Email marketing or email marketing means using email to promote products or services while building relationships with customers or potential customers. This is direct mail, which is done electronically instead of using postal services.

In this article, we will discuss the benefits of email marketing, how to do it properly, and introduce 10 steps to start an email marketing campaign.

What is Email Marketing?

Whenever a company sends an email, apart from confirming the order and answering customer questions directly, it can be considered a form of email marketing. Email marketing is a part of internet marketing that includes online marketing through websites, social media, blogs, and more.

Email marketing can include newsletters with company-related updates, or sales promotions and exclusive deals for subscribers. Marketing emails may also seek to share a general message from the company, such as following a natural disaster or company scandal.

At its best, email marketing allows businesses to keep their customers up to date with updates and tailor their marketing messages to their audience. At worst, this type of marketing can repel customers with annoying spam emails.

How Does Email Marketing Work?

The email marketing campaign is easy to set up and track, making it accessible to small businesses. For example, you can add a newsletter subscription option to your website. As people sign up, you can send out newsletters to a growing audience. You can also direct customers to the newsletter from your social media profiles.

The two big advantages of email marketing are price and ease. Compared to other types of marketing, emailing is a cheap way to promote your company and its products or services.

A regular newsletter is a simple and effective way to send company updates, upcoming events, and special offers. Email software also makes it easy to schedule automated promotional emails for customers who have not recently purchased.

Email marketing allows you to target specific groups of customers or even specific people. One way to do this is to offer special birthday discounts to customers for goods or services.

For example, a restaurant may send an email on customers’ birthdays offering a 50% discount on food. This type of personalization helps the business to develop and maintain a relationship with the customer, And this can lead to increased sales and customer loyalty.

Now that you know what email marketing is and how it works, here are 10 steps you can take to begin your email marketing campaign:

1. Select an email marketing service provider

If you are serious about email marketing, you should work with an email marketing service provider. Working with a provider is the only way your business can use email marketing automation to effectively send messages to large groups of contacts or subscribers.

You’ll also find professional email templates, tools to help you grow and manage your email list, and tracking features that show you who opens and engages your campaigns and messages.

2. Gather contacts for your email marketing list

Most businesses will have a number of contacts available to start an email list. Think about the customers and people you have already contacted. Maybe these are the business contacts you email regularly. Maybe start with just a few friends and family.

Even if you are creating an email list from scratch, do not despair. Start by placing a paper registration form near the registration form, adding an online registration form to the website, and encouraging social media followers and loyal customers to sign up for email marketing.

Never be tempted to buy an email list. In email marketing, it’s all about building relationships. Communicating with a smaller list of quality contacts is more effective than sending a message to contacts who do not even know your business.

3- Add your contacts to your email marketing account

Once you have an email marketing account and an initial mailing list, you can add your contacts to the account.

You can start by uploading a contact list from the existing spreadsheet or importing contacts directly from your Gmail or Outlook account.

If possible, organize contacts into separate lists based on what you know about them. For example, if you own a gym, create separate email lists for people who have taken swimming lessons and those who come to yoga classes.

This way you can send targeted emails based on their specific interests.

4. Create a welcome email

A welcome email is the first message new subscribers receive from you.

Welcome emails are especially important because they act as your first potential customer encounter and reach them when people are heavily involved in your business. You can expect an above-average opening rate for a welcome email, so make sure the value is delivered immediately.

Start with a warm greeting, give an overview of what they can expect from you in the future, and offer them something useful right away.

Your welcome email will be automatically sent to all new contacts after launch.

5. Create a reusable email template

We have reached the exciting part of email marketing! Even if you are not a designer, you can send beautifully designed professional emails that look beautiful on any device.

When choosing a template, look for a design that is clean and eye-catching and conveys your message quickly. Choose an email template visible on your mobile phone that looks good on any device.

Next, customize the template for your brand by placing your business logo just above the email and linking the image to your website homepage. Add colors specific to your business and create an email footer with your business name, contact information, and links to your active social media channels.

