E-mail Campaigns in 4 Steps

E-mail marketing is an effective, budget conscious medium to reach your target audience. While one email is not the best for lead generation, a drip email campaign can be very effective. To create a simple, effective email campaign, start with these four steps.

11. Email Software

While you could use your regular email like Gmail to send e-newsletters, it is limited in templates, scheduling, analytics, and database storage. Therefore we suggest using professional email software. Now we know what your thinking, “Email software, that’s out of my budget.” On the contrary, many email services offer both free and monthly plans; email campaigns can be created within any budget.

Here are a few services to consider:

• Mail Chimp 
• IContact 
• Constant Contact 
• Emma

22. Build Your Email List

Now that you have selected a software program, you need to build a database of your business contacts. You need their first and last name, name of business and e-mail address. So how can you gather emails?

• Contact form on your website
• An email subscription on your blog
• Social media sign-up
• Business cards of individuals you or your team have met

These are all effective ways to get your audience’s information, just make sure the people giving you their information understand that you’ll be emailing them newsletters, offers, etc. 

Continuously compile all of your contacts into one database on your new email software. Getting into the routine of adding your contacts into your database will increase your e-newsletters reach as well as keep your database up-to-date.

33. Decide on a Schedule

The right email schedule has a few variables including sales cycle and audience. If you have a short sales cycle you might consider sending two emails a week with sale updates. On the other hand if you have a long sale cycle, monthly or bi-monthly would be best.

44. Decide on the Right Content

Your email campaign has two major components: The subject line and the message itself.

•  Subject line
  Your subject line needs to standout from the numerous other emails your audience is receiving. If it sounds like an advertisement, it’s going to be deleted or sent to the span folder before it even gets opened. So, create an engaging subject lie that is both personal and informational.
  
• Message
  Your audience is probably getting 100 or more emails a day, meaning that a successful email-marketing campaign shouldn’t include big blocks of text. So keep it short, simple, and fun by utilizing bullet points and images to make it easier to read.

So as a recap, get a budget supported email software, build your database, decide on your schedule and start creating content for your audience. Your audience doesn’t need to know everything at one time, leaving you the opportunity to break up your messages with fresh creative and varying angles throughout your campaign.