Email – the unsung hero of your brand. With email, you can stay connected no matter the distance.

We go through six easy steps for an email marketing campaign.

With so many channels to choose from, email is an older digital tool that should not be overlooked. By tailoring your message and your audience, email campaigns work to your strengths.

What makes a good email campaign?

A good email campaign is just like a good email. Remember that it should:
  • Reach and engage with your target audience,
  • Be direct and be personalised,
  • Have a purpose-driven message and be tailored to generate action,
  • Be monitored and measured by metrics of success.

How do I start an email campaign?

The six steps of email marketing:
  • Purpose – a goal, an idea or an offer worth sharing targetted to someone worth sharing it with
  • Contact List
  • Content
  • The Call-To-Action – a hyperlink works well
  • Measurement for Sucess
  • Follow-Up

Step 1 – Purpose

We hear you asking, are email campaigns effective? The answer: they are if you know your purpose.

Start with what’s most important: value.

It should be valuable for your target market and generate value for you/your business.

What would you like to achieve?

  • Leads?
  • Spreading awareness?
  • Getting more people to try a new product or service trial?

Try to just have just one goal and one purpose that motivates your email. 

Ensure your purpose is clear and it is simple. This is because it’s the core of your email campaign. 

Too many messages and the purpose will be lost.

Step 2 – Contact List

Don’t know where to start with a contact list?

You don’t need to build from scratch.

Use your Xero contact list and export a client database straight to MailChimp or another email software.

Alternatively, build a list from inquiries via your landing page or social media contacts.

Remember: more is not always more. 

If you’ve got a large following but be mindful of who you’re reaching and make sure they are relevant to the purpose of your email campaign. 

Step 3 – Content

What is an email campaign? It’s a message. A message you need your contacts to hear.

Your content needs to deliver this message with a purpose.

Tip: imagine it as a friendly voice message or phone call checking in that your client knows about that new offer or heard the news about XYZ. 

Tips for Great Content: 

  • Make it personal 
  • Don’t over inform or over-explain
  • Leave them wanting more, spark curiousity and encourage your readers to get in touch.
  • Your reader is probably scanning. What do will they see if they read it in 8 seconds or less? Hint: italics or bold are great for signposting the important bits. 
  • Your subject line should sum up your message and take your reader to a strong call-to-action
  • Make every line impactful and valuable.
  • End on a friendly note and offer a personal point of contact (i.e. a mobile not a 1300 number)

Step 4 – The CTA

A Call-to-Action allows you to measure your success. That’s why it needs to be directly connected to your purpose and your content. It’s also important for the next step it’s central to analysing what worked well and what could be better for future campaigns.

For a Google Webinar we are running we used this link to Event Brite to measure the reaction and engagement with our target audience.

Examples of other click-through links could:

  • Ask to speak to someone,
  • Check out a new product, or
  • Try a demo.

CTA’s are best as a One Hit Wonder

They are most effective as time-sensitive.

This way it encourages people to do something straight away, (rather than becoming a forgotten task on yesterday’s to-do list).

Step 5 – Measurement

How many people opened your email?

How many people clicked through, unsubscribed or actioned the item or event you just invited them to look at?

These are your success metrics and they tell you what you’re doing well and what you can do better.

Metrics are like the lock and key to success and problem resolution. 

Don’t forget to record your metrics because if the same problem keeps occurring, you might find the answer is in the numbers.

Step 6 – Follow Up

The Follow-Up-Email is great for an event invite or to remind your audience that their time is running out.

Here you can reach out to those who are interested that might have gotten a little distracted or might have needed some time to consider the offer or the message.

The last and final step of this process is looking at what went well and what could have been better.

Here you ask yourself, how can I improve my email campaign?

The Follow Up allows you to have a look at the success metrics and change your strategy, rebuild your list or retarget a more engaged group.

If it still doesn’t work enlist the professionals, we’re here to help!