Email Marketing 101

If you can write and send an email, you can to get an email marketing program up and running for your organization or business. Not having an email strategy in an era when it used on a daily basis, where you can funnel your consumers exactly where you want them to engage (your website, coupon link, social media, etc.) is just not smart. Here are some easy ways to get started with an email marketing program.

Choose a platform

Do your homework and choose a platform that is the best fit for your business and organization. Know what you want to get out of your program first, making sure that the needs of the platform can meet your goals. Avoid the scenario of building a program in a platform, to then find out it doesn’t match your needs and objectives. Most platforms are flexible both in size and costs.

Start collecting email addresses and build a database

It’s important before you get started with collecting email addresses, that you have the necessary permission to use that email for marketing purposes. Amassing emails is more than just getting an address. Remember, your collecting data that is linked to a person, and that data is protected by different rights. In the European Union, only a few years ago, strict rules were created to protect the transfer of personal data. Now in the United States, we see the state of California has also implemented similar rules. So, just make that the person who’s provided you their email/data has “opted-in” for you to send communications to them.

Write & Control Your InBox Message

Now that you have the email addresses, it’s time to think hard about the message you’re sending and often you want to engage with your audience. Email types allow for different messages in communication to get different results. There are “welcome” emails, informational emails, transactional emails, new product announcement emails…the list can go on and on.

Bonus Tip

With anything new, you need to learn the language and take the requisite time to become fluent in it. Some basics you need to know: Open Rates track how many people opened the email. CTR, or click-through rate, will help you see how your campaign is performing and if people clicked on the email. Conversion Rate will show how many people clicked and made a purchase. Other metrics to keep an eye on are Unsubscribe Rate, Spam, Inbox Placement, Deliver Rate, Email Sharing and Engagement.