Email is not going anywhere. There are 3.8 billion global email users, and that number is expected to grow to 4.1 billion by 2021. What is more, this communication channel is supremely popular: People check their emails multiple times a day, and when you are trying to market your company, you can get your name into thousands of inboxes just by launching an email marketing campaign.
Email marketing works 40 times better at getting customers than Facebook and Twitter, and compared to social media it offers 17% higher conversion. The secret to success is making every single email count. Email not only converts better than the most popular social media platforms but also people spend up to 17% more when they make a purchase.
The cost? Email marketing is also super-affordable, which makes it great for small businesses. And this means that, even if a campaign bombs, the marketer is not in trouble. In comparison, given their high spend, failed advertising campaigns using direct mail, print advertising, radio and TV can be disastrous.
But just sending an email message promoting your business is not enough. Consumers are inundated with a ton of promotional emails every day, and most get deleted without ever being read. That is why you need to make sure your emails will stand out through the noise.
So, where do you start and what can you do to be successful with your first email campaign? Let’s jump into it: Here is how to launch your first email marketing campaign and boost engagement for your company and its sales.
BUILD YOUR EMAIL LIST
To have a successful email marketing campaign, you will need people to email. That is why you have to build up your email list to be a money maker for your business. Having an email list enables you to have a lot of qualified leads at your fingertips, and you can email them any time you want to promote your company. But how do you get people signed up?
Using a nonintrusive, exit-intent popup on your site is a great, attention-grabbing tactic to get more email subscribers. Offering an incentive in your pop-up will convince users to hit that subscribe button, so consider offering a discount or another freebie in exchange for a prospective customer’s email address. Building a substantial email list is the backbone of any successful email campaign.
CHOOSE AN EMAIL MARKETING SERVICE PROVIDER
Once you have built up your email list and gotten tons of users ready for you to send a message, it is time to get your email campaign in motion. Using Gmail or Outlook is strongly discouraged for sending bulk emails. That is why you need to choose an email marketing service provider. Some great options are Constant Contact, MailChimp or ConvertKit.
By using an email service provider, you will get many benefits, including the ability to send bulk emails and manage your email database, campaign-management services, and customizable email templates. You will also be able to ensure you are compliant with CAN-SPAM laws.
DEFINE THE GOAL OF YOUR CAMPAIGN
Before you send out any emails, you should figure out why you are sending out the emails in the first place. Not defining a focus for your email marketing campaign will make that campaign appear all over the place, and confuse readers. So what is the goal of your campaign? Typical goals include:
- Promoting products or announcing a sale
- Educating users about your product/niche
- Increasing engagement on your blog/social media
- Upselling customers
Pinkberry’s goal with the following email campaign was to target its “inactive” users with a surprise incentive to return:
Remember: Not only you must decide “why?” but also “whom?” Will you be sending this campaign to consumers who have already purchased, users who have never bought or everyone on your email list? How you design your emails depends on what you want from your campaign, so determine your goal and plan your campaign around it.
CRAFT YOUR EMAIL
After you decide what type of email marketing campaign you are gonna launch, start crafting the email. The first tip is to produce a catchy subject line that will grab attention and make people want to open your email. You can use a free tool like CoSchedule’s Email Subject Line Tester to see whether your subject line makes the grade or not.
Other tips which will get your emails opened include personalizing them to each user; people will pay closer attention if you say their name. Designing an eye-catching email with a good mixture of images and text is also essential. Design experts usually recommend that emails employ a 60/40 text-to-image ratio.
Finally, when writing a copy for your email campaign, keep it snappy and short and show some personality because you want to get your point across without boring the readers by making them scroll through a long email to find out what you are talking about. You should focus on content which shows readers how they will benefit, instead of just telling them how great you are.
Now you are ready to launch your first email marketing campaign. Do not forget that once you hit “send,” you can start to measure your results, like your open rate and your number of orders or registrations, for example. When you measure your results, you will be able to see what’s working and what is not; and the next time you send out a campaign, you will get even better results than the first time around.
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