Let’s be real—email marketing works best when there’s a strategy behind it. Without one, your emails are just… emails. But with a good strategy, they become a tool that helps you reach the right people, send the right message, and hit your goals.
The good news? Building an email marketing strategy doesn’t have to be complicated. Once you know what it’s all about, it just takes a few clear steps—and some tweaking along the way.
First off: What’s a strategy, and how is it different from tactics?
Let’s clear up some confusion:
A strategy is the big-picture plan. It includes your goals, the reason behind those goals, and how you’ll know if things are working. It gives your campaign purpose and direction.
Tactics, on the other hand, are the actions you take to carry out the strategy. Think of them as tools in your toolbox.
For example, using interactive content in your emails? That’s a tactic. But it only makes sense when it supports a bigger plan—like boosting engagement.
Step 1: Understand your current situation
Before jumping in, take a step back. What’s going on in and around your business? That context will help you decide what your strategy should focus on. You can use two popular tools to do this: SWOT and PESTLE.
SWOT = Internal factors
- Strengths: What gives you an edge? Maybe your team is great at design or you already have a strong customer base.
- Weaknesses: What needs work? Maybe your product photos are outdated, or your branding isn’t quite there yet.
- Opportunities: Is there anything happening that you could take advantage of? Like a product launch, some great PR, or a growing email list.
- Threats: What could get in your way? Maybe a new competitor or a limited budget.
PESTLE = External factors
- Political: Are there political events or regulations that could affect your messaging?
- Economic: Are your customers in areas with higher or lower spending power? That could impact how you position your offers.
- Social: What’s going on culturally or socially that might affect how people respond to your emails?
- Technological: Are your emails mobile-friendly or compatible with voice assistants?
- Legal: Are your practices compliant with things like GDPR? (No shady auto-subscribes!)
- Environmental: Are there any sustainability concerns that might influence your campaign or messaging?
Step 2: Set your goals and objectives
Once you understand the landscape, it’s time to figure out what you want to achieve.
- Goals are the big-picture things you’re aiming for—like more sales, higher engagement, or better ROI.
- Objectives are the smaller, measurable steps that help you reach those goals. For example, if your goal is to increase engagement, one objective could be to improve your email open rates by 15%.
Make sure your objectives are clear and specific. That way, you can actually track your progress and see what’s working.
Need help keeping things on track? Use the SMART method:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Relevant
- Time-bound
For example:
“Increase our welcome email open rate from 30% to 45% in the next 3 months.”
Step 3: Get Ready for the Next Phase
Defining the context, goals, and objectives of your email marketing campaign is just the foundation. To build a successful strategy, here’s how to take it further:
- Understand your audience. Not every tactic suits every segment. In fact, 43% of recipients will opt out if your emails don’t speak to their interests. Invest time in researching your audience and tailor your messaging to match their needs and behaviors.
- Stay aware of the bigger picture. Market trends and global events can impact your campaign’s effectiveness. Remain alert and be ready to pivot if your messaging no longer fits the moment or comes off as tone-deaf.
- Track performance continuously. Real-time monitoring lets you respond swiftly if certain elements underperform or become outdated. This agility helps keep your campaign aligned with your goals.
- Be adaptable, but stay structured. Flexibility is key—but don’t lose direction. A clear framework ensures your team knows what’s happening, why it matters, and how to execute the plan without confusion.
- Leverage automation. Automation tools can take over repetitive and data-heavy tasks like segmentation, analysis, and behavior-based targeting. This allows your team to focus on strategic initiatives and creative execution.
- Use your data wisely. Data is a powerful asset—if used correctly. Make sure you’re pulling insights from the right sources and applying them strategically to improve timing, relevance, and performance.
By starting with the right mindset—understanding your context, defining your goals, and choosing tactics that support your plan—you’ll be on your way to creating email campaigns that not only look great, but actually drive results.
With ProPS’s Customer Data Platform (CDP), you can unify data from multiple sources, gain a deeper understanding of customer behavior, and execute highly personalized, targeted, and impactful email campaigns.
Source: Mailchimp