It feels like email marketing has been around forever, and even in the face of newer digital platforms, it isn’t going anywhere, and for good reason!
333.2 billion emails are expected to be sent in 2022, which is already approximately 10% more emails sent in 2021. People are sending more emails than ever!
Email marketing campaigns are the easiest (and cheapest) ways for businesses to connect with their clients. From announcing updated products to summer sales, email marketing campaigns can help small businesses create repeat business like none other.
In other words, if you are not already on the email marketing bandwagon, it’s time to jump on and fast. New to email marketing campaigns, and have no idea where to start?
The best email marketing campaigns are just a few clicks away on vcita. Our email marketing campaign tools will have you sending marketing emails directly from your dashboard in no time. Once you get started, you’ll be thinking, why didn’t I do this earlier?
Why use email marketing campaigns?
Okay, so you get the point, email marketing campaigns are important, but why?
For small businesses, email marketing campaigns are your opportunity to connect with your customers, directly, when it is most convenient for them. Because so many people use cell phones today, that means pretty much around the clock.
Remember relationships are built on communication, so by reaching out, you are nurturing the relationships between your business and customers, both past and future.
Different relationships should receive unique treatment. You don’t want to send out a blanket email to new subscribers, customers with birthdays, and repeat customers. This feels spammy, and kind of defeats the purpose of building relationships.
Customers want to feel seen and understood. This is where email marketing campaigns come in.
The best email marketing campaigns involve crafting personalized emails that are relevant to each individual customer (or groups of customers). These email marketing campaigns lead to stronger connections that both shed a positive light on your brand and increase sales.
When should you use email marketing campaigns?
Email marketing campaigns can be used in just about an endless array of scenarios, but the goal remains the same: driving sales. Any time you want to drive sales, which is essentially always, you can find an email marketing campaign to help make this happen.
The best email marketing campaigns do this by enticing subscribers with something that is of value to them. It’s a two-way street, customers provide their precious email addresses and the businesses make it worth their while.
There are a number of tactics that can be used, but some of the top email marketing campaigns are:
- Welcome email campaign for new subscribers. Engaging new subscribers right off the bat is a great way to get acquainted and keep their attention while your brand is fresh in their minds. You can take this opportunity to show your thanks by providing a small gift or promo code to help drive the first sale.
- General promotion email campaigns can be used to promote a limited-time deal or sale you are currently offering. These types of email campaigns can be used to re-engage one-time customers, upsell existing customers, or keep loyal customers happy by showing you appreciate them.
- Seasonal email campaigns are similar to general promotion emails but are sent around major holidays or seasonal changes. If you offer a special sale or set of products for the season, this is the best email marketing strategy to announce it.
- Triggered email campaigns are sent out in response to specific client behavior or events. This type of email campaign is usually useful if you are using automated email marketing software, like vcita, otherwise, the manual tracking required might take up too much time. When the software detects that a user has abandoned their cart, made a purchase, or has a birthday, a specific marketing email will be sent to each segmented group of customers.
There are a ton of other email marketing campaign examples, but you get the gist. Email marketing campaigns are used to target a specific segment of clients. Do you want to target one-time clients by sending a re-engagement promotion? Do you want to try and upsell repeat clients by sending a general promotion campaign about packages?
You can pretty much use email marketing campaigns anytime, any place to drive sales. You just need a clear goal in mind to help you get started.
The art is in learning to refine your campaigns, so you don’t end up in the dreaded spam folder.
The top 5 email marketing campaigns that vcita users love to use
#1 email marketing campaign right now is 4th of July Flash Sales
The first campaign that is popular right now is a perfect example of a seasonal campaign. The 4th of July holiday provides a great opportunity for brands to play into the patriotic spirit their customers are feeling. Flash sales are powerful because they force customers to act fast before they miss their opportunity.
While launching a holiday-themed collection and announcing it as part of a 4th of July Flash Sale is one example of a successful marketing campaign, you don’t have to get too extra if that’s not in the cards for your business. Something as simple as a patriotic email template is a good email marketing strategy to promote a flash sale for something you already offer.
