Beginner’s Guide to Email Marketing

What Is Email Marketing?

One of the earliest digital communication channels is email, which is also one of the best digital marketing techniques available.

Yes, there are more recent ways to interact with your audience and clients, such as live chat and social media. Email, however, is the king of marketing channels, with over 4.5 billion users.

Beginner’s Guide to Email Marketing
Email Marketing


Email marketing also warrants a spot in every marketer's toolkit, with a return on investment of $36 for every dollar invested.
Email marketing continues to be the most successful marketing channel, outperforming affiliate marketing, social media, and search engine optimization.



Why? Why is this decades-old technology still one of the most successful marketing methods, with all the hoopla surrounding new channels?

Is Email Marketing Outdated?

People utilize email more than other platforms, even with the rise of social media. Ultimately, if someone isn't present, what use is it to promote to them?

The majority of people, according to data, use email, and that figure rises year.


Additionally, you control the relationships with email marketing, so you don't have to worry about your reach being severely limited by algorithm adjustments.

Not yet persuaded? Four out of five marketers, according to HubSpot, would prefer give up social media over email marketing. 


Developing an effective email marketing campaign is therefore more crucial than ever.

There's a problem: most people aren't proficient in this area. (In fact, it's likely that you've seen those individuals in your inbox.)

Despite its length, this post is worthwhile to read. We'll go over methods and advice for developing an email list, writing engaging emails, developing automated campaigns, and monitoring your progress.

Getting Started With Email Marketing

Businesses use email marketing as a tactic to reach a large audience with promotional messages. Usually, it is utilized to spread promotional offers, nurture leads, or increase the reach of content marketing campaigns in order to drive sales.

There's a strong likelihood that at least half of the emails you get right now are spam, such as this one from Glasses USA. 
 

The Fundamentals of Email Marketing

Let's start by going over the basics before getting into the tactics you'll use to develop and utilize email marketing campaigns. Next up, we'll discuss how to make the most out of your email marketing campaign using these recommendations.

1. Remain Human: Although email marketing is popular, it is competitive. Utilize email to address users by name, communicate with them personally, and show them the human side of your business.

2. Use Captivating Subject Lines, But Don't Bait and Switch: Increasing email open rates requires using captivating subject lines, but make sure they stay on topic and avoid being spammy. Users may unsubscribe or designate your message as spam if they think you've tricked them, which will affect deliverability. 

3. Keep Messages Brief: Since most emails are viewed on mobile devices, make sure your copy is clear and succinct. If you need to convey a lot of information, point readers to a landing page or blog post.

4. Put CTAs at the Top and Bottom: In landing sites, call to action (CTAs) are placed above the fold. Apply the same principle to emails by placing effective CTAs at the top and bottom of the message, as well as after the first paragraph. 

5. Request Permission and Keep Your Words: Don't purchase email lists; it's usually against the law and won't yield a return on investment. Make sure to present high-quality material or offers if you are making a deal or offering fantastic stuff. 

Remember: You’re a Guest in Their Inbox

Everywhere they turn, people are confronted with advertisements, pitches, and disruptions.

Although you may believe that your email is unique, the reader will see it as one in a million—and not in a positive way.


For this reason, it's critical to act politely.

Accessing someone's email is akin to receiving an invitation to their house for a meal. You comply politely if they ask you to remove your shoes.

Give their email inbox the same consideration. They've allowed you into their lives as a guest, and they have the right to eject you at any time. Thus, behave appropriately and keep in mind that you are a visitor in their mailbox.

Let's now discuss how to develop your plan from the ground up.

How Does Email Marketing Work?

One of the best marketing tactics is email marketing, in large part because it's

quite simple to use and frequently automated.


Several other marketing campaigns, such as lead generation, sales, and content marketing, can also be aided by it.

Three components are necessary for an email marketing campaign to be successful:

1. An Email List

A database of subscribers who have consented to receive emails from you is called an email list.

You need an engaged, active email list in order to create effective email marketing.

Building an e-mail list can be done in a lot of ways. Making a lead magnet, also known as an offer, that your target audience would be interested in—like a coupon—in exchange for their email addresses is one of the simplest. 

2. An Email Service Provider

An email marketing platform, sometimes referred to as an email service provider (ESP), is a software that assists in email list management. Designing and implementing automated email marketing is another benefit.

