An easy way to stay engaged with your audience is through email campaigns. Whether it’s a monthly newsletter or occasional announcement about topics of interest or new products, campaigns allow you to send well-designed emails to your entire subscriber list in a single click.
Choosing a Service
There are a lot of affordable options available for small businesses. If you already use a CRM service, there is likely an email campaign option built in that you can use. The advantage here is that you can keep track of direct engagement and campaign interactions all in one place. On the downside, features of email campaigns in CRM’s tend to be limited. For email campaigns with a user-friendly interface and great design options, a campaign service is an option worth considering. Mailchimp, for example, is a popular choice. It has a variety of pre-made templates you can use, simple analytic reports, and convenient email lists with sub-grouping options. Under a certain number of subscribers and emails, it can even be used for free with slightly more limited features. Explore your options with free trials to find one that fits your needs.
Building Your Campaign List
It can be tempting to feel pressure to rapidly build your email list as big as possible. While it’s important to grow your list, you want to make sure you do so effectively and legally. If you are using a campaign service, be sure to understand their terms of service. A major service will require that every subscriber you add has opted in to be emailed. If you add people to your list who did not opt-in, you not only could build a bad reputation, but receive abuse complaints, leading to possible account suspension. There are a range of clever ways to get legitimate subscribers. If you already have a list of contacts, you can start with sending them a simple email with a link to opt in to your campaign list. You can also have an email sign-up on your website or at an event, in exchange for a free download or giveaway.
Maintaining Your Campaign List
Even though it may seem counter-intuitive, removing subscribers from your list may be beneficial. Set reminders to periodically review your email list. If there are subscribers who have never opened one of your emails, make sure to have a system for removing them from your list or sending them an option to renew or cancel their email subscription. This not only saves money if you’re paying for your campaign service based on number of subscribers, but can better your chances of avoiding the junk mailbox. Email services have filters for what goes to spam and what gets delivered to the inbox. If you have subscribers who have marked you as junk or a lot of recipients who don’t open your emails, you may get flagged as junk by some email servers.
Engaging Design and Content
Think about your own inbox and all of the marketing emails you receive on a daily basis. Which ones do you actually take the time to read? You probably gravitate toward emails that are well-designed, concise, and have relevant content. A great header and color scheme that are consistent with your brand can help you stand out. To keep engagement high, find the right pace of sending emails to your list. We recommend a cadence of at least once a month and no more than once a week.
Need Help?
If graphic design, content development, and list management are a bit beyond your area of expertise, or just simply something you don’t want to deal with, that’s ok. You can still have a very active email campaign strategy without a lot of cost or overheard. G3 has several team members who specialize in all of these areas. We can help you get your template and design established, build and maintain your list, and even generate content for you to send on a routine basis. Reach out to us today to explore how we can help you make the most out of email campaigns.
