No one can dispute the power of social media and online advertising in the 21st century, but it seems like email marketing is still the most dominant communication channel if you want to nurture leads and build long-term relationships with customers.
Emails are considered to be the official means of business communication, so it’s not surprising to learn that nearly four billion people use email globally. Think about it for a moment and you’ll see how crazy it is that email marketing has the potential to reach half of the world’s population.
And it’s not only about the sheer number of users as email marketing also generates a tremendous ROI. According to the report, email marketers earn $42 for every dollar invested in their campaigns. So, how does it even work?
Keep reading as we are about to show you a detailed email marketing guide for beginners.
Step 1: Pick a Reliable Email Marketing Platform
Handling email campaigns via Gmail is not exactly the best way to impress subscribers, so the first step in the process is to pick a reliable email marketing platform. Luckily enough, there are dozens of incredible tools you can choose from based on your level of proficiency and the budget.
Our favorite platforms are:
- MailChimp: The program is great for small businesses eager to grow quickly. You can use it for free, but the standard package is very affordable ($15 a month).
- OptinMonster: This platform makes it easy to generate leads and control every aspect of your email campaigns. The basic version of OptinMonster costs only $9 a month.
- ConvertKit: As one of the most comprehensive email marketing tools, ConvertKit gives you all the features you need for running a successful campaign. The best thing about it is that you can try it for free before picking your monthly plan.
Step 2: Grow the List of Subscribers
Even the most attractive email content is useless if you have no one to show it to. This is exactly why you need to grow the list of subscribers using lead magnets. A lead magnet is simply a perk you offer website visitors for signing up for your email newsletter. It comes in many different forms:
- eBooks and tutorials
- A free product trial
- Coupons and one-time discounts
- Quizzes and surveys
However, you must make sure to emphasize the benefit of the lead magnet. According to the report, the opt-in rate can rise by almost 85% when you give your subscribers a good idea of the kind of content they are signing up for.
Step 3: Segment the Audience
Do you think that every subscriber on your list is the same? If the answer is positive, you are making a big mistake because different subscriber types need different content.
The idea is clear – prospects can be in different stages of the consumer journey and hence search for a different content type. Studies proved this point a long time ago as marketers who used segmented campaigns noted as much as a 760% increase in revenue.
In such circumstances, your job is to segment subscribers into the corresponding groups based on their sales funnel positions, personal interests, purchasing behavior, website browsing habits, or any other criteria you might consider relevant.
Step 4: Write Attractive Subject Lines
When you send an email to the subscribers, the first thing they see is the subject line. As you only get one chance to make the first impression, it is clear that your subject lines have to be attention-grabbing.
There is no universal formula on how to write a captivating subject line, but we can give you a few very interesting ideas that suit many audience groups:
- Keep it informative and state your main point in a few words only
- Use numbers to grab users’ attention
- Take advantage of humor if it fits the brand
- Use emojis to leave a visual impression
Step 5: Send Relevant and High-Quality Content
All the tricks and hacks we mentioned so far are not enough if you don’t send relevant and high-quality content to email recipients. The most important thing is to fulfill the subscribers’ expectations and deliver the content they were expecting.
How can you do it?
It mostly depends on your field of work, but it is essential to craft newsletters that are educational, informative, and able to solve users’ practical problems. It would be great to focus on a single topic and cover it from all angles and points of view. That way, there’ll be no questions left unanswered.
Step 6: Never Forget a CTA
Emails often have a relationship-building purpose, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t include a call to action (CTA). On the contrary, every email must have a clear purpose and inspire subscribers to take action that corresponds with the content.
One thing is crucial here – don’t include more than one CTA in your emails. For example, you can invite users to visit your website and repeat it several times throughout the newsletter, but don’t mix it with other CTA options as it will only confuse the audience and probably kill your click-through rates.
Step 7: Make a Long-Term Schedule of Activities
Another thing you should know is that average email users send and receive dozens of messages on a daily basis. This means they don’t want anyone to disturb them unless necessary.
We encourage you to make a long-term schedule of activities and keep the same pace month after month. It helps subscribers to get used to your messages and also evokes anticipation and excitement among recipients.
A surefire way to keep the audience informed without bothering them too much is to send your emails once a week or biweekly. This aligns well with industry reports as 33.3% of professionals send email campaigns on a weekly basis.
Step 8: Allow Recipients to Unsubscribe
Finally, you have to give people the chance to unsubscribe if they are not satisfied with or interested in your content anymore. First of all, it’s a matter of common sense as you don’t want to force anyone to receive your messages. And secondly, users who are not able to unsubscribe are likely to report your emails as spam.
The Bottom Line
A company may choose not to invest in social media or online advertising, but it absolutely has to spend time and money on email marketing. The oldest channel of digital communication helps you raise brand awareness, nurture leads, build customer loyalty, and grow conversions in the long run.
In this article, we gave you a detailed email marketing guide for beginners. We know there’s a lot of work to do here, but you should definitely give it a chance because well-planned email campaigns guarantee a substantial return on investment.