Email marketing continues to be one of the most powerful tools available to connect businesses and their audiences. Email marketing can also help drive sales and build lasting relationships with your audience. If email marketing campaigns do not plan carefully, execute with precision, and continually optimize, however, those campaigns will not succeed. In this guide, I will walk you through the essential steps required to create a successful email marketing campaign. I touch on everything from audience segmentation to measuring the results of your email marketing strategy. 

Whether you are new to email marketing, or you are looking to refine your strategy, I have created this guide to help you achieve your goals. First, let’s look closely at why email marketing is so important, and how promotional emails can effectively serve you and your business. 

The Importance of Email Marketing

Email marketing may not initially seem relevant in today’s digital landscape; after all, email newsletters pale in the face of social media, right? Although email campaigns may not initially seem to hold the kind of weight that social media posts and an online presence does, email transactional emails and marketing emails as a whole are extremely effective, and they are able to reach target audiences directly, without having to go through a middle man or create a never-ending stream of content. 

Email marketing is valuable for numerous reasons, among them the ability of email content to directly address an audience and deliver highly personalized content. An email series has the ability to deliver email content in a way that feels organic and compelling, effectively packaging marketing emails as a helpful window into a product, or a peek into the inner workings of a brand. 

Email campaigns can also let your audience know of any important sales or changes going on with your company, can keep your brand top of mind, and can help build community and encourage brand loyalty. Each of these types of email campaigns have their own particular uses, and successful email campaigns come in many different iterations. 

Introduction to Email Marketing Campaigns

Email marketing campaigns are a series of emails sent to an audience over a given period of time. In this digital marketing strategy, brands effectively engage their audience while nurturing leads and driving conversions. One email marketing campaign example follows a structure similar to this: initial reach out (welcome email), follow-up emails to email subscribers, sales and updates, and re-engagement emails. These emails can be spaced out over the course of days or weeks, or may be spaced months apart.  

Email marketing efforts focus first and foremost on engaging audiences; an engaged audience is an audience far more likely to foster interest in your products or brand. A single email is not enough; instead, email marketing delivers value in the form of information, builds community by encouraging communication, and fosters brand loyalty by offering unique information, sales, and deals to email subscribers. Compelling email subject lines are often considered the front line of email marketing goals, as they ensure that your audience is opening the email in order to engage. 

Email campaigns nurture leads by delivering relevant emails to establish yourself as an authority. They also keep a brand or product top of mind by regularly reminding an audience of their existence. As leads are nurtured, brands can drive conversions by delivering emails that are highly targeted and address the core interests and needs of the audience in question. 

Types of Email Marketing Campaigns

Although there is a standard series of emails designed to hold the hand of your audience through their customer journey, different strategies involve different types of email campaigns and their associated emails. The most common campaigns include: 

Awareness Campaigns

An awareness campaign is a type of marketing campaign in which the main goal is to increase brand visibility and remain top of mind among potential customers. These campaigns are an introduction, of sorts, to your contact lists. As such, they are usually less of a sales pitch and more a source of information. These emails may be delivered on a regular basis in order to offer information about a brand, tips for use, and the history of and reason for a product being put on the market. 

Lead Nurturing Campaigns

Lead nurturing campaigns are designed to help guide a prospective customer go from awareness to conversion. These campaigns effectively guide a customer (new or existing) through your sales funnel, in order to make a sale. Nurturing campaigns deliver timely, relevant content through emails to address the interests and needs of the customers in question. A lead nurturing campaign may link to blog posts with this information, or may contain information within the body of the email. 

Revenue Generation Campaigns

Revenue generation campaigns are designed specifically to drive sales. Popular types of emails within these campaigns include promotional emails, abandoned cart reminders, and even upsell offers. What these emails have in common are personalization; whether you are sending out a promotion, encouraging someone to take a second look at their cart, or suggesting an additional product, this particular type of campaign requires email personalization to effectively deliver value. 

Further Reading: 9 Types of Transactional Emails Every Marketer Should Know

Re-engagement Campaigns

A re-engagement campaign is a campaign designed to win back inactive subscribers. Personalized offers and targeted content are typically the most frequently used tactics in these promotional email campaigns, as they are the most effective ways to re-capture an individual’s interest. A personalized offer can mean lowering the price of a single item using an exclusive discount code, or simply offering a general percentage off for coming back and making a purchase. Content designed for a specific target audience can highlight a product and its many uses, address a common issue in your industry, or go over an event within your industry that generated a lot of buzz. 

Event and Product Launch Emails

These types of emails can be tied to seasonal email campaigns (think seasonal promotions or products), or they can be used to cover a specific event or drum up interest in a specific product. These campaigns are great to generate buzz around a given product or event, and can help drive attendance to an event or sales following a product launch. Effective email campaigns in this category should encourage a sense of excitement or intrigue, and should come out with enough time to capture interest, but not so much time that the product or event is easily forgotten. 

