INTRODUCTION
Email marketing is a tool for startups to focus on customer acquisition, maximize profits and maintain top-of-mind awareness. This strategy is crucial in turning a “one-time shopper” into a loyal customer and for startups attempting to scale quickly.
Marketing automation, sometimes called email drip campaigns, uses your customer journey, which is started by a call-to-action such as signing up for a newsletter or buying a product.
Here are three ways startups should use email marketing automation.
HOW TO START YOUR EMAIL MARKETING LIST
The purpose of your email marketing automation campaigns will vary depending on whether your startup is business-to-business (B2B) or business-to-consumer (B2C). B2B campaigns are more about education and value-sharing for a large group and focused on moving a lead through the sales funnel. With B2C, the focus is on building your brand by sending relevant messages to your subscriber lists and to stay top of mind.
If you’re building your email list from scratch, here are some strategies to cultivate a loyal email subscriber base. First, create a personalized call-to-action (CTA) for each blog or landing page. According to HubSpot, personalized CTAs have a 42% higher view-to-submission rate than CTAs that are the same for all visitors. This only works if you have the resources to create content (e.g. whitepaper, toolkit).
Another way to grow your email list would be to collect business cards at tradeshows, networking events or speaking opportunities. Finally, you also can purchase email lists, which can be highly tailored.
HOW TO SET UP THE DRIP CAMPAIGN
The initial development of an email marketing automation campaign will take time but after that, it will work automatically without constant control.
Depending on what platform you use, the overall setup should remain similar. Among other things, you will need to set days and times for sending emails, the trigger action and who receives which message. According to data from Experian, Tuesdays get the most emails open during the week, and 10 a.m. is the most popular time to send a message. Make sure to leave time gaps long enough between emails (e.g. 7-10 days) so that the automation flow isn’t overwhelming for your subscribers.
Regarding the recipients, keep in mind that you can have different automations for different types of prospective customers/clients.
CONTENT SEQUENCE
Your initial email will include a brief introduction and needs to make it clear that you have a solution to your prospect’s problem or can fill a need. For example, “our fintech platform shows you real-time data on XYZ that would normally take days to gather.”
For B2B startups, one example of your next set of emails could include a link to an upcoming webinar, proceeded by a follow-up email, an email with a live link and another email for those who did not attend. Make sure each email has a call-to-action.
B2C startups can convert customers who have abandoned their shopping cart on your website. According to Salecycle, remarketing email can garner an email open rate as high as 57 percent. If your startup sells, say, cosmetics, the sample text in an abandoned cart email could look say, “You accidentally left some amazing lipstick in your cart, but it should be on your lips. Come back to [COMPANY NAME], and we’ll give you $10 off your first order.”
After the campaign is over, examine the data. If some emails show lower open rates than expected, try to change things like the subject line or a different call-to-action.