One of the biggest mistakes we see companies make when it comes to their email marketing is sending emails without a plan or strategy behind them. But many marketers don’t quite understand the benefits of an email marketing strategy.
This often leads to email campaigns that are not well thought-out, rushed, and might even contain a couple of mistakes. By sticking to your email strategy you can plan campaigns in advance and align your campaigns to the overall marketing and company goals.
What is an email marketing strategy?
Just like any strategy in business, your email marketing strategy is the plan that outlines how you are going to achieve your goals. It should outline the following:
- Your goals
- How do you plan to achieve them
- Who is responsible for helping you achieve them?
- How you measure success
- A timeline of when tasks should be implemented
What are the benefits of having an email marketing strategy?
These may seem self-explanatory, but the benefits of an email marketing strategy cannot be understated. These include:
- Gives you a plan to follow – Instead of rushing to send out an email campaign at the end of each month without giving it much thought. You can use your email marketing strategy to guide you and give you a chance to plan in advance.
- Create a competitive advantage – By creating an email marketing strategy you can spend some time looking at what your competitors are doing and how you can improve your email marketing
- Align your goals – Your email marketing does not start and end with an email marketing strategy. Your email strategy should tie into your overall marketing and business strategy. Each area of the business should be aligned to help the company achieve its overall goals.
- Measure your performance – Use your email marketing strategy to set up clear and smart goals. This will allow you to track your performance and help you stay on track to achieving your goals.
Tips for creating your own email strategy:
- Create SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely)
- Be aware of your available resources. There is no point in creating a strategy if you don’t have the resources to achieve it.
- Ask your colleagues for their opinion. Some of the best thoughts and ideas can come from those who you least expect it.
- Start small. There is nothing that says you need to create gigantic goals and immediately start achieving them, rather start small and work your way up.
If you’d like assistance in creating an email communications strategy, get in touch! We’ve created numerous strategies for various businesses and helped them achieve their goals.