Email marketing campaign: Definition, strategies & examples

Did you know that 87% of marketers use emails to distribute content? This means that 9 out of every 10 marketers rely on email marketing as one of the most effective ways for organic reach.

With an ROI of up to 4,200%, it comes as no surprise that email marketing is still the most effective mode of marketing today.

What is an email marketing campaign? 

An email marketing campaign is a coordinated set of email messages that are deployed across a specific period of time with one specific purpose. These specific purposes or calls-to-action (CTAs) can include the following: download a white paper, sign up for a webinar, drive more traffic to the website, or make a purchase.

Email marketing campaigns can be extremely effective in achieving business goals, such as increasing brand awareness, generating leads, or selling products or services. However, email marketing campaigns must be well-planned and well-executed in order to be successful.

So, take a look at how you can effectively create and execute an email marketing campaign.

How to create and execute an email marketing campaign?

When it comes to email subscribers, 60% of consumers prefer to subscribe to a company’s email list for promotional messages. Compared to this, only 20% of them follow brands on social media.

This reflects how important email marketing is for businesses that want to scale their revenue and increase their brand presence. Implementing a marketing agency CRM can greatly enhance the effectiveness of email marketing campaigns.

Moreover, perfectly executing your email marketing campaign is important because it can have a substantial impact on your overall results. Below are the steps to create and execute an email marketing campaign and ensure that your email campaign is a success.

1. Create a relevant email list

The first step is to create and compile an email list consisting of a relevant audience.

You can build an email list that includes subscribers who have provided consent to receive marketing emails from you. This includes promotions, updates, announcements, and informative emails that help you stay connected with them in the long term.

Your goal with an email list is to nurture leads, convert them into customers, and maintain relationships with existing customers to have successful email campaigns.

In fact, 78% of websites make it extremely easy for visitors to sign up on their email list. Use opt-in forms, pop-ups, or a prompt located at the bottom of your webpage to get subscribers for your email marketing campaigns.

Other methods involve using lead magnets, such as giveaways and contests, offering discount coupons, and prompting visitors to sign up before they can access your content.

2. Define your goals

Before you start blasting your email list with promotional emails, it is important to know why you are doing it.

Set clear marketing goals that you want to achieve with your email marketing strategy. This lets you create a focused strategy for your email campaign.

For example, the aim of your email marketing strategy could be to clean up your list and maintain email list hygiene, promote an upcoming sale, announce a new product, or simply get more conversions.

With defined goals, you can then decide on the email marketing ideas to implement. You can also set metrics and benchmarks to measure your progress during the campaign and improve your marketing efforts.

3. Determine the timeline of your campaign

Being in the right place at the right time can make a lot of difference.

Planning the timeline of your email marketing campaign allows you to specify which types of emails to send and when.

Create a content calendar and schedule your emails to be sent at fixed durations. Pick a frequency that you think works best.

While planning the timeline for your email marketing campaign, make sure to include all the stages, including ideation, planning, execution, and measuring performance. This practice will help you create effective email marketing campaigns.

4. Get acquainted with different email types

What type of emails do you want to send to your subscribers? How can you turn them into customers?

The goals that you want to achieve with your email marketing campaign determine the types of emails you should include in your strategy.

Receiving similar emails that talk about the same set of products can get boring, and your subscribers may lose interest, leading to an increase in the number of subscribers.

Keep them engaged by including different types of emails in your marketing campaign. An ideal combination is a mix of emails that deliver value and those that focus directly on selling.

Types of emails that you can use in your campaign include welcome email, promotional campaigns, curated blog post content, newsletters, review requests, special offers, etc.

5. Define your target audience

For an email marketing campaign to be successful, it is important to know who your target audience is. This helps you engage them with content that is relevant to them and creates better chances for conversion.

Define your target audience at the beginning, so that you can build your email marketing campaign around them.

This also helps in selecting the tone and style to be used in your communication, in order to appeal to them better. If your subscribers resonate with your content and offers, they are more likely to turn into customers.

6. Leverage the power of technology

Your email marketing campaign can become a lot more convenient and efficient with the use of technology.

Use AI and automation to figure out the best times to land in your readers’ inbox (with the best subject lines), and schedule your emails for delivery for your email marketing success.

This saves both time and energy and allows you to sit back and focus on your next email marketing campaign.

You can also use triggered emails that are sent based on your audience’s actions. For example, actions like abandoning the cart, searching for specific items, or looking at the same service repeatedly can trigger specific email sequences.

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7. Schedule follow-ups

The average email subscriber receives up to 416 commercial emails every month.

Your thoughtfully sent emails can get lost in this number and may not even have a chance to be opened.

Showing up in their inboxes regularly helps you stay at the top. To make sure that your messages reach your subscribers, send timely follow-ups.