You may even set up automated triggers with an ESP to occur when members of your audience do particular tasks, like reminding users to add items to their carts and then not checking out. You may personalize interactions using these triggers, which increases open rates and engagement.

3. Clearly Defined Goals

Email can help you achieve a variety of business goals, including: 

  • 1. drive sales
  • 2. boost brand awareness 
  • 3. generate and nurture leads
  • 4. keep customers engaged
  • 5. increase customer loyalty and lifetime value

To execute an effective email marketing campaign, your email list, ESP, and goals must align. Then, you can get to work.

The first step is to segment your email list according to subscriber demographics or actions.

Next, write an email, or series of emails, with the intention of persuading recipients to take action (your aim).

Finally, send emails and automatically track the campaign using your ESP.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Email Marketing

Email marketing offers advantages and disadvantages, just like any other marketing method. Let's quickly go over a few of the most important ones:

Advantages of Email Marketing

Email marketing has many advantages. These are but a handful of the most important advantages to remember.

Email Is Permission-based


Gaining a customer's trust by providing their email address is like getting the keys to their home. The likelihood of engagement and conversion is higher when permission is obtained rather than when someone enters without being invited.

Provides Direct Access to Your Audience

Direct communication regarding subscribers' schedules is possible. Also, your message has a higher chance of being seen because the majority of individuals check their email several times a day.

Email Provides More Control

You don't own the platform with the majority of other marketing platforms. Your entire effort is lost if the platform disappears. Should Google or Facebook make changes to their algorithm, your reach might be significantly diminished.

With email, on the other hand, the connections you make with your subscribers are your property.

More Personalization Capabilities

Demographic and psychographic information can be used to develop hyper-targeted, customized advertising. According to research, customized and focused ads can boost sales by up to 760 percent.

Easy to Measure Success

A marketing campaign's efficacy must be measured, and automated email marketing makes this process simple.

Scalable

Email marketing campaigns can grow with your audience without putting too much burden on your resources or sacrificing effectiveness.

Disadvantages of Email Marketing

Email isn't always a happy place. There are a few drawbacks to be mindful of. The good news is that a strong plan can lessen the effects of drawbacks like:

Tough Competition

Making an impression in a crowded inbox might be difficult. To make sure your emails are opened, you'll need to think outside the box.

You Need an Email List

For email marketing efforts to be successful, you must already have an email list. It takes effort and can be difficult to build an email list.

Many Rules and Regulations to Navigate

The use of email for business is governed by a number of laws. Examples that are often used are CCPA, CAN-SPAM, and GDPR. These all set forth guidelines for data storage and prohibit companies from sending unsolicited emails.

Regretfully, even if someone subscribes, they may still report your emails as spam. Your sender's reputation suffers as a result.

Delivery and Deliverability Issues

Deliverability is not assured. Spam filters are used by a lot of email services (Gmail, Outlook, etc.). Deliverability and delivery problems must be addressed if you want to operate successful email marketing campaigns.

Email Marketing Examples to Inspire Your Next Campaign

To get some ideas, let's take a quick peek at a few email marketing samples.

How to Automate Your Email Marketing

There are some universal stages you'll follow when automating the procedure, even though the method changes depending on the ESP.

Define Your Email Segments

List segmentation is the first step towards effective campaigns. Utilize the subscriber data to create groups. You can now design more individualized campaigns as a result.

Depending on who is reading it, this information may consist of:


1.information about your website's behavior.
2.demographic information, like place, age, and gender.
3.subjects that hold significance for them. 

Design an Efficient Email Series

Having segmented your email list, the next step is to create a series. This is an email list that achieves the campaign's goal.

Determine the Right Triggers

After creating your workflow, decide which steps will cause the subsequent email in the series to be sent. Customers opening your email, clicking a link, or not opening it within a set amount of time are a few examples of triggers.

1. Your email triggers may look something like this, depending on your objectives.

2. A new subscriber joins your email list → Send a welcome email containing many well-liked products and a voucher.

3. Send a second email highlighting the new arrivals after a week. A subscriber stops by your women's wear department → Advertise a new collection via email.

4. The user adds an item to their cart but doesn't complete the purchase => Send a 10% discount coupon along with an email reminder. 

