The Basics of Email Automation
“Automation may be a good thing, but don't forget that it began with Frankenstein.”-Anonymous
Automation might not have been a good thing for one of the scariest monsters created in fiction, but it certainly has its place in the world of digital marketing. In fact, automation is a process that helps marketers improve their email marketing campaigns.
There is no doubt online marketing professionals want to implement efficiently run programs to attract new customers. What better way to enhance the efficiency of your email marketing campaign than by using several proven email automation techniques?
Let’s start by providing an overview of email automation, before diving into the tips that will help you attract more customers via an automated email marketing program.
Overview of Email Automation
As a small business owner who implements various digital marketing strategies, you are probably familiar with email newsletters and one time only emails that you send to an entire subscriber list. Email automation differs from the two practices by sending out emails automatically whenever someone meets a specified criterion or in marketing parlance, meets the standard established by a trigger.
Let’s say you want to send an email to everyone that signs up for an account on your website. The “Welcome” email is sent every time someone hits the submit button that signs him or her up for an account. You would have to spend the entire day responding to new account holders manually. With email automation, modern technology does the sending for you, which ensures you have more time to spend with customers and vendors.
The Cases for Email Automation
Email newsletters and one time only electronic messages will always be an integral part of your email marketing program. However, an automated email strategy will provide additional benefits that help your business grow.
Here is the case for email automation:
Deliver the right message to the right customers
Target the customers that are ready to buy a product
Quicker response times
Improved customer service
Develop stronger, longer lasting customer relationships
Enhanced brand recognition
Although there are several components to developing a powerful email campaign involving automation, there are a few indispensable steps that you should sequentially implement.
It Starts with a Plan
What types of emails do you want to automate? Answer this question and you are well on your way towards unveiling an effective email automation campaign. The key is to organize each automated email sequence by different triggers that can include the following factors:
Attempt to reengage with customers after a certain amount of inactivity time
Send subscription reminders for your email newsletter
Confirmation message after signing up for your email newsletter
Welcome message for newsletter subscribers
Notice of purchase that lists the details of a sale
Personalizing automated emails is a good idea for building stronger relationships with your customers. For example, you can automatically send “Happy Birthday” and “Happy Anniversary” email messages.
Use the Best Email List Segmentation Practices
Email automation does not represent a digital marketing strategy that is used to hit the broad side of a large barn. No, you need to target different customer segments, which is also referred to as email list segmentation. There are several ways to segment your email lists.
By Customer Product Preferences
Not everything you have to offer is suitable for every one of your customers. This means you should segment your email lists to target customers that will be open to hearing pitches for different products. For example, a sporting goods store owner will target customers living in colder climates by promoting the benefits of a newly released parka. For avid anglers, the same sporting goods store operator should send targeted emails that promote a recently released line of fishing poles.
Rewarding Customers
Rewards programs are the ideal reason for segmenting customers for automated email campaigns. Every time a customer reaches a certain sales threshold, your automated email system sends the customer rewards points that are instantly redeemable. Make sure to include a heartfelt “Thank you” for every automated rewards program email message.
Promotion Reminders
Savvy business owners wet the beaks of their customers, so to speak, by running one or more discounted promotion programs throughout the year. An automated email sent out a few weeks before each promotion will get your message across, without you having to send the message to each customer on your subscriber list.
In summary, the best practices for email list segmentation include segmenting by customer purchase patterns, by geographic regions, and by the level of interest customers have in your small business.
Pre-Write Killer Content for a Series of Emails
Now comes the hard part: Writing engaging and informative email content. We do not mean sitting down and hurriedly writing a message a day before a big promotion. The key to writing compelling email messages is to write the messages a long time before you plan to send the messages.
In other words, you want to pre-write killer email content that follows the following principles.
Keep it short and sweet
Write an attention grabbing subject line
Make sure the subject line is associated with the email content
Personalize the message
Clarity rules the day
Send relevant messages
Use second person language to connect with customers
Benefits are more important than boring features
Write like a person, not a business owner
Finally, let’s talk a little about spamming your customers. As you know from personal experience, receiving email messages you do not want to receive is annoying. The last thing you want your customers to be annoyed. Make sure you send automated emails to subscribers. You should never send out automated emails to customers that have unsubscribed to your email newsletters.
Timing is Everything for Email Automation
You can segment your email lists and write appealing content, but your email automation program will fall flat on its face, if you send the emails out at the wrong times. Sending your automated emails out at the correct times can be the difference between enjoying a high open rate and turning off your customers faster than a political speech.
A report from Campaign Monitor unveiled some interesting data.
The best day to send emails is on Tuesday
The second best day to send emails is on Thursday
Forget about Saturday
The best time for sending emails in 10 am local time
2 pm and 8 pm work as well
Consider sending emails on the 5th, 7th, and/or 12th days of the month
One important reminder: Time zones matter.
Measure the Performance of Your Email Automation Program
Marvin Gaye released the memorable 1960s anthem “What’s Going On.” The same question should be asked about your email automation campaign. Google Analytics is a great place to start for measuring the success of email automation. The search engine giant monitors several components of an email automation program, including open rates and click rates. Campaign Monitor offers a map uploaded in real time that provides you with insight into the customers engaging with your emails.
The Bottom Line
Emails are an effective way to get the message out about your products and services. Enjoy higher open and click rates by using email automation to reach the right customers, at the right time. You will have more time to spend addressing other important issues that concern the running of your business.
Have a marketing question? Contact us today.