A Beginner’s Guide to Successful Email Marketing

Is email marketing a thing of the past?

With all the buzz about the video, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and chatbots, it's easy to believe that email has outlived its usefulness.

However, if you believe email is no longer relevant, you are missing out on critical metrics. What is the truth? Email marketing is still very much alive and well and is probably the best strategy for growing your business.

What is the evidence?

Email marketing continues to be the most effective marketing channel, outperforming social media, search engine optimization, and affiliate marketing.

Why is this the case? With all the excitement surrounding new channels, how is it that decades-old technology remains one of the most effective marketing strategies?

Despite the rise of social media, email remains the most popular platform. After all, what good is marketing to someone who isn't present?

The data indicates that the majority of people use email—and the number continues to grow each year.

Additionally, with email marketing, you retain ownership of the connections — you are not subject to algorithm changes that reduce your reach.

That is why it is more critical than ever to develop a successful email marketing campaign.

However, there is a problem—the majority of people do not know how to do it properly. (In fact, you've almost certainly seen those individuals in your email inbox.)

Today, you'll discover how to create an email marketing campaign from the ground up.

Bear in mind that you are a guest in their inbox.

Everywhere they look, people are inundated with interruptions, pitches, and advertisements.

Though you may believe your email is unique. However, your email is one in a million to the reader — and not in a good way.

This is why it is critical to keep track of your location and maintain proper manners.

Gaining access to another person's inbox is akin to being invited to their home for dinner. If they ask you to remove your shoes, you do so respectfully.

It's the same with email marketing, so before we get started, I'd like to remind you to always act professionally and to remember that you're a guest in their inbox.

Now, let's discuss how to start building your email marketing strategy from scratch.

The First Step in Email Marketing Is to Build Your List

Before you can begin sending emails, you must first acquire recipients. Thus, how do you begin building your list? Begin by including a banner or form on your website inviting visitors to subscribe.

Then, adhere to the following guidelines.

Provide a Bonus

Consider email addresses to be a form of currency — you wouldn't give away money for free, would you? The simplest way to collect email addresses is to offer an incentive.

Naturally, there are numerous ways to accomplish this. Some prefer to give something away for free, while others simply provide a newsletter or updates on their products.

For instance, the business newsletter Morning Brew provides readers with a straightforward benefit—every morning, they receive their fun, interesting updates.

Search Engine Journal utilizes a small form in their right sidebar to provide daily news — they also inquire about the user's interests, which enables them to send more relevant content.

Additionally, you can provide a checklist, ebook, white paper, or other downloadable resource. Contests and giveaways are another effective method of persuading individuals to share their email addresses.

I cannot tell you which path is best for your business, but I can tell you that it is critical to have a clear purpose in mind when requesting an address.

This is where a strong call to action is critical, as is copywriting.

Establish your credibility, describe the purpose of the emails, and pique interest in receiving them.

Simply posting "enter your email address to receive updates" will not pique anyone's interest. Rather than that, share specifics.

By emphasising a specific call to action or benefit associated with providing their email address, you can increase subscriptions.

Several common methods for enticing people to sign up include the following:

free email series downloads

Update lists of free white papers or eBooks, such as new releases and product updates

Whatever the incentive is, it should be clear and enticing, and you should not be afraid to promote it.

Adhere to Email Marketing Legislation and Regulations

Additionally, you'll want to ensure that your emails adhere to applicable local laws and regulations, such as CAN-SPAM and GDPR.

Allow the legalese to intimidate you — all you need to do is avoid purchasing email lists and consider using double opt-in options to ensure people understand what they are getting themselves into. Finally, make unsubscribing as simple as possible.

Email Marketing Step 2: Provide Excellent Content 

Email marketing is all about setting expectations, which you are responsible for.

If your call to action is compelling and your follow-up is consistent, your email campaign will be a success.

If, on the other hand, you commit to sending one email per week but instead send them daily, you're setting yourself up for failure.

On the other hand, if someone expects daily updates or critical product updates and you fail to deliver, they are likely to be equally upset.

This is why the initial follow-up email is critical to your email marketing campaign's success.

Send An Email Of Introduction

For instance, here is a sample of an email sent by Airbnb to a new host. It covers the fundamentals of the process and what you can expect from Airbnb.

