers don’t drop off halfway through the signup process. 

Build a Quality Email List

The strength of your email marketing efforts hinges on the quality of your list. A well-maintained list ensures your messages reach genuinely interested recipients, boosting engagement rates and ROI.

Building a quality email list, strategic planning with multiple levels, and a keen eye for detail. Here’s how you can attract quality leads to your email list right from the beginning: 

• Provide multiple opportunities to sign up. Place sign-up buttons/forms across various parts of your site where they naturally fit, such as blog posts, the homepage, and during checkout. Consider integrating sign-up options through social media platforms and during online webinars or live events; 
• Use content upgrades. Add targeted content upgrades in your articles or posts, like specific checklists that make a reader’s life easy. These should be free (but gated) and shared when someone signs up via email. Place these offers in content already performing well to capture interested readers; 
• Host online workshops: Use webinars or workshops to gather email sign-ups. The active attendees who join have a high intent for conversion. So, offer them valuable insights and include an email sign-up as part of the whole journey; 
• Use double opt-in. Although double opt-in might reduce the speed of list growth, it reduces the chance of fake or accidental sign-ups. Plus, it’s mandatory nowadays to comply with privacy laws; 
• Segment your list. Categorize subscribers based on their interests, behaviors, or demographic information. This allows for more targeted and relevant email campaigns, increasing engagement and decreasing unsubscribe rates. We’ll talk about it in detail in the following sections; 
• Conduct regular list audits. Every quarter, review your list to identify and remove non-responsive or disengaged subscribers. This helps maintain a high level of engagement with your active audience, ensuring better performance of your email campaigns.

Design Clean and Concise Emails

Emails can be easily misunderstood. 64% of people have sent or received an email that resulted in unintended anger or confusion. Because of such misinterpretation, it is important to write clear and concise emails. 

A clear and straightforward grabs the attention of prospects, email engages the reader, enhances the user experience, and improves the odds of conversion.

Here are a few tips for creating better and clearer emails:

• Clear and Compelling Subject Lines. Write concise and captivating subject lines that clearly convey the value or benefit they’ll gain from opening the email. A well-crafted subject line can increase open rates and encourage lead engagement.
• Simple and Scannable Layout. Opt for a clean, organized email layout that allows recipients to scan and digest the content quickly. Use short paragraphs, bullet points, and subheadings to break down information and make it easy to consume. Avoid clutter and excessive design elements that may distract or confuse your leads.
• Consistent Branding. Ensure your email design aligns with your brand identity, including color schemes, fonts, and imagery. Consistency across your emails and other marketing channels reinforces brand recognition and builds trust with your leads. Consider using a branded email template to maintain a cohesive visual identity.
• Clear Call to Action (CTA). Make it crystal clear what action you want your leads to take. Use concise and action-oriented language in your CTAs, such as “Sign Up Now,” “Get Started,” or “Claim Your Offer.” Position your CTAs prominently and make them visually appealing to draw attention and encourage click-throughs.
• Mobile-Friendly Responsiveness. With most email opens occurring on mobile devices, designing mobile-friendly and responsive emails is essential. Optimize your email layout and font sizes for smaller screens, ensure images and buttons are appropriately sized for touch interactions, and test your emails across various devices and email clients to ensure a seamless user experience.

Use Personalization 

Personalized emails have proven highly effective in capturing attention, engaging leads, and driving conversions. Prospects appreciate personalized offers, content, and takeaways, increasing the likelihood of conversions.

Here’s how you can personalize your email campaigns: 

• Segment your email list. Divide your email list into segments based on demographics, interests, or behavior to deliver more targeted and personalized content to each group; 
• Leverage behavioral triggers. Set up automated emails triggered by specific lead actions, such as website visits, form submissions, or content downloads, to send timely and personalized follow-up emails; 
• Use dynamic content blocks. Use dynamic content blocks within your emails to show different sections or offers based on the lead’s preferences, past purchases, or browsing history, delivering personalized recommendations or tailored messages; 
• Add user-generated content (UGC). Share UGC, such as reviews, testimonials, or social media posts from satisfied customers, to add a personal touch and build trust with quality leads; 
• Schedule birthday or anniversary emails. Use personal data to send an automated email on birthdays and anniversaries, sharing exclusive discounts or offers; 
• Recommend related products or services. Utilize data on the lead’s past purchases or browsing behavior to recommend relevant products or services that align with their interests and needs.

