{"id":1213,"date":"2024-07-29T09:25:44","date_gmt":"2024-07-29T03:55:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/way2mail.net\/?p=1213"},"modified":"2024-08-23T13:06:08","modified_gmt":"2024-08-23T07:36:08","slug":"what-is-email-marketing-and-how-to-do-it-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/way2mail.net\/archive\/tools-tips\/what-is-email-marketing-and-how-to-do-it-right\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Email Marketing and How to Do It Right?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Factually, it is said that email proves itself to be the most cost-effective, and profitable, returning about $36 for every $1 spent in implementing the relevant direct marketing. Indeed, email marketing is one of the good ways business entities keep a nice rapport with their customers for more sales. This year, 68% of businesses say they are using email to send content to their contacts. It’s for that reason alone that email must form a critical part of your digital marketing strategy. Doing zero email marketing is like leaving money lying out on the table.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this guide, we’ll try to explain what email marketing is, how it works, and how you can get started. At the end of it all, you will be well acquainted with the basics and know how to go about launching a strong email marketing campaign.<\/span><\/p>\n

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What is email marketing: Table of contents<\/span><\/h2>\n
    \n
  • What is email marketing?<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Types of marketing emails<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Why email marketing is important<\/span><\/li>\n
  • The benefits of email marketing<\/span><\/li>\n
  • How to do email marketing<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    What is email marketing?<\/span><\/h2>\n

    Email marketing is the direct marketing way; this is where new products, sales, and updates of the business are shared with the customers in their contact list. It should, theoretically, have a higher conversion rate than other channels because it relies on subscribers opting to receive emails.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Its high return on investment (ROI) results in its prominence within the overall inbound strategy of most businesses. Modern email marketing has evolved from one-size-fits-all mass mailings to using consent, segmentation, and personalization in messages that work for the target audiences more interestingly. This is all about understanding what interests your customers so that you can build long-term relationships with them. All this may look to be a lot of work for customized campaigns, but most of the heavy lifting will be done by marketing automation software. Eventually, a well-established email marketing strategy sells and builds a community around your brand.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Types of marketing emails<\/span><\/h2>\n

    How is email marketing utilized?<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0Marketing emails are of a promotional, informational, or specific purpose in the buyer journey nature. They aim to engage the customers by sending updates, special offerings, and value-added content, which aligns with their interests and needs. Email lists segmented and messages personalized nurture leads effectively, build customer loyalty, and increase conversions. In other words, email marketing creates a way in which a business can directly communicate with its audience to be able to establish a long-term relationship and support general marketing goals.<\/span><\/p>\n

    1. Promotional emails<\/span><\/h3>\n

    Email marketing campaigns promote special offers, new product releases, gated content like eBooks and webinars, and your brand in general. It can even be a sequence of emails (3-10) that go out over the course of several days or weeks.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Promotional emails have a definite call-to-action. This CTA is the thing that you want the reader to do, like go to a page on your site or claim a coupon by making a purchase. In the example above, the CTA is the “Get your gift” button.<\/span><\/p>\n

    How many promotional marketing emails you send out within a time frame usually depends on your business’s sales and marketing rhythm. During a period of high importance, for instance Black Friday, you may end up sending multiple promotional emails during that same 24-hour period. During lower importance periods on the marketing calendar, there could be weeks between promotional campaigns.<\/span><\/p>\n

    2. Informational emails<\/span><\/h3>\n

    Newsletters are one of the most popular types of informational emails. They share news about your business, like new milestones, product updates, or valuable content such as case studies.<\/span><\/p>\n

    By sending newsletters regularly\u2014whether weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly\u2014you maintain a consistent connection with your email subscribers.<\/span><\/p>\n

    In essence, a newsletter lets you share insights, thoughts, tips, and anything else that brings value to your audience.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Email is also perfect for informing customers about company announcements, new product releases, and service changes.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Often, email is the go-to method for important messages. If your website has a glitch, there are shipping delays, or your system has an outage, emailing your contacts is the best way to keep them updated. It\u2019s secure, instant, and can convey the formal tone needed for significant announcements.<\/span><\/p>\n

    3. Retention emails<\/span><\/h3>\n

    Retention emails keep your customers happy and ensure they come back for more. In fact, retention emails are a cornerstone in email marketing because the cost of getting a new contact is more expensive than keeping an existing one.<\/span><\/p>\n

    They’re the emails that connect your customers to your brand. You might be introducing them to your product, offering up tips on how they can use your product, or sending out a survey\u2014or perhaps targeting any uninterested contacts with an effort at winning them back.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Examples of retention emails:<\/span><\/p>\n

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    • Welcome emails<\/span><\/li>\n
    • How-to-use-our-product emails<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Achievement emails<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Next steps<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Company news, stories, and events<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Resources<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Contests<\/span><\/li>\n
    • User-generated content<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Case study: AllTrails\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

      AllTrails keeps users engaged by demonstrating how easy it is to navigate their app and showcasing its features. The aim is to inspire subscribers to use the product.<\/span><\/p>\n

