So, You Want to Start an Email Campaign

What you need to know before you hit SEND.

Welcome to the wonderful world of email. :Insert Party Emoji:

Rest assured, you are taking an invaluable step that will have you crushing your marketing goals in no time. But, before you hit send, read this advice from our Senior Email Marketing Manager Michael Kinstlinger:

1. Where am I going to get my list of recipients?

To build your list, you can either use an existing list or build one.

Existing email lists are lists of emails already in your database. This can be helpful for connecting with people who are already familiar with your company or brand. However, that does not necessarily mean that your campaign will be properly targeted, since members of the existing email list may not fit your campaign’s target audience segment. When using an existing list, take some time to evaluate the analytics and demographics, and only send the campaign to users who fit your target audience.

Pro Tip: When using an existing list, make sure your list is up-to-date and engaged — nothing kills inbox placement like an email going to an outdated list where users have lost interest or forgot they subscribed at all.

You can build a list via a signup form on your website, in-store kiosks and forms, and social platforms. Signup acquisitions are your best bet for building an email list, and social media is a great resource for getting email signups. In fact, Social Media Today has a great list of ways to leverage social media to build email subscribers.

People who follow your company or brand on social media, regularly visit and/or purchase from your website are already interested — combine that with incentives like email-only offers and email-first alerts for new sales and products, and you can develop a solid, ever-growing email list to generate your desired leads.

Pro Tip: When building a list, make sure your subscribers know what they’ve signed up for and what they’re going to be receiving.

Wait… why can’t I just buy an email list?

I’ll say this once and loud enough for all the folks in the back: buying a list is NOT recommended.

Email lists are typically bought based on demographic and/or psychographic information, which can make customization and personalization harder since you’re losing individual customer details. Also, let’s be honest, using a bought list is more likely to annoy and push away potential customers, because the recipients didn’t ask for it. According to Hubspot, buying email lists can also harm email deliverability and IP reputation. Plus most reputable email marketing programs don’t allow bought lists. Just don’t do it.

2. Why am I sending an email in the first place?

Are you raising awareness? Introducing a new business? Launching a product? Your campaign’s purpose will impact everything. And we mean everything, from copy to design, to the time and date you want to hit send.

Your campaign’s purpose can even determine if you should use campaign automation. Welcome emails, transactional emails, and engagement emails are the three main campaign types that are best suited to campaign automation. Knowing if your campaign’s purpose falls under one of these categories means you can save yourself lots of time on email development, coding, and campaign launching.

3. How often should I send emails during my campaign and when should I send them?

How frequently you send emails will largely depend on (1) your email purpose, (2) how frequently it’s on the minds of your customers, and (3) whether you’re a B2B or B2C brand. At the end of the day, you want to be smart, not annoying. Build a strategy that puts the audience first.

As for timing, we’ll let you in on a little secret. Tools like Coschedule can help you identify the best days and times to send your emails. To help find the sweet spot for your email list, I recommend doing ‘day of week’ and ‘time of day’ testing to determine when your audience is most active and receptive. Kep in mind also that if your audience is spread out across different time zone you’ll want to send the emails to each time zone at the right time.

The most important thing to remember is consistency: sticking to a regular, consistent schedule builds trust and reduces email fatigue.

4. What are my KPIs?

KPIs, or key performance indicators, are measurable indicators of progress towards an intended result. In this case, KPIs will mark progress towards reaching your email campaign goals. It’s key — pun intended — to consider which analytics, actions, etc., will indicate whether your campaign is succeeding or failing in meeting its goals.

Opens and clicks are the most important top-level metrics that show if your audience is receptive, but down-funnel metrics are also important.

Feeling overwhelmed?

Our email experts can help with all your email campaign needs — from auditing current campaigns and developing campaign strategies to creating and coding your emails.

Welcome to the inbox. Let’s get started.

Ready to kick off your email marketing campaigns? Get in touch with us at hello@havashelia.com.

Michael Kistlinger brings over 15 years of email marketing experience to his role as Senior Email Campaign Manager at Havas Helia and their unique clientele, including such national brands as Liberty Mutual Insurance, Loews Hotels, and Bertolli Pasta. He enjoys the intersection of data, creativity, and analytics inherent in each email campaign. When he’s not sending out great emails, he likes to convince his two daughters that unicorns are real.