How to Start a Successful Email Marketing Campaign

As the realm of digital engagement continues to expand, companies are exploring avenues such as social selling in search of the next groundbreaking strategy that will propel them to unparalleled success. While it is undoubtedly beneficial to be on the lookout for innovative technologies and approaches that can enhance business productivity and triumph, it is equally crucial to remain committed to practices that have proven effective, particularly email marketing.

The origins of this practice trace back to 1978 when Gary Thurek, a marketing manager at the now-defunct computer company Digital Equipment Corporation, took the bold step of sending out an unsolicited mass email promoting his company’s computer products. Although Thurek faced criticism for his unauthorized email outreach, the impact of his actions cannot be denied.

Thanks to the mass email campaign, DEC managed to generate sales worth a staggering $13 million to $14 million. While Thurek inadvertently created the first instance of spam email, his efforts marked the inception of what we now fondly refer to as email marketing.

Since then, email marketing has evolved into a more sophisticated and less intrusive practice. Instead of haphazardly collecting random contact information and bombarding recipients with messages, companies now focus on targeting specific users who have already demonstrated an interest in their products, have been identified through their browsing behavior, or have at least visited their website. This is where the journey of email marketing truly begins—by gathering the right data.

Getting access

In today’s age, it’s impossible to conduct a successful email marketing campaign without a populated list of users. The best (and most moral) way to accomplish this is to build a permission-based list.

Permission-based email marketing is used effectively every day by hundreds of thousands of organizations to build their brands, increase sales, and strengthen relationships with their client and members. Permission-based email marketing is sending messages to people who have asked to receive them.

You can create lists like this by providing value to individuals. This can be done through offering exclusive access to sales, marketing, or technical insights, providing a download code for an eBook, or extending invitations to “members-only” events. If your business offers a service, you can also entice interested users by offering free demos.

There are alternative methods of acquiring a populated email marketing list, such as purchasing one. However, it is crucial to emphasize that this approach is always a terrible idea.

To begin with, reputable email marketing vendors do not permit the use of purchased lists. Leading marketing software providers like HubSpot strictly require the use of opt-in email lists. Even if you opt for a less reputable software vendor, there is no guarantee that the purchased list will yield positive results. In fact, using an illegitimate email address list can harm the deliverability of other customers sharing the same IP address.

In essence, taking shortcuts in building an email marketing list is strongly discouraged. It is essential to invest time and effort into creating a permission-based list. By doing so, you not only target a more suitable group of consumers but also eliminate the risk of compromising your campaign with toxic email addresses.

Selecting the right email marketing provider

Selecting the right email marketing provider can be as challenging as assembling your list, depending on factors such as the desired reach of your campaigns, preferred communication channels, and the level of creative control you seek.

Fortunately, Business News Daily has already done a significant amount of legwork and provided detailed reviews for a number of software systems. They’ve reviewed more than 50 platforms, which should undoubtedly be more than enough for you to start the process with.

It’s also important to ask yourself the right questions to ensure you land on the right email marketing solution.

The answers to these questions will ultimately direct you to the tailored solution. While this may be time-consuming, and potentially delay the start date for your email marketing campaigns, you must put forth the time and care that these questions require. If you speed through them and wind up with the wrong platform, you’ll need to start back at square one.

Don’t rely solely on software to track your email marketing success

Once your email marketing campaign has been set up, it’s time to monitor the results. Unfortunately, this is where several people begin to lose a grasp on what’s really going on with their data. Too often do email marketing users rely solely on email open rates, and take the results at face value; but it’s vital to dig deeper, as Chris Woodard explains.

Many people are unaware that the reported mail open rates in email automation are never 100% accurate, regardless of the platform used, whether it’s Streak, SugarCRM, SalesLoft, MailChimp, or any other solution.

The reason behind this inaccuracy lies in the code snippets embedded by these software solutions that are triggered when an email is opened. However, there is a catch. The data can be misleading because if someone has disabled HTML email in their email client, your email automation will not recognize it as an “opened” email.

This straightforward formula takes into account bounced emails and eliminates the potential margin of error that may arise when relying solely on “open rate” statistics provided by other automation platforms.

While it may be tempting to solely rely on the data generated by your specific platform, it is important to bear in mind that the results might not be 100% accurate. It is crucial not to take them as absolute truth and consistently question whether the outcomes align with your expectations.

To benchmark your open and click-through rates against other businesses, Smart Insights provides a compilation of email open and click-through rates from various sources, which you can access through this link.

In email marketing, it is paramount not to take any shortcuts. While this principle generally holds true for many aspects of life, it is particularly significant in this business practice. Cutting corners and accepting data without verification can lead to disastrous outcomes. Prior to launching an email marketing campaign, ensure that you have built a permission-based list to target and have thoroughly evaluated the necessary considerations to determine the most suitable platform to utilize.