How to Automate Your Email Marketing
Email marketing can be a great way to keep in touch with your customers and build relationships, but if you don’t want to spend your entire day on email marketing, you’re in luck–you don’t have to live on the email hamster wheel any longer.
There’s a way to automate and evergreen your emails through various marketing automation systems so can set up your email sequences once and have them running on autopilot year after year– which also means you’ll be brining in revenue from those emails for all that time, too.
Those days of adding “send an email to my audience” to your to-do list are behind you.
Believe it or not, this whole idea of email marketing started in the 1970s, soon after the first email was sent out in 1971… So email marketing has seriously survived the test of time.
Email automation came to the forefront later– when sending out emails started to take over people’s lives. It all started in 2001, when the first behavioral/triggered email was sent.
So that means that email marketing automation has been around for about 20 years… and still has a better return than social media and other marketing channels.
By automating your emails, you can reach your audience easier and faster and in a more meaningful way.
You might be asking how that’s possible when email automation still means you have to do the writing of the emails… Well, I’m glad you asked!
You won’t constantly be in the “content creation weeds” anymore once you start using automated email marketing . When you have that “send an email to my audience” on your list day in and day out, it’s hard to see the forest through the trees. You can’t get out of that constantly creating cycle.
When you evergreen and automate your content, you’re able to focus on what you really want to do and how you really want to help your people.
Your automated emails are well planned, targeted, purposeful, and organized into sequence that naturally flows together.
In this post, we’ll take a look at exactly how to automate email marketing, some of the best tools for automating email marketing, how to get started with your email marketing automation, what to do to have your marketing automation work for you, and what to avoid in your email marketing automation.
We’ll also explore how to use email automation to create newsletters, promote special offers, and more. So if you’re looking for ways to streamline your email marketing efforts, read on!
Table of Contents
What is email marketing?
Email marketing is exactly what it sounds like… It is when you market your products, services, and company through emails.
In order to use email marketing successfully, you need to be sure you have an email subscription list– that way you have people to send your emails to. And it doesn’t matter if you have 10 people on your list or 10,000. It’s all about getting your emails in front of the people who you can help.
Email marketing is a SUPER effective way to grow your business and sell what you offer. It’s a great way to let your audience know about new offers or products you have. Email marketing can also really help build relationships with your subscribers and existing customers.
Why successful business owners are using email marketing in 2022
Successful business owners choose email marketing over and over again because it works.
In a recent study, it was estimated that for every $1 spent on an email marketing campaign, the return on investment was $38.
Not only is there a serious return on investment, but it will help you build credibility with your audience. You do more than sell in your marketing emails– and this gives you the opportunity to wow your subscribers and prove that you’re a serious competitor in your industry.
From a logistical perspective, email marketing makes sense, too. It’s easy for you to track metrics to see how your emails are performing.
Plus your emails will be easily accessible to your audience from mobile devices– which means you can literally be just about everywhere with them.
When you are sending emails to your audience, you’re guaranteeing that you stay top of mind because they see your name and business in their inbox on a regular basis. They remember you when they have a problem that needs solved or are making recommendations to a friend.
How does email marketing compare to other forms of marketing in 2022?
When you use social media or other tools to market your products, your audience can very passively scroll on by– which means a lot of people aren’t reading what your posting on social media, or they can easily ignore it and move on to the next thing.
And that’s if your audience sees your posts or paid ads at all... It’s estimated that only about 30% of your audience is exposed to your content on social media– and even fewer will actually engage with it.
With email marketing, your subscribers are required to take some sort of action. That email will sit there in front of them forever until they do something about it. They either need to delete it or open it.
This means 100% of your audience gets your email and sees it sitting in their inbox… Then there’s a 50/50 shot of someone opening and reading your email… So you’re significantly increasing your visibility when compared to using social media to market your business.
What does it mean to automate or evergreen your email marketing?
MailChimp does an incredible job of describing what it means to automate your emails. They say that email automation is a way to send your emails to the right people at the right time– without doing all the work every single time.
Email automation makes email marketing way more efficient and personalized than other marketing methods.
They are triggered emails (sometimes referred to as behavior driven emails) that are automatically sent out to your audience based on a specific action they took on your website or an ad they saw… That way they are getting relevant messages based on what they are looking for.
When you use email automation, you schedule your sequences through an email service provider, which is basically the email marketing automation software you’ll use to send out your emails. Within your email service provider, you can add a ton of personalization options that will make your sequence much more effective.
Those email triggers mentioned above are one of the ways you can personalize your automated emails. If you offer both an e-commerce store and courses, for example, you will want specific automated emails going out to people depending on what they seem to be interested in.
You’ll also be able to schedule your automated emails to go out to your audience at optimum times based on when they are reading what you’re sending.
Your email service provider will also allow you to segment your lists into groups of people… That way people are always getting the most relevant information for them. This is such a valuable email marketing tool. For example, if you have a sequence going out about an upcoming launch you have, and two days in, there are some people that have opened the emails and some that have not. You can then have specific emails go to each group that will apply to the action you want them to take.
