So you’ve got people signed up for your emails? Congratulations…you’ve conquered the first hurdle! But you’re not off the hook just yet. Your next challenge is keeping those subscribers interested so they keep opening (and reading) your emails.

People ignore or unsubscribe from emails for a number of reasons. But don’t be discouraged. There are some simple things you can start doing today to help keep your email subscribers engaged over time.

Provide Relevant Content
When it comes to email marketing, one size doesn’t fit all. For example, folks who have submitted a lead indicating they’re looking for a new apartment might be interested in tips for choosing a moving company, but those who already live in your community probably aren’t. So consider segmenting your audience and sending each segment a different version of your newsletter or email.  

Get to the Point
Consumers get dozens, if not hundreds of emails each day. If a renter opens your email and sees nothing but a big block of text, chances are they’ll quickly hit “delete.” Make your emails easier to scan (and more likely to be read) by keeping sentences short, adopting a conversational tone, and using techniques like headers, bullet points and numbered lists to break up blocks of content.

Set Expectations (And Stick to Them)
When Rachel the Renter signed up for your email newsletter, did you tell her you’d send it once a month? Then don’t send it once a week or twice a year instead! If you email too often, Rachel may get annoyed and unsubscribe. If you email too infrequently, Rachel will likely lose interest.

Make Sure Your Emails are Mobile Friendly
Research from Movable Ink found that 65% of marketing emails were opened on a mobile device in Q4 of 2013. And that percentage will only continue to grow. That’s why it’s so important to make sure your emails are mobile friendly. Here are few guidelines to keep in mind:

• Use a legible font size (14 point is a good standard) that’s large enough to be readable on small screens.
• Stick to single column layouts, since multi-column layouts can get messy on different mobile devices.
• Keep the width of your email less than 600 pixels wide to ensure it looks good on various devices.

Avoid the Dreaded Junk Mail Folder
I don’t know about you, but I hardly ever check my spam folder. I’d be willing to bet the same holds true for most consumers. Help keep your email out of recipients’ junk mail by avoiding spam triggers like all capital letters, excessive exclamation points, and words and symbols such as free, cheap and $.

What are you doing to keep your email subscribers engaged?