Greetings from the lovely world of email marketing for beginners, where email has enabled the hitherto unthinkable.
At first, it could appear challenging, but we assure you it’s worthwhile. Why? Because there are now more than 4.2 billion email users globally, giving you the chance to interact with considerably larger audiences than ever.
Not only that, though. Email is currently the most popular marketing method among consumers. It follows that you cannot ignore email marketing.
What about Return On Investment (ROI), which is the most important factor? Email marketing, on the other hand, has the highest ROI of all marketing strategies, with a potential ROI of $36 for every dollar invested.
Shocked? Excited? Interested in learning more? Let’s get started with defining email marketing before moving on to the one and only step-by-step manual you’ll ever need on email marketing. Onboard!
What is Email Marketing?
Email marketing is a direct marketing strategy that uses personalized, mass emails to promote products or services, build relationships with customers, and prompt them to take specific actions.
Email Marketing for Beginners: How It Works in 6 Easy Steps
It’s time to look at email marketing’s operation now that we’ve discussed what it is and why it’s so crucial. Email marketing may initially appear to have too many moving elements. But don’t be alarmed by that; you can handle this.
Let’s look at the seven phases that form the basis of email marketing for beginners without further ado.
1. Figure out your goal
You shouldn’t just jump into email marketing without doing any research. You must first sit down and brainstorm the reasons why email marketing is appealing to you. What is your objective, and are there any particular things you hope to achieve?
Setting a goal offers everyone a sense of purpose and direction that is shared by all. Additionally, by having a clear objective, you will have a framework to assess how your email campaigns are doing over time.
No matter what your objective is, always keep in mind that it must be SMART—that is, it must be precise, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based.
Here are some examples of what your goal can look like:
- Drive-up conversions by 10% via your email campaign
- Increase your email list by 20% in the next quarter
- Get at least 50 customers to fill out your review emails
- Successfully executed A/B testing to figure out the perfect subject line within this quarter
2. Build your email list
To whom are you addressing the emails? The next thing to do is to determine that. You need an email list for that, which, fair warning, can take some time and work to develop.
An email list is a database of all the contacts who have indicated they would like to hear from you about marketing initiatives. The first step in creating the list is identifying potential points of contact where you can urge customers to subscribe to or opt-in to receiving emails.
No matter what you do, avoid purchasing or renting an email list. We recognize that creating your list can take time.
You’ll be sending emails to people who have never requested them, increasing your chances of being flagged as spam. If your email service provider (ESP) receives too many spam complaints, they may block your account, punish you, or even worse, take legal action against you.
So always keep in mind that purchasing email lists is a no-no.
Create a strong lead magnet
The method of list-building that is most frequently utilized is the development of a potent lead magnet. A lead magnet is a complimentary product or service that businesses offer to draw potential clients to them like a magnet (i.e., leads).
Customers can only receive the deal if they provide their email upon signing up, which is how you grow your email list.
Here are some examples of what a lead magnet can be:
- Coupon or discount
- Trial subscription
- Free sample
- Mini guide or eBook
- White paper
- Free Template
- Free consultation or evaluation
- Training video
Manage your email list with an ESP
Your list is ready, but you need a simple system for keeping track of it. An email service provider (ESP) is useful in situations like these. With the use of an ESP, you can automate email outreach while simultaneously managing your email list.
Therefore, be sure to pick an ESP that is appropriate for your company because it can greatly simplify your email marketing. How are you going to determine which is “right” for you? In our bonus tip section, we’ll go into further detail on that.
3. Segment your email list
By using email segmentation, you can divide your email list into manageable subgroups based on some shared traits, demographics, or preferences.
Who cares? since each person has a unique set of interests. Therefore, sending a single generic email to your entire email list is not a wise move, is it? That implies that you don’t know much about your clients, which eventually results in lower engagement.
Sending highly tailored email marketing to your clients will keep them interested. And email segmentation is the sole tool that makes these customized messages possible.
Always keep in mind that your communication will be more targeted and successful the more segmented your list is.
4. Create your email campaign
It’s time to start using your imagination. The only thing left to do is to actually create the various email types that you already know about.