      How does AllTrails get readers from the email to the app? They include a link to stunning hike recommendations featured within the app.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Sometimes, customers may lose interest in your emails or product. This is an opportunity to send reactivation emails.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Reactivation or re-engagement emails, as the name suggests, are designed to reconnect with customers or subscribers who haven\u2019t been active recently.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Case study: Shopify<\/strong><\/p>\n

      Shopify re-engages fading customers by sending out a survey. This survey allows Shopify to get valuable information to improve its product. It also offers a cash prize incentive to get subscribers to engage with the email.<\/span><\/p>\n

      4. Transactional emails<\/span><\/h3>\n

      The fourth and final category for email marketing is transactional. These are emails sent automatically based on the activity of your customers, for example when a customer purchases an item in your store.<\/span><\/p>\n

      What are transactional emails? Transactional emails or triggered messages include the following types:<\/span><\/p>\n

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      • Order confirmations<\/span><\/li>\n
      • Thank you emails<\/span><\/li>\n
      • Password resets<\/span><\/li>\n
      • Abandoned cart emails<\/span><\/li>\n
      • Product review requests<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        While they do not directly say \u201cmarketing\u201d, these are considered as the cornerstones of customer satisfaction. Such instant messages confirm for customers that they got their order. Read this guide on transactional emails to know more about the do’s and don’ts for creating excellent transactional emails.<\/span><\/p>\n

        Why email marketing is important<\/span><\/h2>\n

        Email isn\u2019t a new technology. One of the very first forms of digital communication arrived back in 1971. Email marketing is 50+ years old and going strong, with an estimated 4.7 billion users by 2026.<\/span><\/p>\n

        Perhaps you are wondering, seems like marketing today is all ABOUT social media? What is email marketing going to bring to the table for my strategy? Although social media is no doubt an important part of any digital marketing strategy, email holds a few benefits over social networks:<\/span><\/p>\n

        Email Marketing:<\/strong><\/p>\n

          \n
        • Brands can personalize email marketing campaigns to a greater extent compared to posts on social media.<\/span><\/li>\n
        • Email marketing is relatively cheaper compared to other channels.<\/span><\/li>\n
        • The channel with the highest conversion rate: Email marketing. This is part of why email marketing works so well with small and medium-sized businesses.<\/span><\/li>\n
        • Social is a public forum; your emails are not. Unlike most social media platforms, emails land directly in your audience’s inboxes and are not dependent on ongoing algorithm tweaks. Your emails will make it to the inbox (provided you adhere to security protocols and build email service provider-friendly campaigns with attention-getting subject lines \u2013 more about that later).<\/span><\/li>\n
        • It is quite simple to trace and evaluate email marketing performance.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
        • Improve social media conversion with email marketing. Among the same audience, email used to promote social media connections was observed yielding 70% more conversions than a normal social update segmentation criteria. Email marketing boosts all of your channels.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          Still don\u2019t believe us? Numbers Tell the Story:<\/span><\/p>\n

            \n
          • By 2023, there were more than 4.37 billion email users worldwide.<\/span><\/li>\n
          • According to Litmus, 99% of email users check their mail at least once a day!<\/span><\/li>\n
          • Top Preferred Communication Channels with Small Businesses Among US Consumers: Email (62%), Phone (59%).<\/span><\/li>\n
          • 59% of individuals mentioned receiving an email message that prompted them to buy.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

            Those are some big numbers, as not implementing an email marketing process will cost a ton in terms of lost sales and retreads with existing customers (read: more future sales).<\/span><\/p>\n

            The benefits of email marketing<\/span><\/h2>\n

            Order confirmations, newsletters – emails are a must for growing and streamlining your business’s efficiency.<\/span><\/p>\n

            Email marketing serves the purpose of three main objectives:<\/span><\/p>\n

              \n
            1. Drive Sales<\/strong>
              \n<\/span>As part of a sale or promotional effort? Send an email marketing campaign to your subscribers notifying them of the sales. Also, make sure you apply these email marketing tactics to increase your conversions more:<\/span><\/p>\n
                \n
              • Send birthday\/anniversary emails, offer in welcome mail, or re-engage your audience through coupons\/special offers.<\/span><\/li>\n
              • Create abandoned cart emails that are sent to people who have added something into their shopping cart but didn’t finish and check out.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
              • Increase Brand Awareness<\/strong>
                \n<\/span>One key advantage of email is that you can get straight to someone. This is the purest form of one-to-one communication. Plus, people are more protective of their inbox lately. It is the ultimate shortcut for showcasing your top publishers and brands.<\/span><\/p>\n
                  \n
                • Showing up in an email inbox is a way to remind subscribers about your brand. If you send a marketing mail piece to someone, and they read it \u2013 great. A follow-up social media message is optional because at least one-way communication was completed.<\/span><\/li>\n
                • Scalability is one of the most significant advantages that you get with email marketing. This implies that the emails sent to a large number of people still remain inexpensive (as compared to other marketing channels).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
                • Strengthen Customer Loyalty<\/strong>
                  \n<\/span>Email is responsible for the entire buyer journey loop of Landerj: nurturing, conversion\/cross-selling, onboarding, and retaining customers\/loyalty marketing. Using a CRM with email marketing allows you to send in bulk mode and automate much of the channel.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                  How to do email marketing<\/span><\/h2>\n