When we talk about evergreening emails, this is just a specific type of email automation. Evergreened emails are ones you can use over and over again… They aren’t time-bound and don’t expire based on an offer, challenge, or launch your doing.
Evergreen emails are where you get the most bang for your buck… Because you only need to set it up once, and it can theoretically be an automated email sequence you use for years. It works quietly behind the scenes for you nurturing your audience, building your authority, and generating sales for you over and over again.
How to automate your campaigns to save time and avoid mistakes
Automating email campaigns takes some work and problem solving along the way to get your sequences running smoothly and productively. Just remember– once you have it all figured out, it’s done forever!
-The first thing you need to consider is which email service provider (ESP) you’ll use for your email marketing automation. There is such a wide variety of email marketing automation tools that you will be able to find one that will do everything you’re looking for. If you aren’t sure where to begin, check out a recent blog post I wrote that will give you a list of my top recommendations based on what you need.
-Then gather your email subscriber list… Figure out who you’ll be sending your automated emails to.
–Determine what you’re trying to do with your email campaign. Who is your target audience? What information are you trying to get out to them? What questions or objections do they commonly have to your niche or products? Once you’ve figured these things out, then you can determine what emails you are going to use in that email campaign (you may have some of them written already, or you may have to write some to reach the goal you’ve determined).
-Once you have your sequence(s) ready, then you will need to set up your automated workflows. Start by identifying your triggers. For example, a trigger for your welcome email sequence could be that someone entered their email address on your website to receive a free resource you’re offering. You will then add emails to your trigger that are scheduled to go out on a certain schedule you determine.
–Run a test for your sequence. Even if you have to get help from friends or family to test it out, you want to be sure everything is running the way it should be before you have it go live with your potential clients.
-Make that email automation live and watch it go to work for you! Once it’s up and running, you’ll want to check in on its performance and metrics regularly.
The initial investment in getting your email automation up and running will save time and money for you and your business down the road. You’ll recoup your time (and money) faster than you would think possible!
Mistakes marketers make with automated campaigns
When you’re just getting started on email marketing automation, there are several mistakes you want to avoid.
1. Be sure you’re sending out a variety of automated emails. You don’t want to only send sales or offer emails to your audience… That’s a guaranteed way to get them to hit the “unsubscribe” button. People want you to help them solve problems and build your authority without constantly pitching or selling to them.
2. Send your automated emails from an actual live email address. It can be tempting to send your automated emails to an “automated” email address (you know those “do not reply directly to this email” messages you get). Send your automated emails from an actual live email address you check regularly.
3. Optimize your emails to be mobile friendly. A lot of your subscribers will be reading on their phones (well over 50%). And if your emails don’t fit on their screen and aren’t easy to read, your message will be headed directly to the trash can.
4. Make it easy for your audience to unsubscribe. I know — that sounds counter-productive. But if someone on your email list no longer wants to hear from you, they aren’t going to open your emails anyway. And when they can choose to unsubscribe from your email marketing automation, and it’s easy for them to to do so, you’re going to have a more positive impact on your audience and leave them with a favorable view of you and your company. Making it hard to unsubscribe just frustrates your audience and isn’t the upstanding thing to do.
5. Include only one call to action per email. Including multiple calls to action in one automated email can drive traffic to places you don’t really want it to go to. If the purpose of an automated email is to provide your audience with tips on how to do something, send them to your YouTube video you created OR to the blog post you wrote– not both. If you’re sending a sales email, only provide links to your sales page your specifically promoting in that email (avoid that “check out all of the other incredible products we offer” pitch).
What evergreen email sequences should I start with?
When you’re starting out on your email automation journey, you’ll have to choose a starting point.
At Win with Systems, we always recommend getting started on your email automation with a year-long nurture and sell sequence. This sequence will cover all of your bases– it will have a variety of emails that will meet all of the goals you set out to accomplish with email automation.
It will build your authority with your audience by offering them how-to guides and other resources that will help them solve a problem.
You will also have a chance to build relationships and nurture your audience which will lead to customer retention and loyalty. You can do this by including emails that welcome new subscribers, give your new customers and existing customers some insight into who you are and what your business is all about, and give your readers an opportunity to interact with you.
Last but certainly not least, your nurture and sell sequence will have some offer emails that will help you generate more sales. You will have the chance to tell your subscribers all about your products and services you offer, how they can solve a problem they have, and bust common objections that may exist.
If you are looking to figure out just how to write your evergreen sequence and what you should include in it, book a call to see how the Win with Systems team can help!
In Summary...
Email marketing automation is a solution to so many of the issues that pop up for entrepreneurs. Automated email campaigns allow you to get in front of your subscribers on a consistent basis with personalized emails. Plus, you have the opportunity to build your authority, grow your customer base, and make more sales… All behind the scenes, while you focus on other things.
Getting your email marketing automation up and running can take some time and effort to figure out, but by using the strategies and tips outlined above, you can get it up and running soon!
And the best part… Once it’s done, it’s done for good… And you can just watch it work for you.
Ready to get your email sequences written using our proven system AND get them set up for automation?? Schedule a discovery call today so we can figure out the best way to get you started right away!
