Email automation has emerged as a useful marketing tool for businesses of all sizes, including small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Unfortunately, maximizing the potential of email automation can be daunting. But even if you’re an SMB owner or part of a team less familiar with technology and IT jargon, fear not. This article explains email automation and gives you practical strategies to use it for your business.
What is email automation?
Email automation is exactly what it sounds like. It is an apparatus by which emails that have been written in advance are sent automatically based on timing, events, or conditions such as customer behavior and preferences.
Strategies to maximize email automation
Like any other tool, email automation needs to be used properly to be effective. Follow these strategies to make the most of your email automation and turn it into a powerful marketing tool:
Plan out your email automation campaign
To effectively use email automation, you need to plan out a campaign. Accomplishing that necessitates understanding your target audience and your goals. When you plan your campaign, make sure to:
1) Know your prospects: Identify who you’re trying to reach, their preferences and backgrounds. Create detailed customer profiles based on demographics, online behavior, and past interactions. This information will determine who your campaign focuses on.
2) Make a list of your objectives: Set realistic objectives aligned with your business goals and establish measurable key results. Outline your objectives for email automation: Whether it’s recovering lost revenue, driving repeat sales, or fulfilling other business goals, clear objectives will guide your automation strategy.
3) Make a map: Once you understand both your customers and your objectives, you need to map out the customer journey. Understand the stages of interaction between you and your customers, then pinpoint pivotal moments where automated messages can be impactful.
Segment your mailing list
It is impossible to craft an email that appeals to everyone. Even within your customer base, potential or realized, people can have a wide range of interests and needs that shift over time. This is where segmentation comes in.
Segmentation is the categorization of your mailing lists, allowing for the delivery of relevant content based on demographics, purchase history, and other criteria. You will need to:
- Categorize your audience based on demographics, behavior, past purchases, clicks, and preferences.
- Separate your customer email list into groups according to verified contact details, labeling or tagging them according to the above categories.
- Personalize emails according to segmentations. The more personalized your emails, the more effective they will be in addressing individual needs.
After completing all of the above, schedule email automation to dispatch segmented emails in reaction to customer behavior, the stage of their customer journey, or the time of the year, such as with holidays.
Create valuable and engaging content
The key to effective email marketing is crafting messages that engage your audience. Make sure your email content goes beyond showcasing your product by infusing it with personality and humanity.
Craft a persuasive call to action
Your call to action (CTA) should be the culmination of your marketing strategy. Clearly define your campaign’s main goal and create a compelling CTA that motivates your audience to take action. The CTA does not have to be to immediately purchase your product. It can be anything that encourages engagement with you and your brand.
Design landing pages
Ensure the design and messaging between emails and landing pages are consistent with each other. All objectives, targeted audience, language and keywords need to align. This maintains a more seamless experience for potential customers.
Test and track results
One of the great advantages of email automation is that its effectiveness can be tracked and measured. Various email automation platforms include tools and interfaces that make this possible. Experiment with the elements of your emails, including content, subject lines, send times, offers, and more.
Use analytics to measure the success of your automated campaigns and adjust your strategy as needed. Analyze conversion rates and track KPIs using monitoring systems. Then use that information to refine your email marketing strategy.
Be patient
It is very unlikely you will see immediate returns. Email automation takes time and long-term planning to work. Set up automated follow-up emails triggered by specific behaviors or actions, keeping your brand in their sight and thus in their mind.
If you’re considering email automation for your Tampa Bay business and want to learn more about how to integrate it into your marketing strategy, contact predictiveIT today.
