The Future is Automated: A Comprehensive Guide to Email Marketing Automation

Every workplace demands effective communication to uplift team's productivity and engagement. Sometimes, communication plays a crucial role in framing a decent impression and cracking a deal. In order to fill the gaps with convincing clauses, interacting through emails is the best alternative. Also, 75% of millennials prefer interacting via email for business purposes. In fact, learning the process of email marketing automation will not only upgrade one’s business background but also help in maintaining an advanced profile. In this article, we will cover the process of email marketing automation from drag to drop. 

About Email Marketing Automation 

Email marketing automation is a digital marketing strategy that can be explained as a set of emails delivered to certain subscribers who show up virtually, like signing up to the site, planning a purchase, or even just tapping on the link. 

For instance, when you create an account at Smartlead you will receive a welcome email from the team, giving a comprehensive description of the services it offers. 

This automated phenomenon ensures the distribution of promotional messages to subscribers. For marketers, it becomes easier to drop personalized messages to customers on the basis of any action (trigger) like adding products to the cart and then removing the product from the cart. The customer will get a reminder email to finish the purchase. Thus, the automation strategy saves time and energy for the companies. 

Steps to Carry Forward Automated Email Marketing Campaigns 

Follow these steps to carry forward automated email marketing campaigns for businesses: 

1. Pick one email automation software 
   

The foremost step of this process is to choose an accurate email automation software. However, the selection will be based on the type of your industry, your marketing budget, or the category of your audience or upcoming future goals. 

2. Discover the target of automating your chosen email 
   

The first two steps are very related; following any one of them can be helpful. If you are planning to select the tool, ponder the goals of the campaign. Determining a strong campaign goal is vitally important, as the type or number of emails and period of the campaign thoroughly depend on the goals of the campaign. Some of the basic campaign’s goals involve converting regular users into premium ones, attracting big leads, and so on. 

3. Notice your target user and star-mark them 
   

In this step, you have to pick a particular email list that will be a part of your email campaign. There are different standards to use to segment them, like demographic data, preferences, and communication details. Remember this: If you are trying to create a promotional email, attaching inactive users will definitely hamper the performance of the campaign. So, it’s important to select active users who can respond to your emails. 

4. Form emails and pin them to the campaign  
   

In the fourth step, you have to write and formally outline emails. So, you can forward the sequence of emails to the contact list. Select a catchy template, add the name of your campaign, and attach the required data: pre-header text, subject, and lastly, the sender's address. At the send, review the campaign and save the page. 

5. Create time intervals with reasonable conditions in the email flow 
   

Any email in the integrated flow comprises certain time intervals and reasonable conditions. In the event that an user rejects specific items from the cart, an action to trigger the email pops up with a recovery email within 5 hours of the refusal. In the email flow, you can also attach the delay’s policy and conditions for further authorization. 

6. Create the flow live and analyze the progress 
   

It is evident that managing tasks live can help track the progress of emails on the performance dashboard. You can also scan all the email metrics, like clicks, submission rate, and so on. Moreover, regularly monitoring will help to find the errors, and you can also make amendments to balance the overall performance. 

Tools to Streamline the Email Marketing Automation Process 

It’s evident, email marketing automation is a crucial strategy for businesses to engage with their audience, nurture leads, and drive conversions efficiently. To streamline the email marketing automation process, various tools and software solutions are available that can help businesses save time, increase productivity, and achieve better results. These tools typically offer a range of features, including email campaign management, list segmentation, personalization, analytics, and more. Here are some tools or platforms to consider for streamlining your email marketing automation process:

Smartlead

Smartlead is a cutting-edge marketing automation tool designed to help businesses optimize lead generation and nurturing processes. It stands out with its advanced AI-driven capabilities that empower marketers to make data-driven decisions and streamline their efforts effectively. Let’s explore its key features: 

1. Unlimited Warmups:
   

Unlimited Warmups is a crucial feature in Smartlead's arsenal that enhances your email deliverability and ensures your emails land in your recipients' primary inboxes rather than their spam folders. Here's how it works:

- Avoid Spam Filters: Unlimited warmups help you bypass spam filters and ensure your emails reach the intended recipients' inboxes.

- Improved Deliverability: By gradually increasing sending volumes, you avoid sudden spikes that may trigger alarms with ESPs.

- Enhanced Sender Reputation: A good sender reputation is crucial for long-term email marketing success, as it increases the chances of your emails being delivered and read.

2. Auto Rotation:
   

Auto Rotation is an intelligent feature within Smartlead that optimizes your email sending strategy by distributing emails across various email accounts or sending domains automatically. When you send a high volume of emails from a single account or domain, it can trigger spam filters and negatively impact your sender reputation. Auto Rotation automatically switches between different sender accounts or domains for each email campaign, ensuring consistent email deliverability. Here’s how it works: 

- Maintain Sender Reputation: Auto Rotation prevents overloading a single sender account, reducing the risk of being flagged as a spammer.

- Diversified Sending: By rotating sender accounts or domains, you diversify your sending sources, which can positively influence your deliverability rates.

- Better Campaign Results: Improved email deliverability leads to higher open and click-through rates, ultimately boosting your campaign's success.

