Everyone emails. It is rare to find a person who doesn’t have at least one free email account to their name. It follows then, that email is a perfect opportunity to reach new and familiar clients in a marketing campaign. What exactly is email marketing? Email marketing basically means that you’re using email as a means of keeping in touch with current customers and wooing potential customers. Companies use this technique in varying forms, but email marketing generally includes things like company newsletters and “blasts” that contain announcements or company updates.

As simple as the concept of email marketing sounds, it is an art that requires a little know-how and a lot of planning. Our marketing crew here at Design Studio compiled their top five tips for executing a successful email marketing campaign.

Before diving into your email marketing campaign, think about what exactly you hope to accomplish with it. Do you want to increase sales? Do you want to build brand awareness? Are you looking to educate both familiar and potential customers? An email marketing campaign without specific goals will rarely be successful. Once you have your goals in mind, then everything else will start to fall into place. You will know what type of content you need to be generating and who you need to get that content in front of. Also, once you’ve set goals for your campaign, you will know what results you are looking to measure and will be able to gauge a campaign’s success in a meaningful way.

The most crucial part of a successful email marketing campaign is a well-curated email list. One of the biggest aspects of building this list is making sure it is permission-based. Permission-based means that somewhere along the way, a consumer gave their email address to you and agreed that it was OK to receive communication from your company. Spam emails are annoying. Don’t be spam; get your consumer’s permission first.

How do you get their permission? Make signing up to get emails from your company as simple as possible, while also creating a strong and specific call-to-action. Very few people will just sign up to get emails from your company because you asked them to do it. You need to specifically tell customers what they’re getting in exchange for giving you their email address.

You have your goals and you have built your list. What’s next? Great content. Even though you have permission from those on your email list that is no guarantee that you also have their attention. Emails with boring subject lines and lackluster content get ignored and deleted quickly. Also, you’re not the only “fish in the sea.” Other companies are filling up your email inboxes and vying for the focus of those on your email list. Make sure that you’re creating content that captures attention, stands out from the inbox noise, and offers something of value to the reader. Emails that deliver what was promised at sign-up, as well as great content, will continue to get read.

Sure, people still check emails on their home desktop or laptop, but the reality is that most people are browsing their inboxes from the convenience of their mobile phone. You can have the most creative subject line out there with the best content/images within the actual email but if your email is hard to read on a mobile device, it’s probably going to get deleted. Make it easy for your contacts and ensure that your email reads well both on a computer and mobile device.

You’re not just sending emails for fun. You’re trying to see if those emails are helping you capture an audience and accomplish the specific goals you set for your campaign. Use analytic tools to keep track of your opens, clicks, bounce backs, and unsubscribers. This will give you an idea of what content is engaging people and what content is driving people away.

Also, compare email analytics to your own website analytics. Are there trends relating to the number of visits to a site your promoted in your most recent email newsletter? Data like this is important in ensuring that your email marketing campaign is successful and accomplishing all of its goals.

Can you think of any other essential tips to a successful email marketing campaign? Let us know in the comments!

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