Best Guide for a beginner to become a success on email marketing

Best Guide for a beginner to become a success on email marketing 

"You've got mail."

Do you remember hearing that? It's one of those legendary pieces of Internet history that was formed when the road was still paved and we made our way through the desert of what was the original World Wide Web.

Although times have changed and AOL no longer sends CDs by mail, we can still thank them for presenting us the email and our addiction.

These days, we have replaced that message with Tweets, I like it and status updates, but that does not mean that our affinity for email is less. In fact, due to the noise of social networks, one could argue that the inbox has become our virtual dojo, our place of solitude amid the chaos.

That's why, as an entrepreneur, I believe that creating successful email marketing campaigns has never been more important than it is now. But there's a problem; Most people do not know how to do it well. So, in order to promote best practices and help you succeed as a business owner, let's get back to the basics and talk about how to create a great email campaign, from scratch.

You are at home

People are inundated with interruptions, launches, and advertisements everywhere they look, and even if you think yours is special, there is a high probability that the reader looks the same as the rest. That's why it's important to remember where you are and, as a result, use your good manners.

Entering someone's inbox is like being invited to dinner at home. If they ask you to take off your shoes, with respect you do it. The same goes for email marketing, so before starting, I would just like to remind you that at all times you have a good behavior and that you remember ... you are at home.

Phase I: Obtaining permission

Of course, an email campaign was never built without getting permission to start, so we must first focus on creating a large email list.

There are many ways to do this, of course. Some prefer to give something away for free, while others simply offer a newsletter or product updates.

I can not tell you what is the correct or incorrect answer in this case, but I can tell you that it is important to have a clear purpose when requesting an address. This is where a strong call to action comes into play, and the writing of texts is very important.

What do I get when I give you my email address?

Are you going to spam me?

How often will you send me an email?

Will I receive discounts?

Will I get the first crack in your beta?

Will you send me relevant offers or more garbage?

These are the types of things you need to address if you want to be successful in phase 1. Simply posting "enter your email to receive updates" is not going to make anyone excited to do so. Instead, consider sharing details:

Consider the clear and concise call to action in the previous examples

Take a look at the examples above and you will see that the first one tells me that I receive a free catalog and a series of comments and special offers, while the second one tells me exactly when I will receive the newsletter updates. This is a much more specific and effective way of doing business.

A quick look at my own practices tells me that the offers I subscribe to most frequently are for:

Email series (that is, 6 ways to change the world)

Free downloads

Free white books or electronic books

Updates lists (notifications of new problems, product updates, new releases)

Finally, and Amazon does really well, your customers are excellent candidates, so do not forget to integrate some form of registration or subscription by email as part of your purchase process. Just remember to treat these directions with special attention, which we will discuss in phase 2.

Get on the whitelist

While most reputable email service providers work hard to make sure their primary ISPs do not block their emails, they can not control whether their emails arrive in the inbox or in the spam box. While most will help you by providing you with a quality score to help you determine availability, whitelisting is the most effective way to ensure that your emails are delivered correctly.

Essentially, being included in the whitelist is equivalent to being marked as a friend, and the best way to achieve this is by adding it to the addressee's address book. The best way to do this is to provide instructions to do so at the top of each email, especially in the initial thank-you and in the first follow-up email.

In addition, here are instructions from some of the most popular online providers:

AWeber

Chimpanzee

Constant contact

Campaign Monitor

Blue sky factory

Emma

Phase II: Play the numbers game

Manage expectations with follow-up efforts

Email marketing has to do with expectations, and it is up to you to establish them. If your call to action is strong and your follow-up is consistent, then you can count on a positive campaign. However, if you agree to send an email per week and, instead, send them daily, then you are setting yourself up to fail. On the contrary, if someone expects daily updates or critical updates of the product and you do not deliver them, it is likely that they are also so upset in that case.

This is the reason why the first follow-up email is so crucial to the success of your email marketing efforts. Almost all email service providers give you the option to create an automatic response sequence, and it is imperative that you take advantage of it.

The initial follow-up email should be sent immediately as a way to introduce yourself and detail what you plan to do with the email address of your new subscriber. It is better to have a lot of encouragement and be more detailed than to be quick and discreet, but if you can do it quickly and concisely, it will have more power for you.

From here, it's simply a matter of living up to your expectations.

When to cast

If you are going to get used to throwing often, try to put yourself in the place of the reader. Ask yourself if your message is consistent with the expectations you have set. As I said before, Amazon does it well because they send relevant offers based on my purchasing habits. Those who send blind offers are much more likely to lose permission to continue doing so.