#2 announcing your hot summer sales
The second most popular email campaign on vcita at the moment is also a seasonal campaign. Unlike the 4th of July Flash Sale, this campaign is not limited to a specific holiday, rather it is celebrating the entire season. This gives a little bit more leeway in terms of dates.
Meaning, if you missed the 4th of July, you still have a chance to launch a successful season email campaign for summer. You can announce hot sales all summer long with this type of email campaign. Again, you don’t need to create an offering specific to summer to be successful.
Use this opportunity to showcase products or services that might be of extra interest to customers during this sweaty season. You can also offer a small summer-themed gift, like a cute water bottle or reusable fan with their purchase.
#3 Bring business with a free phone consultation
Number 3 is an example of a general promotion email campaign. Offering a free phone consultation has proven to be a successful strategy for bringing in sales. Sometimes potential clients have concerns or questions preventing them from taking the plunge with your business, even though they are interested.
By getting these people on the phone, you will be able to better understand them and if you are a good fit for each other, and if yes hopefully they will be converted into a customer.
#4 Announce your updated business schedule
Announcement emails are another example of successful email marketing campaigns. While announcement emails are often used to inform customers about new products, they can also be a great tool for announcing any changes in your business.
People subscribe to emails because they want to stay in the know, so give the people what they want! Keep your customers updated so they know what to expect. Maybe your new schedule will allow new people to book with you that couldn’t before.
#5 Invite clients to post a review on your Facebook
Unlike the previous four email marketing campaigns, the fifth focuses less on direct sales and more on conversions over time. The benefits of positive Facebook reviews include attracting new customers, so think of it as playing the long game.
This type of email marketing campaign is especially useful if you already have a circle of long-term, returning customers that know and love your brand. Sending a simple email asking your loyal customers to leave you a good review is a surprisingly simple example of a successful email marketing campaign and can also help you offset negative reviews, should you have any.
How vcita helps you become an email marketing pro
Becoming an email marketing master is easier than you might think when using vcita. There is a “marketing” section built into your vcita dashboard designed to help you create email marketing campaigns in no time.
Marketing templates
The marketing tool allows you to create personalized email campaigns for any occasion, from one-time email blasts to monthly newsletters, and everything in between. There is a huge gallery of templates to choose from, meaning you don’t have to create anything from scratch (unless you want to).
All you have to do is choose the right template to fulfill your campaign’s goal. For example, a campaign promoting your packages won’t need the same template as a “happy birthday” campaign.
Once you have chosen your template, everything else, like fonts, color schemes, images, etc. is customizable so you really make the email your own without much technical know-how.
If you are still learning the ropes, you are in luck because the vcita dashboard comes complete with tips on the side of the page to help you create an effective campaign.
All of your announcements will be saved for future use, so don’t worry about losing your work.
Clients lists & tags
If you were worried about how to send out your campaign once it’s ready, don’t be! Not only is creating email lists of clients super easy on the vcita platform, but you can also view client analytics that will help you create these lists in the first place.
Straight from the platform, you will be able to see different client categories like VIP buyers, one-time buyers, or new subscribers.
To help you create more effective email campaigns, you can tag these groups for future use. Any given customer can have multiple tags, and you can create as many tags as you want.
Say you want to send an email to your VIPs, just select your announcement, whether you want to send it by email or SMS, and then select your VIP tag, and voila!
You can always view your previously distributed campaigns on the announcements page where you will be able to check statistics like how many recipients viewed, engaged with, deleted, etc your email.
Based on these stats, you can retag certain customers to retarget them on a different campaign.
Automated campaigns
In addition to announcements, you can also send out automated campaigns on vcita. As we briefly mentioned above, automated campaigns are emails automatically sent in response to customer behavior or a specific date.
Automated campaigns are great for small business owners who don’t have time to consistently manually build email campaigns. You can set up a whole series of automated campaigns that will essentially keep up engagement with virtually no effort on your part.
For example, you can set up automated birthday campaigns, and automated email blasts for clients who engage once, or twice. You can also create automated campaigns to be sent out after you post a new blog post, or after a client downloads a white paper from your site. You can set up automatic emails for clients making their tenth purchase, or automated welcome emails for clients after they first subscribe.
Honestly, the possibilities are endless! Once you get your automated email series set up, you will be upselling, converting clients, and making your business work for you, all in your sleep.