Although this series is intended for an e-commerce company, you may develop series of a similar nature to promote a course, nurture leads, or increase traffic to your blog.  
 

Best Email Marketing Strategies

You must create smart campaigns if you want to succeed with email. These are a few of the most effective tactics you can use.

Use the Right Email List-Building Strategies

The quality of your email list determines how well your email marketing efforts perform. You have to utilize list-building techniques aimed at drawing in your intended audience in order to create a list.

A B2B company would benefit from using a case study that is pushed on LinkedIn to develop a list of interested subscribers, but a B2C brand would not benefit from it.


Effective list-building techniques include, for example:

1.offering a coupon
 
2.creating a downloadable asset 

3.hosting a webinar 
 

Practice Good Email List Hygiene

Maintaining excellent email list hygiene is another crucial email marketing tactic. Your sender reputation will increase if you delete invalid email addresses and inactive subscribers.

If subscribers haven't opened your emails, think about sending them a follow-up email to see if they're still interested. Take them off your list if they aren't.

Keep Your List Warm

Send emails to your list on a regular basis to keep subscribers interested (warm). Sending out emails infrequently could cause your readers to forget who you are and decrease your conversion rates.

You can use paid advertisements to launch a re-engagement campaign if some of your subscribers stop subscribing.

Focus on One Objective

Create emails and campaigns with a single goal in mind. Attempting to accomplish multiple goals simultaneously is ineffective when it comes to email marketing. It will just make your readers more perplexed and lower your conversion rates.

Define and Track the Right KPIs

It takes more than just sending weekly emails to subscribers to be successful. You need to monitor the success of your efforts in order to determine whether tactics are working. To do this, the appropriate key performance indicators (KPIs) must be defined and monitored.

Depending on what you want to achieve, your KPIs could be:

1.open rates 

2.click-through-rates

3.sales 

4.blog traffic 

5.unsubscribe rate
 

Top 7 Email Marketing Tools Every Marketer Should Know

You must optimize your operations with email marketing tools in order to execute a successful email campaign. The following list of the top seven email tools can help you succeed:

Email Service Providers (ESP)

An ESP is one of the most important email tools you need. Leading ESPs consist of:

1.Constant Contact: Because of features like shoppable emails and automated product recommendations, this is the greatest option for e-commerce email marketing campaigns. Monthly plans start at $36.

2.Sendinblue: Sendinblue works well for small companies that do basic email marketing campaigns. Its feature set is extensive and includes, among other things, SMS, live chat, and CRM. They do have a free version, but paid subscriptions begin at $25 per month.

3.Pardot (Salesforce): A platform created especially for the B2B buyer journey is needed for B2B email campaigns. Pardot is the ideal choice. In order to create high-growth email campaigns with Pardot, however, be ready to pay $1,250 a month or more for up to 10,000 contacts.

Email Deliverability Tools

The capacity of an ESP to successfully deliver emails to your recipients' inboxes is known as email deliverability. A tool that the astute email marketer will have in their arsenal is an email deliverability tester. Below are a few of the best ones:

MailGenius: MailGenius looks for potential spam triggers in your emails. To make sure your emails get in the inboxes of the appropriate recipients, you can utilize it to conduct deliverability checks. The tool MailGenius is free.

GlockApps:
GlockApps provides real-time delivery results for emails, indicating if they were sent at all or ended up in the Spam or Inbox folders, Gmail's Promotional or Social tabs, or none of the above. Prices start at free for personal accounts and increase from there.

Email Testing and Tracking Tool

You may develop more effective marketing iterations by testing and monitoring campaign performance. What are the finest email marketing tools for tracking and testing?

Litmus: This tool lets you test and monitor emails on both common mobile devices and desktop browsers.

This feature might also be available with the ESP you use.

Email Personalization Tools

Apply the email's personalization tool to up your personalization game beyond just adding the names of your recipients.

Hyperise: No technology performs email marketing campaign personalization better than Hyperise. It enables you to include dynamic, customized images—such as profile pictures from social media platforms—into every email you send.

This feature might also be available in other tools, such as your customer engagement platform or ESP. 

How to Write Email Marketing Copy That Drives Results

Writing attractive email marketing copy is essential to capturing readers' attention and achieving desired outcomes. The following advice can help you write email copy that is compelling:

Know Your Audience:
Understand the requirements, concerns, and preferences of your target audience. Make your message relevant to them.