Email copy and email design are the two components that make up an email. The design of your email’s overall layout and any visual components are part of the design, not the copy, which consists just of the text.
Let’s go over some best practices so that you are aware of what to do before you give it a try.
Perfect your email copy
All of the information you have learned thus far is crucial, but are there any things we should be keeping in mind? The actual email is a hint.
No matter how effectively you’ve executed the other steps, if the email isn’t any good, you won’t get anywhere, get no ROI, and everything will remain a faraway dream.
By focusing on the email copy, let’s make sure that doesn’t happen.
Your email copy consists of any previously written material you submit. In light of this, you should be careful how you choose your words (just as our parents would advise us). In order to write the finest email copy ever, follow these guidelines:
- Consider using emojis in your subject lines
- Personalize the email copy as much as possible
- Try to keep it minimal, between 50 to 125 words
- Align the tone with your brand
- Complement the words by adding relevant images
- If possible, add stats – numbers make a huge impact
- Proofread a million times
A/B testing is the final option. Create several variations of the same email message, but alter the subject line, the statistic utilized, etc. in each one. The winner will be the one that garners the most support from your audience, so just sit back and watch.
Create an amazing email design
The power of words is limited. Even if you produce something on par with Shakespeare’s sonnets, it will be discarded if it is surrounded by a hideous design. You should therefore choose the appropriate design to enhance your email’s copy.
Beautiful email designs don’t require a high level of artistic ability to produce. To get through these challenging times, all you have to do is follow these email design best practices:
- Use email-friendly fonts that are easy to read
- Add relevant high-resolution images in PNG format and under 1MB in size
- Don’t forget to add short yet meaningful CTAs
- Choose colors that represent your brand, but don’t go overboard – 3 different colors max
- Leave plenty of white space, so the design doesn’t look cluttered
- Add actionable information, like contact details, to the email’s footer always
- Make sure the design is mobile responsive
Using email templates will simplify your life if designing isn’t your thing. Why should you worry about the specifics of email design when you’re a marketer? To get started, simply select the appropriate template.
5. Finally, launch your campaign
The “L” term is now appropriate.
That’s right, your campaign may now officially begin.
Only the scheduling for your email sequence needs to be planned before you press the send button. You must determine how long the sequence will be, how many emails to send, and then for this.
Your series of emails doesn’t have to contain a certain number of emails. To assist you to achieve the objective you stated in Step 1, make sure the series is lengthy enough.
The sort of series you’re launching will also affect the number of emails you send. For a welcome email series, for instance, 2 to 3 emails are sufficient: the first email should be a greeting, and the subsequent emails should contain pertinent information.
Determine the next step, which is the email spacing. Sending emails for educational purposes every two days is OK, for instance. Don’t send all of your follow-up emails to your subscriber at once to avoid annoying them.
Get the timing right
Everything is affected by the time you decide to send an email. In the rush to get to work on a Monday morning at 8 a.m., no one will bother to open the email you send, thus all your effort will be for naught.
Therefore, when should you send your email? Exists a perfect moment? You really have to learn the right moment by making mistakes first. However, the following are unquestionably big no-nos:
- Don’t send emails late at night or early in the morning
- Keep your recipients’ timezones in mind
- Mondays and Fridays are a big no for sending emails, unless the email is about a special sale you’re only running on either of those days
- Mid-week, i.e., Tuesday through Thursday, is the best time to send out emails
- It’s alright to email on the weekend only if you have a special event or sale happening on those days
Once you’ve figured out the right time and the sequence schedule, it’s time to send your babies out into the world.
6. Track your results
Is your task over now that your efforts have gained visibility? Actually, far from it. It takes more than just starting an email campaign to engage in email marketing. It entails continuously monitoring and gauging the effectiveness of your campaign as one important component.
You must choose the appropriate metrics before you can begin tracking. The objectives of your email campaign will determine the metrics you select to monitor (refer to Step 1).
For your consideration, the following list of widely used email marketing KPIs. Don’t start tracking all of these indicators at once, though, is some advice. Decide on 3 or 4 essentials that support your stated objective instead, and concentrate all of your attention on enhancing and monitoring those.