Personalization creates a more tailored and engaging experience for leads, which helps capture attention, improve engagement, foster trust, and ultimately increase the chances of converting leads into customers.

Segmentation

Segmentation is like tailoring a suit – when done right, it promises the right fit. As shared earlier, segmentation ensures your emails align perfectly with the interests and needs of your audience segments.

You can categorize your email list into groups based on set criteria or parameters. Or can use lead scoring to segment your audience and trigger behavioral emails. Here are the most common types of segmentation used for an email list: 

Segmenting emails based on subscriber behavior is a powerful strategy to enhance the effectiveness of your email marketing campaigns. Analyze how subscribers engage with your emails and create targeted segments that receive personalized content.

Here are a few ideas for using segmentation in your lead-generation campaigns. 

Focus on engagement levels 

Divide your email list into segments such as “highly engaged,” “moderately engaged,” and “low engagement.” Use these segments to plan your content and messaging accordingly. 

Highly engaged subscribers may receive exclusive offers or conversion-oriented content, while low-engagement subscribers may be targeted with re-engagement campaigns or personalized informational content to reignite their interest.

Target using purchase history

Create segments of frequent, first-time, or first-time customers who haven’t purchased. By targeting each segment with relevant product recommendations, personalized offers, or exclusive discounts, you can maximize the chances of repeat purchases, customer loyalty, and increased revenue.

Observe website behavior

Track subscribers’ behavior, such as page visits, content downloads, or items added to the cart. Then, plan personalized emails based on their behavior.

 For example, you can send follow-up emails with additional information or related content to subscribers who have visited specific product pages. 

Alternatively, you can send abandoned cart reminder emails to those who have left items in their cart without completing the purchase. 

Nurture based on email interaction

Create segments for subscribers who regularly open and click on your emails and those who rarely or never engage. Then, A/B tests your content and sending frequency for each segment to improve email engagement rates.

Engaging Email Subject Lines

How many times do you delete an email without reading it? We’re guessing often, especially if it has a boring subject line. 

You’re not alone, though — 47% of email recipients open emails based on the subject line. That’s why you should write subject lines that make your readers crave more.

For example, if you have a celebrity blog site and an email list of engaged readers, you’ll want to focus more on current celebrity news to connect with your audience. To take it further, you should leave a hint of curiosity to pique your subscribers’ interest.

Here’s an example of a great subject line for a celebrity blog:

Subject Line: What Drake Said About Rihanna’s Pregnancy is Shocking!

This subject line is almost certain to get opened, as people will be curious about what Drake said, and if the email’s copy is good, people will undoubtedly want to read the story.

That said, here are four ways you can write click-worthy subject lines:

• Ask the reader a question to challenge them to connect with your content;
• Use numbers to reassure your readers that your email has a clear beginning and end;
• Use emojis to spice up your content and keep readers interested;
• Use your subscribers’ names in the subject line.

Compelling Content

Sharing relevant and valuable content wins the hearts of prospective leads. In fact, 70% of people would rather learn about a business through articles than advertisements.

However, top-quality content demands a commitment of resources and time. A small mistake can result in your prospects unsubscribing from your mailing list. 

Worse, if you’re perceived as too spammy, users may blacklist your email address, resulting in all your emails in spam folders.

Here are some important aspects of using content for generating and nurturing leads:

Clear Call-to-Action (CTA)

Writing the ideal call to action can make or break your marketing campaign. It’s one of those factors that will directly impact your conversion rates.

Whether you want your prospects to share a blog post on their social channels or complete an opt-in form depends on how you nudge them. Your emails should have a clear and compelling CTA that readers can easily act on.

Use creative and persuasive language to grab your readers’ attention and encourage them to act.

For example, check out the CTA below from Netflix.

This CTA’s persuasive text encourages you to use Netflix’s free trial. 

The text above the CTA also informs you that the product is highly flexible and you can cancel anytime. That will boost your confidence and knowledge before you click on the CTA.

Here are a few ideas to help you get more people to click on your CTAs:

• Start your CTA with a solid command verb;
• Use words that evoke emotion or excitement;
• Give your audience a reason they should take your desired action;
• Take advantage of the fear of missing out (FOMO).