How to Create an Effective Email Marketing Campaign

Now that you have an overview of the different types of promotional emails used in marketing campaigns, I’ll go over precisely how to craft these emails–and do so effectively. From announcement emails to re-engagement emails, I have put together the most effective ways to support email campaign success. First up: 

1.) Set Campaign Goals

Setting clear, measurable goals is essential for a successful campaign. From increasing sales, to driving traffic, to growing an email list, you need to have a clear direction in mind when crafting your email templates. A promotional email, for instance, might focus on engagement and open rates to determine success. A product launch may focus more on actual sales conversions. To deliver using the most appropriate language and the best number of emails in the campaign, be clear on your goals. 

2.) Segment Your Audience

Segmentation is an oft-underrepresented tool in your email campaign arsenal. Dividing your email list into segments based on demographics, behavior, and purchase history can help you deliver more targeted messages, and may get your purpose across more effectively. Using your email marketing service or platform, you can separate your lists into different segments, and assign emails, email frequency, and even timing accordingly. 

Further Reading: How to Use Email Segmentation to Boost Marketing Conversions

3.) Craft Compelling Content

To make sure that your open rates are high, you have to place an emphasis on creating compelling content. Engaging subject lines, persuasive content within the body of the email, and strong calls to action are all things that can resonate with your target audience and keep them coming back for more. Your subject lines should make your audience want to open the email. Many companies find success in using ellipses, hinting at a deal or promotion in the subject line, and even using emojis and other lighthearted items in the subject line. 

Further Reading: 10 Powerful Email Marketing Tips to Help Your Business Grow More Than Ever

4.) Design the Email

Email design is an important piece of the puzzle, as well. Although the design of the email is not visible until after the email has already been opened (further highlighting the immense value of your subject line), design can make or break audience approval in your emails and even your brand. Best practices for email design include the use of brand elements, mobile responsiveness, and strategically placed images and calls to action.

Rather than opening an email with a demand, for instance, you’ll want to provide value first and deliver a call to action later. A massive block of text might overwhelm your audience, while a bright and engaging image can draw them in. Design your email with intention and audience attention span in mind. 

5.) A/B Testing

A/B testing can help optimize important elements of your emails, to help you identify what is and is not reaching your audience and positively impacting success. Subject lines, email content, and email design can all be evaluated using A/B testing. To make use of A/B testing, developing two emails, or two campaign styles. Sending emails out at different times, on different days, and using different subject lines and designs can help you determine what your audience most consistently responds well to. 

Email marketing has been in use for years, which means that there are a host of different tools and resources available for brands to make the most of their email marketing campaigns. Although Mailchimp is among the most well-known platforms from which to send marketing emails, there are plenty of other platforms and management services that allow you to manage your email marketing campaigns. HubSpot, ActiveCampaign, ConvertKit are all great options for people in search of an email marketing platform, especially those looking for a platform offering multiple uses. 

An email marketing service is an important tool, because a service provides features to smooth out the email campaign process, by offering features like automation, segmentation, and analytics. Automating emails diverts attention away from tedious tasks, segmentation allows you to reach your audience more effectively, and analytics help determine how best to roll out your campaigns. I went into greater detail here, if you are looking for an email marketing tool, and are not sure which is right for you and your needs. 

Email marketing automation, in particular, is an important consideration when looking at an email marketing service. Automation tools help save time, but they also enhance campaign efficiency. Automating the schedule of your email marketing means that your audience can expect consistency from your emails, and you can arrange emails to send according to audience actions and behavior. This type of responsiveness can improve your relationship with your audience and help keep your brand top of mind. 

Further Reading: 15 Best AI Email Writers to Check Out

Measuring and Analyzing Campaign Success

An email campaign is not truly complete without regular check ups regarding its efficacy. There are some essential metrics to keep tabs on as you send out marketing emails. These include open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and your overall return on investment (ROI). Knowing your marketing metrics can help you make adjustments as needed in order to increase efficiency and improve marketing ROI. As results come in, analyze your results and make data-driven adjustments in order to improve future campaigns. 

If open rates are low, for instance, that would suggest you need to make changes to your subject lines to drive interest. When click-through rates are low, calls to action may not quite be hitting the mark. Poor conversion can suggest that email content is not touching on audience interests and needs. Looking over your metrics regularly is an important part of marketing that will make sure that your email campaign ROI remains at an optimal level. 

Further Reading: 12 Ways How to Improve Your Email Open Rate

Conclusion

Developing a successful email marketing campaign requires strategy and intention. An approach that utilizes clear goals, targeted content, and continual optimization efforts will deliver the greatest ROI. Using the steps I outlined above, you can successfully build an email marketing campaign that resonates with your audience to drive conversions and cultivate strong relationships with your audience. 

Whether you are on the cusp of launching your very first email campaign, or you are looking to refine your current email strategy, the practices I have put together will help you navigate the ins and outs of email marketing with confidence.