When it comes to delivering brand updates, product promos, and advertising, email marketing is the way to go.
Email marketing is an effective digital marketing strategy that strengthens customer relationships, builds brand awareness, and increases ROI.
If you want to experience the benefits of email marketing, start strong with a well-thought-out plan. Below are seven tips to guide you in building your email marketing strategy.
How to Create an Email Marketing Plan That Works
Identify your short and long-term goals
The world’s most celebrated films, monuments, and songs always had a specific purpose. To awe, inspire, or bring awareness. The same goes for email marketing.
Every email marketer needs to define their short- and long-term goals first before hitting send.
For example, acquiring a specific set of new subscribers every month for the next two years is considered a long-term goal.
On the other hand, crafting quick email promos aimed to boost cash flow after a significant loss can be seen as a short-term goal.
Other common email marketing goals include:
- Enhancing online visibility
- Improving customer relationships
- Winning back customers
- Skyrocketing website traffic
Your email marketing goals will always depend on your brand’s current business situation and overall mission.
Build your email list
There are many ways to get customers to subscribe to your email content. One way is placing a “Subscribe” button on your home or blog page.
You can offer something in return if they choose to subscribe. It could be a free product trial, a discount, or even access to exclusive content.
Another popular way to grow your email list is through conventions. Put a smile and make connections during the event. After building rapport, introduce your brand and ask if they’re interested to know more about it. If they are, include them in your email list pronto.
Segment your list
If you want to send your emails to the right people, segment your subscribers to specific groups. Segmentation does more than organise your mailing list. It makes your email marketing more effective.
Segmentation helps you understand your subscribers and craft emails that target their interest. Below are the different ways to segment your email lists:
- Demographics (age, gender, location, etc.)
- Job title
- Buying frequency
- The subscriber’s life cycle
- Product customers
Write emails worth reading
Aside from content, it’s essential to place importance on your emails subject line, preheader, personality, and design. These four factors not only lead recipients to open your emails but also finish reading it.
Let’s get to know more about them starting with the subject line.
Subject line
The subject line is the first text the readers see when he opens his email account. And if you want to catch their attention immediately, place the value of your email upfront.
Ask these questions before drafting the subject lines:
- What will readers get if they open my email?
- What value does this email have?
- What will they learn from the email?
Preheader
What enhances the readers’ interest in the subject line is its preheader. A preheader acts as your final attempt to make readers open your email once its subject line hooks them.
One of the best ways to optimise your preheader is by limiting it to only two sentences. Aside from that, you can also tease readers with a question.
For example:
Subject line: Top 10 self-care practices during a lockdown
Preheader: Ready to stay mentally healthy despite the craziness around the world?
Personality
Once they open your email, make sure your personality can be seen and felt in the content. Adding personality helps new readers understand your brand and recognise it from a sea of competitors.
Brands that integrate personality into their emails generate 50% higher open rates.
Design
Your emails’ design also adds to your personality.
Clean yet aesthetic emails are always great to look at. From the spaces, icons, and colours used, everything matters. Just make sure they all resonate with your brand personality. And if you have a unique online mascot, add it to your emails.
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Optimise for mobile
Many internet users read emails through their smartphones.
So when building your email marketing plan, including mobile optimisation. This allows your emails to still be readable when viewed through most mobile device screens.
A/B Testing
Marketers use A/B testing to determine which methods produce better results.
It allows you to test different versions of your content, subject lines, preheader, and even design template. In short, A/B testing helps you learn what works best on your readers.
Once you get insights from the different emails you sent, study how users reacted to them—and apply the most effective approach on future emails.
Ask for feedback
Lastly, consider sending out surveys. What better way to improve your email marketing campaigns than to ask for opinions from the people receiving it?
Their answers will help you see problems with your content, measure their overall satisfaction rate, and discover areas for improvement for your brand.
Start planning now
Proper email planning produces the best results.
Set your goals, build your list, send valuable emails, and don’t forget to sprinkle your brand personality to experience the benefits of a well-designed email marketing plan.