Once you have set up these essential design elements, make a copy of the email and save this copy as your original template. With this reusable template, you do not have to start over and add your brand elements every time.

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6. Practice writing compelling messages

This is one of the scariest steps for business owners. The writing barrier happens to all of us.

One thing that can help is to pretend that you are having a face-to-face conversation with someone and write down exactly what you want to tell them.

Following an iterative process and splitting the message also helps these three important parts:

• What do you offer? (Title)
• How will it help the reader? (Message body)
• What should they do next? (Call to action)

This simple three-step formula helps you stay focused so you can write effective messages quickly.

7. Take time to write the topic

The subject of the email is one of the most important lines of text in the whole email.

Why? Because subscribers see the issue even before they open your message. If you make a good impression, people will not be able to resist opening the email. If you write something simple, they may pass by your message without thinking.

The topic should be short and fast; About 40 letters is enough.

You can attract them by asking a compelling question, announcing a deadline, or an interesting joke.

8- Preview and test before sending

When you first start email marketing, you may miss this important step from time to time.

You may have forgotten to add an important link, or you may have made a shameful spelling mistake. Unfortunately, there is no email retrieval button, so always remember to send a test email to yourself or an employee before sending it to the entire list.

9- Send your email (at the best time)

When you are ready to send an email, scheduling is an important factor to consider.

Each contact is different, and the best time to post depends on the people on your email list.

You can also create and stick to a fixed sending schedule. For example, if you submit a newsletter on the first of each month, your audience will expect to see it in their inbox on that date.

If you decide to follow a specific schedule, say something like:

• “Would you like to subscribe to our tips and tricks newsletter?” We will send you a summary of the top blog posts, upcoming webinars, and the best marketing tips on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month. ”
• Subscribers will find out when they will hear from you in the future, and you can schedule your message according to a set schedule.

10. Follow the results

Email marketing does not end with sending an email. You need to track the opening rate, click-through rate, unsubscribe rate, etc., and try to improve it over time.

If you want to get real results from email marketing, you need a strong understanding of how each email works so you can make improvements and learn more about your customers and subscribers.

Spending a few minutes on email reports gives you valuable information, such as who opened your email, who clicked on specific links, and what information was most interesting to readers.

While it is important to know how attractive your campaign messages are, follow the steps that go beyond your emails. How many clicks on your donation page turn into real donations? What is the total amount collected from an email?

These are the types of questions that show you the true impact of your marketing efforts.

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Email Marketing Strategies

Effective email marketing requires effort. Here are some tips and tricks to get the most out of your email marketing campaigns:

Make your list

The only thing you can do by sending an unsolicited email is to repel most of the people you hoped to become a customer. Whether it’s a website, in-store, or at an event, specify when customers receive your emails.

Follow the law

Email marketers must abide by the CAN-SPAM Act. These rules include having a non-deceptive topic, providing a clear way to unsubscribe, and inserting your name and address at the bottom of emails.

Send a variety of messages

Do not always send ads just to buy. Use email to connect with customers by sharing your expertise or that of others and providing tips and insights that they can value. Share information that lets them know more about you and your company.

Respect your subscribers

Treat your subscriber list well. Remember that the people you are in contact with have given you their information. They deserve your respect. If you want to have the opportunity to turn them from customer to fan and even the value of your brand, give them a sense of specialty.

Follow a schedule

If you are sending a newsletter, stick to a schedule. Sending emails one day (or several days) each week helps your subscribers know what to expect from you at what time.

Optimize for mobile

Studies by marketing analysts with Litmus consistently show that less than half of emails are opened on mobile devices. This means that if your email is not displayed properly on your mobile operating system, half the audience will think you do not know how to send an email.

Conclusion

Email marketing, like most things, can be very difficult until you really try it. Here are 10 easy steps to follow to help you successfully launch your first email marketing campaign.

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