Craft a Strong Subject Line:
The first thing recipients see is the subject line. Make it compelling, succinct, and pertinent to promote opens. Moreover, personalization can boost interest.

Clear and Compelling Headline:
The primary point of the title should be made clear and pique readers' curiosity. Remain succinct and pertinent to the email's subject line.

Personalization:
When feasible, use the recipient's name and other individualized details. This improves rapport-building and raises the possibility of interaction.

Focused and Relevant Content:
Maintain the focus of your article on a single point of advice or deal. Steer clear of providing recipients with excessive information. Make sure the content you write is pertinent to the interests of your readers.

Create a Sense of Urgency:
Incorporate a sense of urgency into your writing to compel action. Readers may be prompted to act swiftly by countdowns, limited-time offers, or exclusive discounts.

Compelling Call-to-Action (CTA):
Make it obvious what action you would like the reader to take. Make sure your call to action (CTA) is clear, concise, and visible in the email. Make your language captivating to encourage clicks.

Mobile Optimization:
On their mobile devices, many people check their emails. Make sure the text and image sizes in your email are suitable for mobile reading.

Tell a Story:
Telling a story will draw in your audience. To emotionally connect with your audience, use success stories, testimonials, or real-world examples.

Use Power Words:
Use emotionally charged rhetoric to persuade others. Words that elicit attention and motivate action include "exclusive," "limited-time," and "free".

Segmentation:
Adapt the content of your emails to the different audience categories. Personalized content typically performs better because various groups may have distinct requirements and interests.

A/B Testing:
Try A/B testing to get the best email copy possible. To find out what appeals to your audience the most, experiment with different headlines, CTAs, subject lines, and content formats.

Avoid Spam Trigger Words:
Avoid utilizing terms and expressions that are frequently connected to spam. This involves using all caps, a lot of exclamation points, and terms like "free" or "guarantee."

Concise and Scannable:
Most email users skim the message fast. Make your information easy to read and understand by using subheadings, bullet points, and short paragraphs.

Postscript (P.S.):
At the conclusion of your email, include a P.S. that summarizes the key points or restates the call to action. It might support your message because it is a portion that is frequently viewed.

To further hone your email marketing approach, regularly review email performance indicators like open rates, click-through rates, and conversions. Adapt your strategy to suit the needs of your target audience.

Email Marketing Step 1: Build Your List

You need recipients for your emails before you can begin sending them. What is the first step in creating a list? Begin by putting a banner or form on your website that merely requests that visitors subscribe.

Then, follow these advice.

1. Offer An Incentive

Consider your email addresses as money. You wouldn't part with money easily, would you? Providing a reward is an easy approach to collect email addresses.

There's a lot of methods to accomplish this. While some firms choose to offer freebies or downloadable materials, others just provide a newsletter or updates on their products.


For instance, readers of the business newsletter Morning Brew receive a straightforward perk each morning: entertaining and thought-provoking updates.

In order to deliver more insightful material, Search Engine Journal asks the user about their interests using a tiny form that appears in their right sidebar and offers daily news.

A white paper, checklist, ebook, or other downloadable resource can also be made available. Giving away free stuff and holding contests are excellent methods to persuade people to divulge their email addresses.

I can't advise you on the best course of action for your company, but I will say that when requesting an address, it's critical to have a specific goal in mind.


Here's where a compelling call to action is useful, and copywriting is crucial.

Nobody is going to get enthusiastic about a post that says, "enter your email for updates." Conversely, provide details.

If you share a targeted call to action or offer an incentive for supplying their email addresses, you'll get more subscribers.

Common ways to get individuals to subscribe to your email list are as follows:

1.email series

2.free downloads

3.free white papers or eBooks

4.update lists, like new releases and product updates 

Make sure your reward is obvious, appealing, and don't be scared to advertise it.

2. Follow Email Marketing Laws and Regulations

Ensure that your emails abide by all applicable local laws, such as GDPR and CAN-SPAM.

Don't be alarmed by all the legalese.


This simply means that you should never purchase email lists and that you want to use double opt-in alternatives to let users know what they are getting into. Lastly, ensure that unsubscribing is simple for users.