Send Emails at the Right Time

Sending emails at the right time is critical to campaign success rates. Understanding your audience’s activity patterns, engagement levels, and locations help you optimize your send times so they see the email right when needed. Here are key points to consider to send emails at the right time:

1. Analyze email open rates. Analyze your historical data to identify any patterns or trends. Look for specific days of the week or times when your subscribers are most likely to open and engage with your emails. Use this data as a starting point for determining the optimal sending times for your campaigns.
2. Consider time zones. If you have a global audience or subscribers in different time zones, consider availability/engagement when scheduling your emails. Aim to send your emails when most of your audience is likely awake and checking their inboxes. Segmenting your email list based on time zones can help ensure that your messages reach recipients at the right time, regardless of their location.
3. Test and experiment. Conduct A/B tests to determine the impact of different sending times on your open and engagement rates. Split your email list into two groups and send the same email at different times. Measure the performance of each group and analyze the results to identify the optimal sending time. Repeat this testing process periodically to account for changes in behavior or preferences.
4. Use email marketing automation. Use email marketing automation tools to schedule your emails in advance. Set up specific sending times and dates, ensuring your messages are delivered even when you’re not actively monitoring your email campaigns. Automation also enables you to set up triggered emails that are sent based on specific actions or behaviors, allowing for timely and relevant communication.

At what time precisely, you ask? Find out in this article: Best Time to Send Emails in 2024 (By Email Type)

Employ Email Automation

Email automation is all about using technology to schedule emails that reach the right people at the right time by automating recurring tasks. 

Email automation is the most popular type of marketing automation, with 64% of companies using it. And with email marketing having an average ROI of $36 for every $1 spent, this should be enough to convince you to automate your emails.

You can schedule emails based on your audience’s interactions with your company using an autoresponder system or marketing automation tool. For example, when a person subscribes to your newsletter, send them an automated welcome email.

Optimize Emails for Mobile

The majority of consumers check emails on their smartphones nowadays. So, optimizing for mobile and using a responsive email template is a no-brainer tactic to improve engagement.

Here are key points to consider when optimizing emails for mobile:

• Always Use Responsive Email Templates. Use a responsive email template design to ensure your emails adapt and display correctly on different screen sizes. This ensures a seamless and user-friendly experience for mobile users.
• Simplify Your Layout. Streamline your email layout to make it easy to read and navigate on mobile devices. Keep paragraphs and sections short and concise, and use bullet points or numbered lists to enhance readability. Use clear and legible fonts and ensure the font sizes are appropriate for mobile viewing.
• Use Touch-Friendly CTAs. Make your call-to-action (CTA) buttons and links easy to tap on mobile screens. Use larger button sizes with sufficient spacing to prevent accidental clicks. Ensure that buttons and links are prominently displayed and easily stand out. 
• Preview and Test Across Devices. Before sending your emails, preview and test them across various mobile devices to ensure consistency. Testing helps you identify any issues and make necessary adjustments for an optimal mobile experience.
• Prioritize Content Hierarchy. Place the most important information and compelling content at the top of your email, as mobile users tend to scroll less than desktop users. Grab your readers’ attention with a strong headline and concise introductory text, followed by the key message or offer. 

Grab your readers’ attention with a strong headline and concise introductory text, followed by the key message or offer. 

Use A/B Testing

The most effective email marketing campaigns incorporate a high level of creativity but rely on data and testing to ensure they succeed.

With split testing, you can eliminate guesswork from your email marketing campaigns. You can do this by testing specific aspects with a small group of recipients (Group A and B), then send the best-performing campaign to the rest of your audience. 

Split testing is also a quick way to maximize your open and click-through rates since you’ll send your subscribers the best-performing emails.

For example, a video game company optimized its conversion rates using split test results. Using heatmaps, they discovered the “buy now” page wasn’t performing well.

They then simplified the whole buying process by reducing the page’s scrolling alignments in the variant. As a result, lead generation rates increased by 12%.

The most defining elements in split testing are:

• Content;
• Subject line;
• Call to action;
• Time of day and week;
• Personalization.

Once you choose the elements to test, you can use the A/B testing tools in your email marketing software to start doing the test.

Use Gated Content and Content Upgrades

Gated content is online content you can only access after providing your contact information.

