Is email marketing hard?

Yes, email marketing’s hard. Ask any marketer and they will agree it’s hard. I had a conversation with one of my colleagues recently who said they were happy that the responsibility for email marketing at Optix Solutions came to me as they found email marketing hard. This got me thinking…what is it about email marketing that makes everyone think it’s hard? 

Although I think it’s hard, I do think it’s incredibly rewarding and I want to share my thoughts on why I love email marketing and what can be done to make it easier to consistently run successful email marketing campaigns.

Why is email marketing hard?

Let’s walk it back - what do we mean by email marketing being hard? ‘Hard’ is a pretty broad term. Here are some of the reasons I have come across that people give for email marketing being hard. 

Email marketing is Stressful

With so many moving parts to an email and one campaign that’s being sent to potentially hundreds or thousands of recipients it can be very stressful, I can’t lie about that. What can alleviate that stress, however, is to surround yourself with a team of experts who can help to produce the best email campaign possible. Get copywriters to write copy, designers to design so you can play your role in organising and scheduling campaigns. You can’t be stressed sending email campaigns that you are proud of that you know can’t be any better. 

Email marketing is Time-consuming

Creating campaigns always takes longer than you or the client thinks it will take. It’s so important to set realistic expectations upfront. Doing so will mean that you aren’t rushing to send email campaigns where the chance of you making a mistake is far more likely. You should also allow room for testing your email several times. Test, test and then test again! This will also make the final click to schedule a campaign far less stressful when you can be confident that the email you’re sending has no mistakes and will be received exactly how you intended it to be.

Email Marketing is Fast-paced

It can be a slow process getting to the point of receiving all the assets that you need to schedule your email marketing campaign. Then when everything is ready to go, it can feel like a scramble to get everything out by the agreed send time. There are always things you can do ahead of sending campaigns, however, to make the transition to sending your campaign much smoother. Import and update any lists your emails will be sent to. Create the segments your campaigns will be sent to ahead of time. Get a list of all the URLs you’ll need for your campaign and check the landing pages are working as expected. Create UTMs if you need to use them as part of your campaign. All these little steps will make sending your emails that little bit easier when it comes to it.

Email Marketing is Out of my control

There are a lot of moving parts to an email marketing campaign. Copy needs to be written and signed-off. Emails need to be designed and signed-off. Email designs need to be created ready for your email marketing platform. Your email design then needs to be imported and tested in your email marketing platform. This is all before you can even schedule campaigns. Although many of these stages aren’t being done by any one person, if you are responsible for an email campaign, you can still maintain an open dialogue at every step. Communication is a key factor in the smooth delivery of assets from one stage to the next. Effective communication will mean that once you have the final elements in place, you can immediately take full control to launch your email marketing campaign.

Creating successful email marketing campaigns

As I’ve established, email marketing is hard, but there are definitely some things you can do to make it easier for yourself. 

One of the things I’ve found to be invaluable for creating successful email marketing campaigns is surrounding yourself with a team of experts who can each pick up a piece of the email marketing puzzle, who can refine each element so that it perfectly fits your vision for success.

Industry Benchmarks can really help to understand what success looks like. A recent campaign that was sent for a client consistently achieved an open rate over 50%. This was in an industry where the benchmark for open rates was 20%.

There are a number of different elements at play in order to create a successful email marketing campaign, but one of the most important things will always be ensuring messaging and targeting is aligned. Yes, you need a list of engaged email recipients who are looking forward to and are excited to open your next email but you also need to make sure that the message that you share as part of your campaign speaks to them, provides them with something of real value and that your campaign nurtures and develops the relationship you’re trying to build with your recipients. 

Email Marketing Tips for keeping subscribers engaged

There’s a never ending list of general email marketing tips, however, you should never lose sight of how important your subscribers are to the success of your campaigns. Without subscribers, there are no email marketing campaigns and with subscribers who aren’t engaged with the campaigns you send, there are no successful email marketing campaigns.

How many emails is too many?

This question comes up all the time and there’s no correct answer. The one thing to never forget, however, is that subscribers on your email marketing list chose to sign up to your email marketing list because they WANT to hear from you. So long as you are sending top quality content that offers real value to recipients, there is arguably no limit to how often you can send emails.

Variety is the spice of e-life

Try to mix it up when it comes to your email content. Don’t always use the same template, the same images and the same subject lines. Email recipients want to be surprised by the emails you send and should always be looking forward to your next email.

Automated emails are your friend

Finding the time to send emails can be another thing that people think is hard about email marketing. Automation makes it easier to take email recipients on a journey that will keep them engaged with content that is consistently delivered to their inbox in a timely fashion.

Email campaigns need to offer real value

Think of the perceived value of every campaign you send from the campaign recipient's point of view. What is the benefit of them receiving your email? If that’s unclear or if they feel your only motivation is to sell and the relationship is solely transactional, they will likely stop engaging with your emails or unsubscribe. 

Manage campaigns effectively

The key to success in managing campaigns effectively is effective communication and surrounding yourself with the right team who are all driven to achieve success. Yes, email marketing is hard, but the right team can make it that much easier. 

For more email marketing insights, see my post on drip marketing campaign strategies. Also, don’t forget GA4 is right around the corner (July 2023). The Optix Digital Academy is running GA4 training sessions to help get you ready for the big change.

If you want to learn more about our email marketing platform Optix Mail, or want to chat about email marketing with us, there’s never been a better time to reach out and start talking.