Spotify sends a similar email confirming the subscription and informing users of what to expect.

Take advantage of the fact that almost all email service providers allow you to create an automated welcome sequence.

The initial follow-up email should be sent immediately to introduce yourself and explain how you intend to use the new subscriber's email address.

It's preferable to be lengthy and detailed than to be concise and unobtrusive, but if you can pull off quick and concise, all the better.

It's simply a matter of living up to their expectations from here.

Do Not Pitch Immediately

You are not maintaining an email list for the sake of maintaining one—you are there to engage customers and generate revenue.

However, transitioning from an email list that provides a lot of free value to one that pitches a product for a fee can be challenging.

To do so effectively, it's a good idea to plan your pitch in advance. You don't want to surprise everyone with an unexpected pitch.

You'll have a far more successful campaign if people anticipate sales pitches on a regular basis.

If you're going to develop a habit of selling frequently, try to put yourself in the shoes of the reader.

Consider whether your messaging is congruent with the expectations you've established. If possible, ascertain the customer's previous interests and follow up with similar offers.

Those who send blind offers face a much greater risk of losing permission to continue doing so.

Again, each business is unique, and there are no hard and fast rules regarding the frequency with which you can pitch or provide content.

Simply keep in mind that an email list is a permission-based asset, and it's better to err on the side of caution than to be careless and irresponsible.

How to Create an Outstanding Email Newsletter

Let's examine the distinction between a good and a bad newsletter.

The first indication that you've received a bad newsletter is that you have no recollection of signing up for it.

This typically occurs when a business fails to maintain a consistent email routine or manually adds someone to their list in response to a business card or personal email.

Ascertain that everyone remembers you—the best way to accomplish this is to avoid allowing your emails to lapse for an extended period of time. At the very least, send one a month, or once a week if possible.

The most compelling newsletters, in my opinion, are those that successfully combine messaging and updates.

For instance, an email may include a list of product updates and images, but is balanced by a personal message or friendly memo.

Instead of pitching, use your newsletter to strengthen your relationship with the reader/customer.

Keep the pitch for one-of-a-kind updates, special offers, and announcements.

Take Caution When Using Email Automation

If you're just getting started with an email list, it's natural to believe you'll have time to respond personally to each new subscriber.

However, once you reach a certain number of subscribers, it becomes nearly impossible to keep up.

You'll begin to receive increasingly complex campaigns, and keeping up with everyone is impossible.

Nonetheless, top marketers appear to do precisely this. How is this accomplished?

Their strategy is based on email automation.

It sends emails that you schedule in advance automatically.

By pre-scheduling a series of emails to send, you can avoid "going dark" for an extended period of time.

Oftentimes, businesses plan a series of emails ranging from a few days to a few months in duration that will automatically deliver and warm up anyone who signs up for your list.

Thus, when the time comes to announce a new product or sale, you can be certain that they will pay attention.

Because you've developed a relationship with your readers over several weeks or months, you're much less likely to annoy them.

Step 3 of Email Marketing: Analytics and Segmentation

Now that you're familiar with the fundamentals of an effective email campaign, let's discuss how to take things to the next level.

Specifically, segmentation and analytics are used to fine-tune your broadcasts and produce even better results than a standard campaign.

How to Comprehension Email Analytics

We've previously discussed the importance of analytics in web copy, and email is no exception.

Every email service provider with whom I've ever worked includes free analytics.

While all three are critical, the open rate, click-through rate, and unsubscribes are the most critical. Let's dissect each one and see what we can learn from it.

To begin, your open rate indicates how frequently your emails are opened. It is based on a single undetectable tracking pixel that is loaded when someone clicks on your message.

When it comes to open rates, they typically indicate how well you've developed a relationship with your readers. Ideally, recipients are eager to read and open your emails.

If your open rate is low, it almost always indicates that you have a large number of disengaged subscribers. You must work more diligently to provide value and manage expectations. Here are some suggestions for increasing your open rate.

Following that, your click-through rate, or CTR, indicates how many people clicked on a link in your email (if any).

If your CTR is low, it indicates that your message is either not targeted well enough or is simply not reaching the intended audience. In this case, your primary focus should be on improving your copy.