You can also plan your entire email campaign to be delivered as a shorter bite-sized marketing email sent at fixed times using email sequences, rather than all at once.

For example, your welcome campaign can be a series of 4 or 5 emails where you can introduce your reader to your service, walk them through the different aspects and gradually encourage them to start using it.  You can schedule your emails using any email automation software, and keep a certain delay between each email to have an effective email marketing campaign.

8. Offer opt-outs 

Opt-outs allow your audience to unsubscribe from your email list as they might not be interested in receiving emails from you. They might want to unsubscribe due to several reasons:

• They may be receiving emails too frequently
• They might no longer be interested in your content, products, or services 
• They may have gone for a competitor’s brand 

It is important to include a clearly visible unsubscribe button at the bottom of your email page so that they can easily opt out.

This lets you have an email list with an audience that is engaged and happy to receive emails from you. You now have better chances of conversion and better performance metrics from your email marketing campaign.

9. Analyze your metrics

Email marketing KPIs help you assess how your email marketing campaign performs after it has been executed.

Measuring these indicators is important as this helps you set goals for your email marketing strategy, see how your emails perform against the benchmarks, and optimize your email marketing campaign based on the results. 

Important metrics to track for your email campaign include open rate, click-through rate, deliverability rate, conversion rate, unsubscribe rate, and bounce rate.  

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7 Types of successful email marketing campaign examples

You’ve decided to create a campaign, now what? You need to create emails that catch the attention of your readers. And that includes having an attractive email subject line, relevant CTAs, and crisp content.

Based on these factors, you can start creating email marketing copies for your business. Below are some examples of email marketing campaigns.

1. Email preferences

Every once in a while, one of your readers may decide to click on ‘unsubscribe’.

The most common reasons are because they are receiving emails too frequently or just getting too many of them.

This is where an email preference center comes in handy. It guides the reader to a page where they get to select the frequency and nature of emails they receive from your business.

Letting your audience select their preferences leads to a better experience, and they might end up staying on your list.

2. Promotional email campaigns

Promotional emails are a part of email marketing that are used to directly pitch products, services, offers, and discounts to your audience.

The frequency depends on the goals of your email marketing campaign. Events such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and end-of-season sales call for more frequent emails to be sent several times during the marketing campaign.

Promotional emails have a clear CTA. They directly encourage your readers to visit your website, make a purchase or share on other platforms.

3. Seasonal email campaigns

Seasonal email campaigns revolve around the holidays and events that your target audience celebrates.

Themed content, discounts, and offers are a great way to engage your subscribers and gain their trust. This also increases your conversions as this is the time when they save up for festive sales and offers.

4. Customer-centric email campaigns

Customer-centric campaigns use the emotional connection to engage your readers.

One way to do this is by using compassion and empathy to build a sense of community with your subscribers. Talking about a common problem or a sensitive topic, and set up activism or fundraising campaigns that your audience would love to participate in.

Another approach is to entertain your audience with clever content and witty hooks. Talk to them like a person and they will be more likely to remember you. Use humor to make your readers smile and look forward to your emails.

You can also use witty copy to highlight your CTAs.

5. Engagement email campaigns 

Engagement emails help you keep your audience hooked with valuable content and special events happening right in their inbox.

This includes webinars, recorded videos, masterclasses, showreels and blogs. A good way to do this is by inviting guest speakers, experts and celebrities to create content for your subscribers.

The aim of engagement campaigns is to grab your audience’s attention by serving them with value-driven content.

6. Survey/questionnaire 

Use surveys and questionnaires to get to know your audience better.

This can include feedback, reviews, what they think is working and what needs to be improved.

By asking them for their input, you make your email marketing campaign into a two-way communication, and your subscribers feel valued.

You also use the inputs to tailor your products and services according to their needs.

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7. Marketing newsletter

The newsletter that you send to your audience every once in a while may just be your most relevant form of content.

Newsletters help you deliver value to your audience by engaging them with topics that matter to them.

Non-promotional content is generally received more positively and leads to better engagement. Use this to connect with your readers by sharing tips, thoughts, case studies, and testimonials about your product.

Final thoughts

Email marketing is the most powerful way of reaching a wide audience and nurturing leads. If you want to grow your business, email marketing campaigns are the sure short way to go about it.

To build an email marketing campaign, start with an email list where you collect the contact details of your target audience. Send them different types of emails to keep them engaged and promote your products.

Adding automation to the mix creates a smoother workflow. Make your readers feel valued by regularly following up and letting them opt out when they want to.

Getting familiar with the different types of email marketing campaigns is a good way to approach your marketing strategy. This enables you to connect with different segment of customers and build strong relationships.