Another option to consider is the value you are providing. While Amazon can provide value in an offer, you may have to provide it with a newsletter or a link to blog posts or other forms of multimedia content.

Again, each company has different needs, and there are no strict and fast rules regarding the frequency with which you can launch or provide content, but remember that an email list is a permission asset and it is better to make mistakes by the side of caution that To play it lose and reckless.

What's in a newsletter?

The Sprouter newsletter is a welcome addition to my inbox because it provides value through ideas, updates, and new content. Each email is preceded by an introduction and includes a list of excellent publications, local events, and new companies.

While we are on the subject of content, let's talk about the difference between a good newsletter and a bad newsletter.

The first sign that you have received a bad newsletter is that you do not remember ever asking to receive it. Typically, this happens when a company does not maintain a regular email routine or uses a poor form and manually adds me to their list after receiving a business card or personal email.

It seems to me that the most convincing newsletters are those that do a great job of mixing messages and updates. For example, while email can contain a list of product and image updates, it is balanced by a personal message or a friendly update.

As a general rule, try to use your newsletter as a way to encourage your relationship with the reader/client instead of launching them. Save the pitch for updates, offers, and unique announcements.

Using the Autoresponder

As a marketer, one of the problems I encounter most often is that I forget to talk to my list until I have something to sell. Obviously, this is not ideal.

This is where an autoresponder can save you, and for that reason, I recommend programming the content so that it is delivered constantly over several months.

For example, Copyblogger offers a newsletter called "Internet Marketing for Smart People," and contains a dozen excellent articles on how to market better as an online entrepreneur. I do not remember when I signed up, but I do know that I received an occasional email at least once a month for the last 6 months.

The benefit of this is that when you need to announce a new product or sale, you can count on the fact that you have already been in contact, have established a relationship for several weeks/months and are much less likely to bother your readers. Of course, It is important to schedule your automatic response sequence on specific days so you know when you can send an email. More than one per day and you're probably sending too much.

If you find yourself asking "will this email be too much?", Then it probably is too much.

Phase III: Segmentation and Analysis

Analytics

We have spoken before about the importance of the analyzes in the web copy, and the email is no different. All the service providers with whom I have worked provide complementary analyzes.

Although all are important, the 3 most important to me are the opening rate, the click-through rate (CTR) and the cancellation of the subscription.

Your opening rate will tell you how well you have built your relationship; if the number is low, it means that people have started to eliminate when they receive them, which means that they must work harder to provide value and/or manage expectations.

If your CTR is low, it means that your message is not sufficiently oriented or is simply not being transmitted. In this case, focus on improving your copy.

If your unsubscription rate is high in relation to your acceptance rate, then you have passed the construction value point and write a good copy .you have a lot of work to do. If this is you, try to examine when people are leaving and take action based on those leaks.

If they leave after a certain auto-reply email, go back to work. If they leave after the marketing messages, go back to work the way you present the offers. If you leave early in your funnel, then you need to arrange your call to the original action so that it is in harmony with what you are sending.

The analysis of email is essential because if you pay attention, they will give you very specific clues about what you are doing wrong. Of course, the key variable here is "pay attention".

Segmentation

If you are not familiar with the term, segmentation is the practice of dividing your email list into more specific groups.

For example, the following are ways to segment a larger and more unified list:

List of customers (compared to potential customers)

Product updates (compared to a list of customers)

Informational page

Daily email list (compared to weekly, biweekly, monthly, etc.)

HTML (yes, some people prefer the text option)

By dividing your list in this way, you can send more specific communications. Some customers want product and sales updates, while others may only want to know about the new versions. If you do not give them the opportunity to choose, you risk losing them all together. Since customers are the best buyers, it's pretty obvious why you want to keep them subscribed to your customers' email list.

With segmentation, you can send a transmission only to those who did not open their last message (ask them why) or to those who showed interest (a second tone). You can also divide test messages between different groups to refine your best practices.

As you can see, segmentation is not rocket science, but it is work, so most do not take the time to do it correctly. If you do, you will immediately be separated from the package.

The value of your list

In the future, we will talk about more advanced techniques, such as measuring the cost of acquiring leads, but for now know this: your email list is one of your most valuable resources and, if you learn how to treat it correctly, the cost of doing it will pay for itself.

If you can imagine that each person on your list is worth an established amount, let's say $ 5, then you can immediately understand how losing several hundred can be dangerous to your bottom line.

What you think? How has email marketing helped you? What practices help you keep your numbers growing and your readers engaged? Share in the comments.