Finally, your unsubscribe rate indicates the number of recipients who clicked the "unsubscribe" link at the bottom of your email.

If your unsubscribe rate is significantly higher than your opt-in rate, you've progressed beyond the point of creating value and writing effective copy... You have some serious work ahead of you.

In essence, you've constructed a sieve, and those who sign up eventually leave. If this is the case for you, attempt to determine when people leave and take appropriate action based on those leaks.

If they leave following an automated email, rework it. If they leave after receiving marketing messages, rethink how you present offers.

If they abandon your email funnel early on, you need to adjust your original call to action to make it more consistent with the content you're sending.

Email analytics are critical because, if you pay attention, they will provide you with very specific information about what you are doing incorrectly.

Of course, the critical word here is "attention."

How to Segment Your Email List for Marketing Purposes

If you're unfamiliar with the term, email segmentation refers to the process of segmenting your email list into more targeted segments.

Here are a few methods for segmenting a longer list:

• customer list (in comparison to leads who haven’t bought)
• newsletter subscribers
• daily email list (in comparison to weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc)
• demographics, such as age, location, or job title
• interests, such as marketing or sales topics

Just like targeting in paid ads, dividing your list gives you the ability to send more targeted communications.

For example, some customers want both product and sales updates, while others might only want to hear about new versions. Sales team leads might want to hear about a new sales feature but not a new marketing tool.

Plus, you can send specific emails to buyers thanking them for their purchase, like this email from Chrome Industries thanking people for making a purchase.

With segmentation, you can send a broadcast to only those who did not open your previous message (inquire as to why) or to those who expressed interest (a second pitch).

Additionally, you can divide testing messaging into distinct groups in order to A/B test titles, content, or best practises.

As you can see, segmentation is not rocket science, but it does require effort, which is why the majority of people do not take the time to do it properly.

If you do, you will instantly distinguish yourself from the pack.

What Is the Value of Your Email List?

Your email list is one of your most valuable assets, and if you treat it properly, it will more than pay for itself.

With time, you can begin tracking how much money your list members spend on an average basis. This will inform you of the value of your list.

If a list of 10,000 people typically spends $50,000 on a campaign and you run two of those campaigns per year, you could calculate that each subscriber is worth $10 per year.

With that in mind, it's easy to see how losing several hundred subscribers could be detrimental to your bottom line.

Frequently Asked Email Marketing Questions

What Are Email Marketing's Advantages?

Email marketing enables businesses to reach a broader audience, increase sales, recover abandoned carts, and deepen relationships with their customers.

What Is the Best Way to Build an Email List?

Provide a downloadable asset, a contest, or a free email course.

What Regulations Apply to Email Marketing?

CAN-SPAM and GDPR (for Europe) regulations require you to safeguard user privacy and refrain from sending emails to purchase lists.

What Is Email Automation and Why Is It Necessary?

Email automation enables you to create sophisticated email campaigns that send emails in response to subscriber actions, such as adding an item to their cart or downloading an asset.

What Is the Best Way to Segment My Email List?

Utilize your email tool to segment subscribers according to their demographics, interests, or whether they are customers or non-customers. Then, send segment-specific messages.

Conclusion on Email Marketing

If you've been ignoring email marketing, now is the time to reconsider your approach.

Email marketing can generate enormous returns for marketers willing to invest the time to learn how to do it properly. It does not have to be difficult.

To begin, keep in mind that you are a guest in your subscribers' inboxes. Your emails are always one click away from completely losing their attention. Be courteous, respectful, and add value.

As you begin, you will need to obtain permission. Of course, this is the proper course of action. However, in an era of new data protection laws, such as the EU's GDPR, compliance is also a legal requirement.

You'll want to keep your promises. Provide people with what they've requested and communicated with them on a regular basis in a manner consistent with their expectations.

There is no magic formula for increasing email automation effectiveness—it all comes down to what works best for you and your company's voice and style.

Finally, once you've mastered the fundamentals, you can move on to email segmentation and analytics. Begin sending distinct types of emails to distinct groups of recipients in order to deliver more useful emails.

Which email marketing strategies do you use to keep your subscribers engaged?