Email marketing has proven to be a successful strategy for many businesses. Although you may feel like email marketing is a dying trend because of social media, this is not necessarily the case. Globally, there are over 3.7 billion email users. Not using an email marketing strategy could mean missing a chance to connect with many valuable customers. Email marketing is an ideal way to nurture leads and gain more customers.
How do I start an email marketing campaign?
To begin using email marketing for your business, there a few steps you need to follow to ensure you develop a successful campaign. The following items are some of the most important steps you should take when creating a campaign.
Set goals & develop a strategy
Every type of marketing activity your business performs needs to begin with goal setting. You should decide what you want to get out of your email marketing campaign. Your goals could be to increase traffic, sales or leads or they could be more specific like to have a 15% open rate or a 20% conversion rate. No matter what your goals are, establishing them at the beginning will help you create a solid strategy.
With goals in mind, you can begin to set up a strategy. You should decide how often and when you will send emails. When planning, you need to decide which email marketing platform you will use. The following are some popular email marketing services you can choose:
- Mail Chimp
- Drip
- Constant Contact
- Email Brain
- Campaign Monitor
- Get Response
With your goals in mind and a strategy in place, you are ready to start building your email list.
Build an email list
You cannot have an effective email campaign without a list of email addresses. There are a variety of different ways you can build your email list. First, you can compile a list of known email addresses or past customers. Starting with your past customers is a great way to continue to nurture them and give them more opportunities to learn about your business and make another purchase.
If you don’t have information about your past customers, you can start from scratch to build an email list. Having an email subscription form on your website is a great way to start to build your list. This email subscription form could appear in your header, sidebar or popups.
Somewhere near your form, you should include an incentive for users to join your email list. For example, you can include an incentive to receive coupons, newsletters or tutorials relating to your industry. If users see the benefit, they will be more likely to enter their information and sign up for your emails.
Create your email template
With a quality email list, you are ready to start sending emails. You should create an email template that you will use for all of your email campaigns. By creating an email template initially, you will save time in the future and stay consistent throughout your campaigns. Using a similar design template will help users to recognize your emails each time you send them.
You want to continue to build your brand identity through your email campaigns. As you build your template, create a design that is similar to the colors and look of your website.
WebFX, Inc.
1705 N. Front St.
Harrisburg, PA 17102