Let’s do a word association game. When we say Instagram, what comes to mind? Perhaps funny memes, your favorite products, visual inspiration? Now, what about when we say email? Is it suddenly feeling stuffy in here?

Do corporate emails that have you lunging for the unsubscribe button come to mind? We get it. Email marketing hasn’t traditionally been super sexy. But here’s the thing—it can be. And more importantly, sexy or not, it’s a seriously important part of your marketing strategy. Let’s take a look at why.

Why You Need Email Marketing

Whether you’ve never touched an email template, have a campaign you’re neglecting, or dreading, but doing the dang thing, email marketing is a piece of the marketing jigsaw puzzle you can’t afford to pass up. We mean that literally. For every single dollar you spend on email, you get $44 back in your pocket. We’re no Good Will Hunting, but we’d say that’s a pretty favorable return.

But it’s not all about the money. Let’s go back to Instagram. As flashy as the platform can be, it’s not doing a lot for most brands when it comes to exposure. Did you know that out of all your followers, only a measly 3% are actually seeing your posts? And that’s just the ones seeing it, much less actively engaging with you and converting into paying customers. 

If that number doesn’t make you stop in your tracks, you’re not paying attention, mate. It’s a wimpy percentage of a following that, on top of missing most of your marketing, you don’t own. While many rely on Instagram or their marketing, it’s a precarious business. Across the globe, brands have been devastated by hacked accounts, upon which they have to move to a new account, losing a massive amount of content and following in the process.

Email, on the other hand, is completely yours to own. Except for people opting out, those addresses are yours to keep, no matter what. Maybe you’re sitting there thinking, that’s a really great point, but how do I launch an email campaign that actually works? We get it, which is exactly why we’re sharing our best tips for getting real results from an email campaign for you. Let’s take a look.

Pick Your Email Automation Software

No matter how impressive you are at getting things done, managing a manual email campaign is a pain in anyone’s derriere. That’s why we suggest picking an automation software to help you set up, schedule, and seamlessly launch as many campaigns as you please without constantly living in your email software. There’s no right answer about which email automation software to use, as the best software is the one that works best for you. However, we’ve tried a lot of them and highly recommend giving HubSpot, MaileLite, or Mailchimp a shot. All have the option to segment your audience for more targeted sends that increase your engagement and up conversion rates.

Combine Organic Social Engagement with Your Email Automation

Just because email is imperative to your marketing, it doesn’t mean that social becomes irrelevant. Think of social not as the place to blast your message, but where you nurture specific prospects on a more personal level. For instance, you can use platforms like Twitter to create lists of potential customers (these have to be hyper-qualified for the process to work, so do your homework). Then, engage with their feed, preferably through commenting on a post. Skip the sales pitch stuff—talk to them like a friend who’s interested in the same stuff you are.

After a little back and forth, you can ask them if they’d be interested in seeing something that would require an email address. Now here’s the thing. This is not the point where you just drop them into your standard email campaign and expect wonders. The whole reason this works is that it feels personal. That has to keep going in your email. But it also doesn’t mean you need to reinvent the wheel each time. This is the part where the automation software comes in handy. You can create a campaign specifically for these social media leads that is personalized, automated, and keeps the conversation going.

Don’t Forget to Call

At some point down your conversion campaign line, it’ll be time to ask for a call. Since you’ve been having more a more personal conversation that started organically, your odds of getting a yes increase dramatically. This call doesn’t even need to be your close—you don’t want to sell hard and lose the trust you’ve been building. Instead, get to know the prospect even more, and use the opportunity for education. If it feels right, you can always make the pitch. But don’t set out with it as your end-all, be-all goal. Odds are you’ll be left disappointed and prospectless.

Instead, keep the conversation going. If it’s true that a prospect needs to interact with your brand seven times before even remembering who you are, then it means you’ve still got a few more touches on your hands. Consider following up via a different social media platform, such as LinkedIn, to connect further. Eventually, it’ll be time to ask for a second call, at which point you’ll have more leeway to ask for the close.

Test, Test, and Test Again

The real key to any successful email campaign is to test the hell out of it. And then when you think you couldn’t possibly test it anymore, test it again. The exact formula of one company’s approach may not be your golden ticket. Use these strategies as jumping-off points from which to launch your campaign. Then, continue to tweak it until you find what works best for you and yours. Be sure only to test one aspect at a time, as to have extremely clear results. Otherwise, you’ll be left wondering what prompted better engagement—your new subject line or your new call to action. 

Are you still scratching your head about any particular part of the process? Ask us. Our experts are here and ready to answer whatever questions you have.

If you enjoyed this edition of PRIME Pulse, take a look at some of our other related articles:

• 4 Steps Toward a Better Content Marketing Strategy
• 5 Reasons Your Website is Never Really Done
• 10 Ways to Communicate Empathy and Authority Amidst Crisis
• 4 Reasons Your Messaging is Falling Flat
• The How-To on Facebook Marketing Campaigns