Email Marketing Checklist

by David Jones Digital Marketor

Digital marketing has exploded in the last decade. With so many tools and programs to choose from, it becomes difficult to keep your strategy focused. In 2011 there were about 150 marketing tools. In 2017 more than 5,000 marketing tools were reported. With that kind of growth it can be confusing which programs to choose.

Most companies try to capitalize on their ROI. Research has shown that email marketing has the highest ROI among all other marketing channels. This has been the case for years and is constantly showing an increase in results. The benefits are endless and your budget will approve your research on best practices in email marketing.

Email Marketing

Why it serves

As shown earlier, email is the best marketing channel to try to optimize your return on investment. With the provision of thousands of email service providers, the cost is very affordable. Compared to TV commercials you pay a fraction of the price to reach the same hundreds of thousands in your audience.

Not only the budget is a factor, but the effectiveness of the message and the resource. Email marketing is the most effective channel. The reporting shows that email can cause more conversions than SEO, social networking, screen ads, TV and radio ads. This makes it reckless to invest in the right software and set up your email marketing strategy.

Email Marketing Software

Automation

Emailing can be fast and painless with the right tools. Inventing 100,000 emails with your personal prospect account is likely to take you years. Email marketing technology is the easiest way to capitalize on the many emails you create and the content with it.

Email automation has many advantages. Customers have better experiences, leads are delivered with more quality and quantity, there are higher conversions, it is cost effective and more traffic to your site. It is highly recommended to complete your email campaigns with a marketing automation tool.

CRM

Keeping your contacts in order can be difficult when hundreds of thousands of emails are sent every day. CRM systems will track who received what email, who opened it and who is looking for more information about it. Integration will be very important here. Not only does your ESP need to speak to your CRM but you also need to integrate social networking, phone calls, and personal emails.

Segmenting your customers can be done easily with a customer operating system. This will help with the experience you give your customer. Send them emails that interest them in a timely manner. Increase your chances of making the sale by being in the right place at the right time with the right information.

Campaigns

Campaign details

When you set up your campaign, take the time to determine the purpose of sending these emails. Without a specific goal you will find it difficult to ascertain whether it has succeeded or not. A very important aspect for email marketing is ensuring that your listings are segmented. Although tedious, segmenting your lists will prove more useful than posting in large part. Along with segmenting the list, clean up old emails and unsubscribe to give the best results.

Email set up

Have you ever wondered what the most important part of email is? The answer is the subject line. This is what attracts readers to click. Without the initial opening of the topic, links and images in the email mean nothing. Many times customers will open an email with their name in it. Include customization when necessary.

The sender and email must be easily recognizable. If your audience has a history of interacting with your brand, make sure your company name is the name of the sender. If you include a return address, make sure it is configured before proceeding.

Email content

One can spend hours creating the content to fill the email body. Be sure to browse and customize the sections wherever necessary. Include any desired images. Try links and hyperlinks to make your email look more professional. Create a CTA (call to action) and make it very noticeable. Create buttons and link them to the websites you want your audience to visit.

Try before you send

When you test your email, try it in all formats. Not all recipients will watch the email on a desktop. Try it on a desktop, mobile phone and tablet to make sure they all look the same. Run your email with a spam test to make sure your email is delivered. Double, triple check if the links are working and are in the right places. Lastly check the customization. Does it connect to the correct field? If you do not complete this step, it could lead to very awkward conversations with the person named [First Name].

After all your i's are dotted and t's are crossed, you're ready to send. If you haven’t done this before, try the best open rate and day of the week for your target audience. This gives you the best opportunity to read your material.

Reporting

Finally there is reporting. With all the talk about how useful email marketing is, you can now try it out. Show your open speed, click-speed, response, and conversions for the best picture of how your email turned out. Another metric is a hot map to see on which the audience clicked or spent the most time watching. These metrics will give you a guide to follow while developing your next campaign.