Click-through rate
Click-Through Rate (CTR) shows you the percentage of viewers who clicked on at least one of the links in your email.
Formula: [(Number of clicks on at least a single link) ÷ (Total number of emails delivered)] x 100
Bounce rate
The bounce rate is the proportion of emails that were returned by the receiving mail server and were not received by your subscriber list. They typically happen as a result of the email address being used being invalid or no longer working.
Formula: [(Total number of bounced emails) ÷ (Total number of emails sent)] x 100
Unique opens
Unique opens show how many people opened your email. So if 1 person opens your email 10 times, your unique open will be 1, whereas your open rate will be 10.
Unsubscribe rate
The unsubscribe rate shows how many people have chosen not to receive your emails in the future.
Formula: [(Total number of unsubscribers) ÷ (Total number of emails actually delivered)] x 100
“The total number of emails actually delivered” means you will not include bounced emails in this calculation.
Spam complaints
The number of times your recipients have labeled one of your emails as spam is known as spam complaints. Your IP may be restricted if you make too many of these.
Email Sharing
If your email contains a “share this” button, you may wish to monitor this statistic. You can see how frequently others have shared your email.
Formula: [(Total number of “share this” clicks) ÷ (Total number of emails actually delivered)] x 100
List growth rate
This metric tracks the rate at which your email list is growing.
Formula: [(Number of new subscribers) – (Number of unsubscribers)] ÷ (Number of email addresses in your list) x 100
Bonus Tips to Make Email Marketing for Beginners Easier
Have you completed all seven steps necessary to create and launch your own email marketing campaign? Were we to part ways? Not yet, because we have some more advice that will make email marketing even simpler for you.
Pick the right email service provider
We already discussed the necessity of an ESP for managing your email list and automating your email sequence. They also make it simpler to tailor your campaigns based on the demographics of your audience. If you pick the right ESP, there are countless advantages.
Here are some essential elements your chosen ESP should have:
- High deliverability rates
- Analytics and reporting features
- Easy integration with your CRM or eCommerce platforms
- Ability to segment and personalize
- Scheduling and automating emails
- A/B testing
Experiment with your subject line
Make a good first impression with your email subject line because that’s how others will perceive you. But it’s quite difficult to come up with the ideal subject line. Even if you use every writing tip and trick known to man, your emails may still not receive any response.
What then is the remedy?
It’s easy: just test, test, and test!
Always experiment with different topic lines. Send various iterations to various email segments to determine which one performs best. Experiment until you find what works for you: make one promotional, add an emoji to the other, and keep one brief.
Keep email regulations in mind
Keep in mind that you are a guest in the mailbox of your recipient whenever you send emails. There are also particular guidelines that you must abide by as a visitor. Failure to abide by these guidelines may result in your email being deleted or, worse yet, going into the spam bin.
The CAN-SPAM statute in America is arguably the most important rule. This regulation prohibits the use of false or misleading subject lines and headers in business communications. Additionally, emails should offer a clear way for recipients to refuse to receive any more correspondence from you in the future.
If you don’t follow these rules, you risk being flagged as spam and paying a hefty fee.
Ensure mobile responsiveness
More and more individuals are utilizing their mobile devices for all kinds of tasks these days, like checking their emails, shopping, and even watching Netflix. Make sure the emails you create are responsive and look excellent on a phone, too.
When it comes to mobile responsiveness, the email design you employ for desktops cannot be carried over. The layout of emails that are mobile-friendly is altogether different. The picture proportions you use for desktop emails become too large for mobile screens, the font size changes, etc.
Therefore, make sure to test your emails for mobile responsiveness as well as create them. We’ll let you in on a little secret if that seems like an extra step that isn’t essential. By using email designs that are mobile-responsive, you might just skip this step altogether.
Conclusion
It may seem extremely difficult for beginners to understand email marketing, but it isn’t. You are prepared to take on the world as long as you adhere to this advice.
All the bigwigs in the email marketing industry that you see today started off just like you, at the starting line. Now, observe them. That might well be you. The rest will fall into place on its own if you have a clear aim in mind.
Make us proud as you move forward now.