Email Marketing Step 2: Provide Great Content

The key to email marketing is setting expectations, and it is your responsibility to do so.

You may anticipate a successful email campaign if your call to action is compelling and you follow up on a regular basis.


But you're setting yourself up for failure if you say you'll send one email a week but end up sending several every day. (Also bothering your roster.)

Conversely, if someone is anticipating important product upgrades or daily updates from you and you don't provide them, they will probably be disappointed as well.

The effectiveness of your email marketing campaigns depends on this, which is why the initial follow-up email is so important.

Send an Introduction Email

This is a simple email from Airbnb welcoming a new user. It walks you through every step of the process, from filling out your profile to booking your first stay and having your details verified.

A similar email is sent by Spotify to confirm the membership and inform the recipient of what to expect.

Make use of the ability to construct an automated greeting sequence offered by almost all email service providers.

Sending out your first follow-up email right away will allow you to introduce yourself and let prospective subscribers know what to expect.


It's preferable to be thorough in your initial email rather than brief and inconspicuous, but if you can pull it off, great.

It's only a matter of living up to their expectations from here on out.

Don’t Pitch Right Away

You want to interact with clients and close deals, not merely maintain an email list for fun.

It might be challenging to move from an email list that offers a ton of free content to one that makes paid product pitches.


Prepare the pitch by considering the best time and method to send it. You don't want to make a pitch to everyone out of the blue.

If customers anticipate occasional sales pitches, your campaign will be far more successful.

Put yourself in the reader's position if you want to make frequent sales.

Consider whether your messaging is in line with the standards you have established. Consider the customer's interests when sending future offers, if at all possible.


Senders of blind offers are much more likely to have their permission to continue sending them revoked.

Again, no two businesses are the same, therefore there are no hard and fast guidelines on how frequently you can submit content or pitch.

Just keep in mind that having an email list is a benefit and that it's best to err on the side of caution rather than take a chance.

How to Write a Great Email Newsletter

Let's discuss the distinctions between quality and poor quality newsletters.

If you can't remember asking to receive the newsletter, it's the first clue that it's a terrible one.


This typically occurs when a company receives a business card or personal email and either neglects to keep up a regular email practice or manually adds someone to their list.

Providing regular updates is the best method to ensure that everyone remembers you. Make an effort to send an email once a week, or at least once a month.

The newsletters that combine updates and messaging well are, in my opinion, the most engaging.


For instance, the email may have a series of product updates and pictures, but it is counterbalanced with a kind note or a personal greeting.

Rather than making a sales pitch, use your email to strengthen your relationship with readers and customers.

For exclusive announcements, offers, and updates, save the pitch.

Use Email Automation, But Keep It Human

It's simple to think that, when you first establish an email list, you'll have enough time to personally greet each new member.

Managing a large number of subscribers makes it nearly impossible to stay relevant.


You'll begin creating increasingly intricate campaigns because it is impossible to follow up with everyone all the time.

Proficient marketers appear to manage this, but how?

Email automation is their trade secret.

This automatically sends emails on a prearranged basis and in response to triggers.

You can avoid "going dark" for any amount of time by planning a series of emails to be sent ahead of time.

Companies frequently set up a sequence of emails that automatically sent out over a period of time, from a few days to several months, to acquaint new subscribers with your offerings.

In this manner, you can be certain that people are listening when it comes time to announce a new offering or sale.


You've spent weeks or months developing a relationship with your readers, so you're far less likely to irritate them.

Email Marketing Step 3: Analytics and Segmentation

Let's talk about how to advance the conversation now that you are aware of the fundamentals of a successful email campaign.

In particular, how to improve your broadcasts and get even greater outcomes by employing segmentation and analytics.

How To Understand Email Analytics

Analytics play a crucial role in online copy, as we have already covered, and email is no exception.

I've never worked with an email service provider that didn't offer free analytics.


Open rate, click-through rate, and unsubscribes are the three most significant metrics, even if they're all significant.

Let's examine each one in detail to determine what may be inferred from these measurements.

Email Open Rate

How many people open your emails is explained by your open rate. Its foundation is an unseen tracking pixel that loads in response to a message click.

Your relationship with your subscribers can be gauged by looking at your open rates. People should be eager to read and promptly open your emails, ideally.


