Beginner Read Email Marketing
Whether you already send emails regularly or you’re planning your very first campaign, these top tips will help you to plan your mail-outs and learn from them.
In this article
Email marketing does what it says on the tin: it’s the process of emailing your audience(s) to market the products and services you offer.
This can take many forms, such as:
Email marketing is the best performing channel: it can help you connect with your audience in a meaningful and cost-effective way. It can work with your other channels, such as social media and your website, allowing you to include more detail and tailor your communications to different parts of your audience.
Your email marketing can encourage your audience to carry out certain actions and, if used effectively, could lead to increased:
Email marketing can also help you learn about your audience. Using email reports, you can start to build a picture of what people are engaging with (or not). You can even link your emails to Google Analytics to gain a deeper understanding of your audience and find new marketing opportunities.
It’s best to take small steps to begin with. There are a few things you’ll need before you can send your first email.
An audience
You need your audience’s permission before you send them any email marketing. They may already have given you permission through your shop or box office, or you can also create a sign-up form for your website – most email marketing platforms have this function.
A platform
You’ll need to choose a platform to send your emails from. There are many available with easy-to-use templates and step-by-step documentation. Some offer free trials or free versions depending on how many emails you send or how large your audience is. You might want to choose one that integrates with your website, box office or CRM system. Mailchimp, Campaign Monitor and Dotdigital are just a few good examples, but there are plenty of other options to choose from.
Some content
Your content is where you can really start to let your organisation’s personality shine through. You can write new content for your emails, or take ideas from your blog, social channels or even sector news.
Each time you write an email, consider:
The type of emails you send will depend on your organisation, your aims and how much time you have to work on your email marketing. A good place to start is a regular newsletter. Need some inspiration for your newsletter’s content? Sign up to organisations you already love to see what type of content they send. You could also look at The Museum of Modern Email and Really Good Emails for some ideas.
Once you’ve got the hang of it you can try adding in emails to announce product launches and new events, thank you emails and welcome emails. With every email that you send, remember to ask yourself: is this adding value for the person I’m sending it to?
Sending a newsletter to your whole audience is just the start. There are lots of other techniques you can use to make sure your email marketing is effective:
Hopefully this article has given you some ideas for using email marketing to enhance the relationships between you and your audience, and of ways to make real-world differences to your organisation. If you’d like to learn more, take a look at the articles linked below.
The Digital Culture Network is here to support you and your organisation. Our Tech Champions can provide free 1-2-1 support to all arts and cultural organisations who are in receipt of, or eligible for, Arts Council England funding. If you need help or would like to chat with us about any of the advice we have covered above, please get in touch. Sign up to our newsletter below and follow us on Twitter @ace_dcn for the latest updates.
Original article by Peggy Naumann. Reviewed on 1 June 2022.
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