                  Most often, businesses use email service providers to send marketing emails. An ESP is a tool for both sending and managing email marketing campaigns. It is also known as an email marketing platform, email marketing tool, email marketing service, and email marketing software. These marketing tools very often come as parts of a larger customer-relationship management suite and work in tandem to help grow your business by making sales.<\/span><\/p>\n

                  you may now think, “Why pay for a product when I can simply send marketing emails using my normal inbox provider?” Technically, you can. (We even explain how in our guide to sending mass emails with Gmail.) Caution, though: you’re almost sure to face issues around limited email bandwidth, design, and especially-email deliverability. Internet Service Providers like Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, etc. are for personal usage; they are not in any way meant to serve an email blast. They are free for usage but not free bulk email senders. So when a mass email is sent from an ISP, it will easily be flagged by spam filters and your account can be disabled for suspicious activity. Starting in February 2024, Gmail and Yahoo! sender requirements will make sending marketing emails from a freemail account nearly impossible. Email Service Providers (ESPs), on the other hand, have all the essential infrastructure that will ensure good email deliverability rates \u2014 i.e., avoiding spam, and landing into your subscribers’ inboxes. ESPs make sure that your sender domain meets security checks. Internet service providers like Gmail will note that your campaigns are being sent from a secure source and deliver them to the inbox by dodging spam filters. This is where working with software specializing in email marketing brings a benefit. If you want to set yourself up for email marketing success from day one, get yourself a dedicated email marketing service.<\/span><\/p>\n

                  How to choose an email service provider<\/span><\/h4>\n

                  With literally hundreds of ESPs available on the market, it’s hard to know which one is right for your business. Some of the most popular email service providers include:<\/span><\/p>\n

                    \n
                  • MailChimp<\/span><\/li>\n
                  • Brevo<\/li>\n
                  • SendPulse<\/li>\n
                  • Sendgrid<\/li>\n
                  • Constant Contact<\/span><\/li>\n
                  • Convertkit<\/span><\/li>\n
                  • Klaviyo<\/span><\/li>\n
                  • Mailjet<\/span><\/li>\n
                  • Mailerlite<\/span><\/li>\n
                  • GetResponse<\/span><\/li>\n
                  • HubSpot<\/span><\/li>\n
                  • ElasticEmail<\/li>\n
                  • Way2Mail<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                    Here are some questions to help narrow down your options:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                    Pricing:<\/strong> What’s your budget? If it’s very limited, then cheap email marketing services should be your starting point.<\/span><\/p>\n

                    Send volume \u2013 What types of emails do you intend to send and how often? This will begin to give you a feel for your Send Volume: the frequency with which you are going to hit the Send button.<\/span><\/p>\n

                    Number of contacts \u2013 If you already have an opt-in list of contacts, how many people are on it?<\/span><\/p>\n

                    Email design \u2013 How skilled are you in designing emails? If you’re a total beginner, you will look for the drag-and-drop email editor along with easy-to-make-responsive email templates. Or perhaps you like coding emails from scratch, so you will need an HTML editor to find.<\/span><\/p>\n

                    Automation: Do you plan to set up automated email workflows? See what each ESP offers in terms of email marketing automation.<\/span><\/p>\n

                    Target Audience and Segmentation If your company does any sort of communication with specific buyer personas, what can the ESP offer in the way of contact list segmentation capabilities?<\/span><\/p>\n

                    Plus, remember to future-proof. In the future, how many emails will you want to send, and what will you need your email marketing tool to be capable of? Select an email marketing service that can scale with your business today and in the future.<\/span><\/p>\n

                    How much does email marketing cost?<\/span><\/h4>\n

                    Email marketing costs can vary widely based on the size of your email list, the number of emails you send, the level of support you need, and the technical specifications you’re looking for. Free email marketing plans have more than enough functionality for some users. Still, for others, email marketing can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars per month. As you shop around, you may notice most other providers use the model where the pricing scales with the number of contacts in your email list. This looks very attractive when starting out, but with growing lists, costs scale up pretty quickly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

                    Everyone in the email list will have given you explicit permission. But what does that mean? That they agreed to have received emails from you upon entering their email address into an email signup form on your blog, website, landing pages, social media, or wherever. This is known in email circles as an “opt-in.” (“Opting out” would be an unsubscribe.) Permission-based marketing is also crucial for lawfulness and brand reputation protection within many data protection acts. After all, nobody likes a spammer.<\/span><\/p>\n

                    Most ESPs allow you to create sign-up forms that can be placed directly into your site to help grow your list organically.<\/span><\/p>\n

                    Tried and Proven Ways to Organically Grow Your Email List:<\/span><\/p>\n

                    Add signup forms to your website and other places Design an email sign-up form that enables subscriptions as much as possible. Then place your email subscription form in highly visible places where people will definitely see it. Examples of typical subscription form hotspots:<\/span><\/p>\n