Top Email Marketing Tips for Any Startup

Email marketing campaigns are the most popular ways of advertising, for several reasons. They are not rocket science and everyone can try their hand at them. Finally, potential customers are literally everywhere —did you know that over 90% of adults use email services?

Don’t misunderstand the latter, though. Not every email user is a potential client. Businesses need to look for a target audience but, undeniably, more people mean more options. It’s simple statistics!

The best email campaigns are segmented, targeted and perfected to appeal to the recipient's tastes. That is to say, a thorough analysis should be undertaken first.

Use insights to define target audiences.

Getting Started with Email Marketing

For your email marketing campaigns to remain competitive, you’ll need to use stats, insights, and master research and adjustments. Plus, you’ll also need to set realistic goals.

It’s recommended to keep an eye on the competition, so that you can react promptly when the need arises. The easiest way to do that is by subscribing to competitors’ newsletters. Consider only the brands operating in the same industry and/or area that target the same groups as your business does.

Before that, you’ll need to launch a couple of email campaigns and gain some reputation. First, you need to come by an email list. Don’t buy lists; this is both counterproductive and expensive. Rather, use your subscribers’ emails. To gain more subscribers, offer incentives (ebooks are rather common).

Defining an audience doesn’t mean everyone that might be interested in your offer will become a subscriber. The proper way to go about defining an audience is by answering a couple of questions, as follows:

1. Does your brand have repeat customers? If yes, what do they have in common?
2. What is the solution your brand is offering to them?
3. What is their motive to make a purchase with your brand?
4. What are your brand’s advantages over the competition?

When you answer these questions, you’ll know what your target group is.

How to Compose Stellar Emails

Emails that you send represent your business. That’s why they must be literate, to the point, and authoritative.

Provide quality content on your website and promote it on social media and in the emails you send. The practice will also help your website rank better, thus increasing your brand’s visibility.

Maintain a consistent tone; customers will expect high standards from your business once they come to trust it. Pay attention to the tone, too. E.g., if you target younger people, relaxed messages will do the trick. If you target business people (say, by selling VIP products), professional messages are preferred.

Lastly, brainstorm your subject lines. Make no mistake about it: it is subject lines that decide the fate of each and every one of your messages. After all, they are the first thing the recipients will see and first impressions matter a lot.

Keep in mind that most subscriptions take place on the go, so make certain to optimize both your business’ website and your emails for mobile devices. Basically, that means sticking to the recommended word count in subject lines (google it!), appropriate font size, and smaller attachments and images.

Make sure to include contact info in all of your emails, as well as an unsubscribe button and a CTA. All of these elements need to be clearly visible at first glance.

Adjust Your Campaigns Based on Campaign Results

Keeping an eye on the success of your campaigns is critical. Adjust your campaigns accordingly for better results.

There are many tools suitable for this purpose, including Constant Contact, MailChimp, and Campaign Monitor. Use Google Analytics to track the success rate of your business website.

Pro tip: The finest email marketing campaigns rely on customer feedback. Keep your audience engaged via email and social media and listen to their suggestions.

Use Automation Tools

The larger your mailing list, the more work it portends. Because you’ll want to send custom, personalized messages, using automation tools is a must.

By all means, research, compare and test various options. Everyone has their preferences!

Brainstorm Special Offers

Special offers are always welcome or, rather, meaningful special offers are always welcome. Customized emails will do the trick here, too, but that doesn’t mean that you should skip typical campaigns (e.g., Thanksgiving, back to school, Halloween, New Year, etc.).

Exactly because everyone is doing it, you should go one step ahead and be more creative than the competition. Personalized special offers can be mixed in and sent to VIP customers, for example.

The best way to create a personalized offer is to use customers’ purchase histories as a reference.

Encourage Feedback

Communication is what makes marketing meaningful. Did we mention this word already?

"Meaningful" everything is the latest trend, so communicate in accordance with this hype.

In the majority of cases, communication will take place via social media. People love hanging out on social media, so indulge them.

The more they post and share, the greater exposure for your brand!

What exactly is meaningful about that is up to your imagination.

Conundrums aside, social media exposure can make or break a business in the present day and age. There’s a whole new job position these days: social media marketer. Copywriter comes close second. Virtual appearance is all that matters.

Write for the audience, follow up, engage in conversations... Over time, you’ll succeed in building your business’ reputation on social media, and virulence will do the rest.

Key Takeaways

Email marketing campaigns are a powerful tool. They can make you richer in no time. However, you need to do things properly and live up to your customers’ expectation. That much applies to all segments of doing business, so no surprises there.

Start properly and follow through: define an audience, personalize, customize, be consistent in the message you deliver, communicate, cross-promote your offers, and follow up.

If you manage to do all that or, rather, keep doing that consistently, you’ll nail email marketing!

Take a look at some stellar email examples to get started if you’re out of your depths… or if you aren’t. Success stories and pro tips are always helpful, after all.

Angela Ash is an expert content writer, editor and marketer, who focuses on topics related to remote work, freelancing, entrepreneurship and more.