The content could be anything: videos, articles, or white papers. The form may only ask for your email address or include other personal info, such as your name or phone number, in exchange for access.

Here’s an example:

Gated content or lead magnets are effective because they incentivize providing personal details. Typically, visitors will find their way to your site via a blog post they found online.

If that blog post solves their problem, they may want to hear more from you. And you can give yourself another stream of valuable leads by designing an attractive gated content offering.

An example of gated content is content upgrades, which add to a discussion and are a follow-up to the content your readers love. Content upgrades are effective since they’re contextual and relevant without being invasive. So, the reader’s interest is established, making them more likely to convert.

Focus on Relationship Building

Lead generation and nurturing via emails is similar to cultivating a long-lasting friendship; you need to spend time building trust and strengthening the relationship. 

Your approach should not be mere transactional exchanges, setting the foundation for sustained engagement and loyalty.

Here are some effective strategies to ensure your email marketing efforts help build strong relationships:

• Encourage two-way communication. Invite your subscribers to share their opinions from time to time by asking their feedback and preferences. Create polls or ask for direct replies to show that you are eager to listen;
• Celebrate milestones. Mark important milestones like the anniversary of joining the email list or the first purchase. Send a personalized thank you email or share a special offer to show appreciation; 
• Provide exclusive offers. Treat your email subscribers as VIPs by giving them exclusive access to special offers or early releases; 
• Share behind-the-scenes content. Give subscribers a sneak peek by sharing stories about your team, products, and more. This humanizes your brand and creates a deeper emotional connection with your audience.

Use Email Lead Generation Tools

Lead generation tools streamline the lead generation process. Don’t just think of these tools as a data-capturing solution. When used correctly, they can automate your entire lead generation pipeline and even convert strangers into customers on autopilot. 

Experienced players use different types of email lead management tools to streamline their efforts. Here are some of the most common types and how they help improve the process: 

Sender can handle everything you need to execute your email marketing strategy. From visual automation workflows to high-converting forms, Sender is designed based on email marketing best practices to save you time on recurring tasks related to lead generation and nurturing. 

The best part is that it’s free to start, and you don’t need to pay anything for up to 2,500 subscribers. So, what are you waiting for?

Importance of Having an Email Lead Generation Strategy 

Most businesses prioritize lead generation because it helps in increasing sales revenue. 53% of marketers spend at least half their marketing budget on lead generation.

Email lead generation can nurture qualified prospects from initial interest to customers and brand ambassadors.

Here are some of the reasons why you should have an email lead generation strategy: 

• Maximizing ROI. Businesses can attract and convert potential customers into loyal advocates faster, boosting revenue and ROI;
• Targeted engagement. Email automation lets you segment and target your audience precisely through content that resonates with their interests and needs. This personalized approach increases the likelihood of conversions; 
• Building trust and credibility. Email is a direct and intimate channel that helps build trust. By consistently delivering valuable content, such as informative email newsletters, industry insights, and exclusive offers, you can position yourself as a reliable authority in your niche; 
• Automation and scalability. With marketing automation tools, you can set up automated workflows, including welcome emails, follow-ups, and drip marketing campaigns, ensuring timely and relevant communication at scale, even as your lead database grows; 
• Measurable and data-driven. With advanced analytics and reporting tools, businesses can gain valuable insights into open rates, click-through rates, conversions, and other key metrics. This helps optimize your email marketing strategy for better results. 

Creating Lead Generation Email Funnel

If you want an easier-to-use, more effective, and affordable email marketing option, look no further than Sender. It features a user-friendly yet powerful dashboard for sending emails and SMS messages. 

You can easily create a lead generation email funnel. Use Sender’s visual automation builder to set up a behavioral automation sequence. Add forms to pages that drive maximum traffic, welcome emails for new subscribers, and a drip nurture sequence to move subscribers further into the buyer’s journey on autopilot. 

If you want to get started with creating a lead generation funnel, check out the following tutorial for setting an automated funnel sequence on your website: 

Remember, the best way to take advantage of these tips is to act. So, why not create your first lead gen campaign today?

Author bio

Anmol Ratan Sachdeva is a content marketer and small business consultant who has a strong grip on topics like marketing automation, email marketing, and content marketing. He loves to write about starting, improving, and growing a business.