6 Steps for Your First Email Marketing Campaign
Do you want to take your first steps in creating an email marketing campaign?
Read the following 6 steps for your first email marketing campaign that will help you promote your business website with simple and effective email campaigns.
Introduction
Undoubtedly, email marketing is one of the most efficient methods to build a loyal customer base around your brand. It is perhaps the main way to retain customers.
For small business owners, creating a mailing list can be the most valuable marketing asset. It’s a good solution for regularly updating your customers, promoting products and services, and if you combine quality and good design in your campaign, you incentivize them to prefer and make purchases from you.
Let’s assume you have built a new website and want to focus on creating a newsletter list with the purpose of collecting email addresses of potential customers to inform them, with the goal of converting email campaigns into sales. Well, here are six steps to help you get there.
Step 1: Create a targeted list
Start building your mailing list.
Your business website is complete, but there is still something you need – a way to collect email subscriptions. This is the first step to creating an email list for your company. You need a newsletter subscription form on your website so that your visitors and customers can sign up, providing their email addresses and possibly their first names, which you will collect in a database of an email marketing platform.
As the owner of a small business, you will invest some money in Google ads or social media to attract the audience you target, with the purpose of increasing website traffic and sales. In addition to a subscription form somewhere on your site, you can set up a popup registration box on the homepage to attract customers. It would be good not to exceed one popup window for marketing or informational purposes overall, as it would have a negative impact on the desired result.
Lead Magnet
Remember that customers won’t readily give away their email through the registration form without you offering them something useful and valuable in return. This could be a 10% discount, a free product usage guide, or helpful articles from your blog with tips on using the products you sell, making their daily life easier. Essentially, you need to solve a problem or answer a question for them, without necessarily expecting them to make a new purchase. This is called a lead magnet.
Some ideas include:
- Discount or free coupon
- Downloadable e-book or usage guide
- Interesting studies and developments in your industry
- Free Consultation
- A video with recommendations
Once you implement this strategy, you’ll soon see your email list growing, which you can use for specific offers, information, and high-quality content.
Targeting and segmenting your list is the key to your success. To achieve list segmentation, users should have the option to choose during their registration. For example, if you have a restaurant with a delivery service, you can allow customers to declare whether they are vegan or not. By gathering such important information, you can use it effectively and strategically, but how?
Segmentation
Based on the example we mentioned, segment your recipient list into vegans and non-vegans or any other category you offer as an option during their registration. To make it clearer, you can filter your list by isolating, for instance, those users who have declared themselves as vegans, and then send them a newsletter featuring the vegan dish of the day, giving them the opportunity to order and thus increasing your sales. This way, not only do you increase your sales, but you also cater to a specific audience that will likely choose you again. Of course, the corresponding product needs to be of high quality.
Imagine how much you can achieve if you carefully study what you offer when you offer it, to whom you offer it, and why you offer it.
Step 2: Ensure Your Plan Works
Find the right marketing tools to make your plan feasible.
Email marketing can indeed generate exceptional returns for your small business. Many companies achieve outstanding sales growth and loyal customers by choosing email marketing as their cornerstone promotion strategy. However, you must first design a beautiful newsletter with logical and valuable content, compatible with email clients (e.g., Yahoo, Gmail, etc.) using the email marketing software that suits you.
Select a plugin that works with and connects to WordPress or whichever platform you use for your site management. Find a professional to design and program your newsletters. Choose a reputable email campaign creation and management platform such as Moosend, Mailchimp, and other popular options.
Ensure that your email reads well in HTML format in case your subscribers block image downloads and formatting settings to prevent phishing attacks.
Personalization
Personalize each email you send by using your subscribers’ names, for example, “Michael, don’t forget to order your favorite vegan dish before the match starts.” This example shows that the supposed “Michael” has signed up through our website and clicked the “Vegan” option, so we sent him a personalized newsletter. Ideally, we would send it one hour before the match, so he can order his preferred vegan dish. After all, who watches a match without nibbling on something? This is where you should target, considering specific days and times to increase demand and your sales.
Visual content will attract attention, so consider adding “powerful” enticing images or graphic banners that support the message’s goal and accurately reflect reality. Avoid using ready-made stock photos; instead, photograph your products or moments from your services. The world will appreciate it more.
If your goal is to persuade someone to buy a specific product, include the best photos of that product or service. Additionally, it might be beneficial to hire a professional photographer specializing in product photography.
Step 3: Share a Story
Make your email worthwhile by turning it into a narrative. Dedicate some time to creating quality content that emotionally connects with your customers.
When you tell stories in your emails, your customers will learn more about you and your business beyond what you sell, strengthening the bond between you. Stories tend to be more engaging and memorable than a simple product or service pitch, and this is what will set you apart from the competition.
Write brief, unpublished anecdotes to enhance your messages. Keep your newsletter messages concise and to the point. Avoid verbosity and speak to your customers as if addressing a close friend. This creates a sense of familiarity.
The best stories are the ones that express “reasons why,” “vision,” and “relationship-building” between the brand and the audience.
Send a newsletter that your customers will love.
Think about the last fantastic email you received. What made it stand out?
Create emails that cater to your customers needs, and they will click as soon as they reach their inbox.
Conclusion
So you saw the 6 Steps for your first Email Marketing campaign. Now start increasing sales through your website by using email marketing campaigns, following these easy steps.
