step-by-step guide to launching email campaigns for business

Author of the article

Mykyta, marketing manager at VAU Agency

No matter how you feel about email marketing, it's still one of the most effective tools for businesses. It helps to attract new customers, retain regular ones, and increase sales.
In this article, we're going to take a look at a step-by-step guide to launching email campaigns for entrepreneurs and marketers that will help you develop a successful strategy from scratch.

eSputnik

A Ukrainian platform with advanced features for automating marketing campaigns. Suitable for large businesses that need an integrated approach to customer communication, including email, SMS, Viber, and web push.
Choose the platform that suits your needs. If you're just starting out, choose services with free plans, and as your business grows, upgrade to paid ones.

Selzy

It is an easy-to-use platform with affordable plans, ideal for small and medium-sized businesses. It offers a user-friendly email editor and tools for audience segmentation.

SendPulse

User-friendly interface and the ability to integrate with CRM.

Mailchimp

Ideal for small businesses, it has a simple interface and a free plan for beginners.

STEP 3: CHOOSE A PLATFORM FOR EMAIL CAMPAIGNS

You'll need an email marketing platform to automate and analyze your results. Here are some popular services:

STEP 2: SEGMENT YOUR CONTACT DATABASE

The effectiveness of email marketing largely depends on how well you segment your base. Divide your subscribers into groups based on interests, behavior, or demographics.

Segmentation example:

New subscribers: Send a welcome series of emails with offers or instructions for newbies.
Loyal customers: offer exclusive discounts or new products.
Inactive users: Try to bring them back with special offers or surveys.

The more personalized your emails are, the higher the likelihood of conversion. Use data on purchases, website activity, and previous email opens.

STEP 1: DEFINE THE PURPOSE OF YOUR NEWSLETTER

Before launching any email campaign, it's important to understand what your goal is. It can be:

Increase sales: sending out offers or promotions.
Attracting new customers: newsletters or welcome series.
Retention of existing customers: regular newsletters with news and updates.
Increase brand awareness: emails with useful content.

For each goal, determine what exactly you want to get from this campaign. For example, if it's to increase sales, then set a goal of a certain percentage of growth or the number of new customers.

STEP 4: CREATE AN EFFECTIVE EMAIL TEMPLATE

The email template should be simple, but at the same time stylish and understandable for the recipient. Important elements:

Subject line: short, clear, and catchy.
Salutation: personalize it by addressing the recipient's name.
The body of the email: brief, without unnecessary details. Use bullets to structure the information.
Call to action (CTA): a button or link that clearly indicates what you want the subscriber to do.

Use A/B testing to test different variations of email subject lines and calls to action. This will help you determine which options work best.

STEP 5: CREATE A SERIES OF EMAILS

Instead of limiting yourself to a single email, create a series that will gradually engage the customer. For example:
Email 1: Welcome. Introduce new subscribers to your business, give them a bonus (for example, a discount on the first order).
Email 2: Product overview. Explain what problems your products or services solve.
Letter 3: Customer testimonials. Show social proof of the quality of your products.
Email 4: Special offer. Call for a purchase or participation in a promotion.
Plan your emails so that they gradually lead subscribers to the target action, whether it's a purchase, registration, or other.

STEP 6: MONITORING AND ANALYSIS OF RESULTS

After launching your newsletter, it's important to analyze its results:

Email open rate: whether your subject lines attract subscribers.
CTR (Click Through Rate): how many people clicked on your links.
Conversions: how many customers performed the targeted action (purchase, registration).

Use this data to optimize future campaigns. If the open rate is low, experiment with email subject lines. If the CTR is low, improve the CTA.

CONCLUSION

Launching an email campaign is not a one-time action, but a strategic process. Correctly defined goals, audience segmentation, platform selection, an effective template, and regular analysis of the results will help you create a truly successful campaign that will lead to increased sales and customer loyalty.

By launching email marketing, you will get one of the most profitable and stable channels of communication with customers. So don't delay, act now!