A low open rate typically indicates a large number of inactive customers. Your main priorities should be controlling expectations and offering value. Here are some pointers to increase your open rate.

Click-Through Rate

Next, the number of persons that clicked on a link in your email, if any, is shown by your click-through rate, or CTR.

A low CTR indicates that your message is not being seen or is not being targeted effectively enough. Here, concentrate on making your copy

Unsubscribe Rate

Lastly, the number of individuals who have clicked the "unsubscribe" button at the bottom of your email is shown by your unsubscribe rate.

When your opt-in rate is higher than your unsubscribe rate, you've already surpassed the stage of creating value and crafting effective copy. You have a substantial task ahead of you.


In essence, you've created a sieve, and eventually, those who register do so. If this describes you, look for signs of when people are departing and act accordingly.

Rework it if they're departing following a specific automated email. If your offers aren't attracting them, reconsider how you promote them.

You need to adjust your initial call to action to make it consistent with the remainder of your emails if people are opting out of your email funnel too soon.


If you're paying attention, email analytics give very clear hints about what you're doing incorrectly, which is why they're so important.

How To Segment Your Email Marketing List

Email segmentation, for those who are not familiar with the word, is the process of dividing your email list into more focused groups.

Here are some strategies for breaking up your list: 

1. Customer list (in comparison to leads who haven’t bought)
newsletter subscribers

2. Daily email list (in comparison to weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc)

3. Demographics, such as age, location, or job title

4. Interests, such as marketing or sales topics
 
You can send more targeted messages by segmenting your list, just like you can with paid advertising.

Customers may want to hear about new product updates exclusively, while others may want to hear about sales and product changes as well. Leads in sales teams might be more interested in learning about a new sales feature than a new marketing tool.


Additionally, you have the ability to thank customers specifically by email. For example, Chrome Industries sent out a thank-you email to customers.

With segmentation, you can send a broadcast solely to people who either indicated interest in hearing from you again or who didn't read your previous message (ask them why).

Additionally, split-testing messages amongst various groups can be used to A/B test best practices, titles, and content.


As you can see, segmentation isn't difficult, but it does need work, which is why most people don't devote enough time to doing it well.

You'll instantly set yourself out from the group if you do.

How Much Is Your Email List Worth?

One of your most important assets is your email list, which will pay for itself many times over if you treat it well.

You can begin monitoring the average amount of money spent by the individuals on your list over time. This will indicate the value of your list.


If you conduct two campaigns a year with a list of 10,000 people, each of whom typically spends $50,000 on a campaign, you could take the average and conclude that each subscriber is worth $10 annually.

That kind of calculation makes it easy to understand how losing several hundred users could pose a risk to your revenue.

FAQs

What are the benefits of email marketing?

Businesses can use email marketing to expand their reach, increase sales, retrieve abandoned carts, and strengthen their bonds with their target audience. It's also among the least expensive advertising techniques.
 

How do I build an email list?

Create a giveaway, provide a free email course, or offer a downloadable resource to grow your email list. For additional email collection, think about adding a banner to the top of your website. Provide a downloadable resource, hold a contest, or give something away for free to grow your email list.

What email marketing regulations are there?

Protecting user privacy and refraining from sending emails to lists that you have purchased are mandated by CAN-SPAM and GDPR (for Europe).

What is email automation?

When a subscriber adds an item to their cart or downloads an asset, for example, email automation can be used to develop sophisticated email campaigns that send out automated emails.

How do I segment my email list?

The segment subscribers by interests, demographics, or customers against non-customers using your email tool. Next, send each segment a message that is tailored to it.

Conclusion

It's time to rev up your plan if you've been ignoring email marketing or putting it on autopilot.

For marketers who are ready to learn how to do it correctly, email marketing yields enormous benefits. It also doesn't have to be difficult.


First of all, keep in mind that your subscribers' inboxes are guests. It only takes one click to permanently lose their attention. Be courteous, considerate, and provide value.

You'll want to keep your word when you make commitments. Give individuals what they've requested, and correspond with them on a frequent basis to meet their expectations.

The secret to increasing email automation is not a formula. It all depends on what suits the voice and style of your business the best.


After you've mastered the fundamentals, you can finally move on to email segmentation and analytics. To send more insightful emails, start addressing distinct groups in your emails.
 

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