Emails, have been there since the inception of the internet and are here to stay. An email marketing strategy is as important to a business as any other marketing or advertising plan, be it digital or offline. Whether it’s a B2B business or a B2C brand, emails have become an integral part of every digital marketing campaign for every kind of business. 

For small businesses, regular email campaigns become even more necessary because they not only provide an opportunity to connect with your customer on a more personal level but also remind them that yes, they are constantly remembered. For an email marketing strategy to fetch you positive results, it has to be more than words or odd creatives that go right into the spam of your customers. Just like another marketing effort, here too, you have got to be articulate. So, through this guide, we try to throw some light upon email marketing campaigns and how to optimally use them for your business? After all, email is something that’s better to not do at all than do it the wrong way. Why? Because once the user puts you in their spam emails, you might never be able to recover. 

What is email marketing?

Email marketing is what it sounds like. It’s marketing through email. But, saying it is just another marketing tool would be an understatement. After all, it’s one of the oldest and most successful forms of marketing there is. 

  • Email campaigns consist of sending out marketing emails to people in your subscriber list. The word subscriber is really important. With the rising digital norms and email guidelines, it has almost become paramount that every email you send out is severe to an email address that is being provided to you with consent. 
  • The primary motive of an email marketing strategy is to build relationships with your customer base, develop a community around it and keep them updated about the latest developments in your organization. Email campaigns can be personalized in a variety of ways. For example — if your customer base expands across borders in India and the USA you can have two different campaigns one Halloween for American customers and another Diwali for Indians. This is just one of the many ways you can use email campaigns. 
  • Rather than filling your customer’s inboxes with a ton of emails every day, which will ultimately land you in the spam list, email marketing strategy is categorized into several days and even weeks. 
  • The goal of an email marketing campaign is not always promotional but also informative and educational. For example — your bank sending you emails about ignoring spam calls asking for card details. 

Invention of Email

To understand email campaigns thoroughly, you have to dig deeper into the concept and comprehend its invention. After all, it’s necessary to know where it all began. 

  • The invention of email dates back decades. The first email that was ever sent was in 1978. You would be surprised to learn that it wasn’t some hotshot millionaire techy but a 14-year-old V.A. Shiva Ayyadurai who developed a computer system that replicated the physical mailing system. He called it “EMAIL” and it has since been growing and becoming ever-expansive. 
  • However, in recent times, Mr. Ayyaudrai has fallen prey to several controversies. 

Pros and Cons of Email Marketing     

The email ecosystem is set to grow to 4.6 billion by the year 2025 (STASIA). So, it’s evident that email marketing is important. But, as with everything else, email has it’s good and bad. 

Pros:

  • Email is a direct channel that allows you to reach out to your customer base, subscribers and inform, educate, entertain or enlighten them with what’s new. 
  • An email marketing strategy can be personalized and customized according to your target audience. 
  • It helps you with the opportunity to reach out to hundreds and thousands of people, individually, with just a couple of clicks. 
  • From discounts to new product launches and offers, there are so many ways you can instantly reach your audience. 
  • Regular and personalized emails also make your brand’s presence more dominant among your customer base and build on their loyalty towards your brand. 

Cons: 

  • There is a very thin line between a successful email campaign and spam. A marketer needs to differentiate between the two and that’s why having an email marketing service is important. 
  • With email marketing, you always run the risk of landing in the spam box of a customer, no matter how organized your campaign is. 
  • Email campaigns cannot be repetitive and you have to depend on tools, sometimes paid, to reach out to your customers. 
  • From email marketing service to creative design and copywriting, email marketing is a multi-disciplinary effort. 

Types of Email Marketing

With so many opportunities to send an email to your customer, the type of email marketing campaign can be many. Here are some that you will be practicing more often in a small business environment. 

  • First contact emails – there are sort of welcome emails that you send out to people who subscribed to your mailing list online or gave you their card in an expo or sent out a query. These are necessary and generally contain warm regards and a gist of your brand’s services and ways you can help them. 
  • Newsletters —  These are, in most cases, weekly email campaigns that go out to your subscribers kind of helping them with weekly or monthly news about your brand and something for them to learn. It can talk about employees or work culture or something that your user base might find interesting. 
  • Targeted emails — these emails have a purpose. For example, you will be attending an expo and you want your subscribers to visit. So, you send their emails informing them about your presence and ask them to join you. 
  • Email series — these are generally developed and lined up one after the other over a span of days, weeks, and sometimes even months. This is used as a primary tactic in a lead nurturing process. 
  • Email Ads — these are promotional ads that are either one-off or as a series but generally built to promote a certain product/service to a certain target audience. 
  • Transactions Emails — have you ever received a confirmation email after making a purchase online or booking a flight or hotel? That’s a transaction email.

5 Best Email Marketing Services for small business

Email marketing service and tools are necessary. After all, we are not talking about sending out single emails but bulk, and no matter how small your business is, an email marketing service is paramount. 

  • Zoho — Zoho is a professional email and CRM platform that helps you segment your audience and send out promotional emails to them, effortlessly. To start with, you can even create your own email id with a domain I.e a professional email ID for free on Zoho. 
  • Hubspot — One of the most reputed online marketing platforms, Hubspot offers a variety of tools to help you send personalized emails to your customer base and monitor its process. You can start off for free with Hubspot too. 
  • MailChimp —it’s hip and it works. From spending creative campaigns in one click to analyzing their progress and accessing it, MailChimp has become a favorite among business owners across the globe. 
  • MailJet — Offers the opportunity to send out up to 250 emails per hour, email scheduling, and the ability to design your email campaign beforehand. 
  • Drip — A paid service that is also popular among both large and small business owners, drip is everything you want in an email marketing tool. From automation to creative freedom to design your email campaigns, Drip is one of the best tools out there. 

How to set up an Email Marketing Campaign

There are simple ways to set up an email marketing campaign but before that, you need to set an email marketing strategy in place. 

  • Begin by defining your target audience followed by contemplating the goal of the email.
  • Next, you design creatives and develop content that matches the goal you want to accomplish. 
  • Make sure, the language is appropriate to your target audience, and don’t forget your call to action. 
  • Once you have a basic template of your campaign ready, test it for any discrepancies. 
  • Launch it and monitor its progress. 

And just like that, you become an email marketing expert. Now go out there and start building your email campaigns.