3. Multi-Channel Outreach:
   

Multi-Channel Outreach is a feature that allows you to reach your leads and prospects through various communication channels beyond just email. This versatility enhances your chances of engagement and conversion. In addition to email, Smartlead enables you to connect with your audience through multiple channels like Whatsapp, LinkedIn, and more. You can create and manage campaigns across these channels within the same platform. Let’s check how it works:

- Expanded Reach: Engage with your audience where they are most active, whether it's via email, text messages, or social media.

- Diversified Communication: Not all leads respond to the same channels. Multi-Channel Outreach lets you tailor your approach to individual preferences.

- Comprehensive Tracking: Monitor the performance of your campaigns across different channels to refine your marketing strategies effectively.

HubSpot

HubSpot is a versatile all-in-one marketing automation platform trusted by businesses of all sizes. It offers a wide range of features to streamline marketing efforts and foster customer relationships.

Key Features:

- CRM Integration: HubSpot seamlessly integrates with its CRM, allowing you to track customer interactions across various touchpoints.

- Email Marketing: Create and automate email campaigns with ease, using advanced personalization and A/B testing.

- Workflow Automation: Build custom automation workflows to nurture leads, automate tasks, and engage customers.

- Analytics and Reporting: Gain valuable insights into your marketing efforts with comprehensive reporting tools.

HubSpot's user-friendly interface, extensive features, and scalability make it a go-to choice for businesses aiming to manage their marketing and sales efforts under one roof.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp is a well-known email marketing platform recognized for its simplicity and robust automation capabilities. It's an excellent choice for businesses looking to kickstart their email marketing efforts.

Key Features:

- Email Templates: Choose from a wide range of professionally designed email templates to create eye-catching campaigns.

- Segmentation: Easily segment your audience based on various criteria for more targeted messaging.

- A/B Testing: Optimize your email content and delivery times by running A/B tests.

- Reports: Track opens, clicks, and engagement metrics to refine your campaigns.

Thus, Mailchimp's user-friendly interface and affordability make it a great option for businesses seeking an easy entry point into email marketing automation.

SendinBlue

SendinBlue is a comprehensive marketing automation platform that combines email marketing, SMS marketing, and transactional email capabilities into one solution, making it ideal for businesses looking for multi-channel communication.

Key Features:

- Email and SMS Marketing: Create and automate email and SMS campaigns for a unified marketing approach.

- Marketing Automation: Set up workflows to nurture leads, segment your audience, and trigger messages based on user behavior.

- Transactional Email: Ensure reliable delivery of transactional emails, such as order confirmations and password resets.

- Advanced Reporting: Access detailed campaign analytics and real-time tracking.

Therefore, SendinBlue's flexibility and pricing structure make it a versatile choice for businesses that need both email and SMS marketing automation capabilities.

Dos and Don’ts of Email Marketing Automation 

The Email marketing stands as the most efficient way to create brand awareness. Literally, this marketing strategy is a daily necessity for every sincere marketing campaign. It is said that framing a marketing campaign demands full attention to even tiny changes. In this article, we will cover some dos and don'ts of email marketing to promote brand growth and save time. Let’s jump over the strait of Do’s first and then roam over the roads of Don’ts later. 

Do's 

1. Emphasis on the Subject Line 
   

According to a recent survey, almost 70% of the emails get opened. It is recommended to create spectacular subject lines that can convince customers to click on your mail. The chances of your emails being noticed totally depend on how attractive or creative your subject line is. One should try to look for innovative ways to grab the attention of clients by framing certain subject lines. 

2. Be precise with your email 
   

Be aware of the fact that a customer will not spend much time reading your mail; one can snap out with just a back click. So, it’s important to deliver information about the matter concisely. So that the customer can quickly get to the information.

3. Target certain customers and clients 
   

The very purpose of generating email is to notify or inform about upcoming future events. However, it is mandatory to say that not everyone on your email list is required to get your notification through email. Rather than targeting the masses, you must aim at a specific audience that can reap the expected results. Once you have shortlisted a particular section of the audience, it becomes easier to connect with them. 

Don’ts 

1. Stay Consistent, But Avoid Flooding Too Many Emails 
   

According to the marketing policy, it is essential to be regular with dropping emails and checking updates. But sometimes, things get burdened up when done limitlessly. The capacities of individuals vary from person to person; for some, getting five emails a day is normal, while for others, it’s disturbing. So, it’s important to watch the number of emails forwarded every day. 

2. Avoid Being Monotonous, Abstain From Performing Repetitive Activities 
   

The process of landing informative emails on a regular basis works as an efficient way to stay in touch with clients. But when the content becomes repetitive, it certainly bores off the audience because watching the same episode again and again can make anyone doze off in the middle of the show. So, freshly generated emails can be impressive to customers and clients. 

3. Don’t pressurize your clients or customers 
   

On the launch of certain products, emails are dropped to customers, stretching over the highlights of the new product. But again, quantity matters if you are sending the same emails in a loop. It might disturb the mood of the client, and he might end the subscription out of frustration. 

Final Thoughts

Indeed, the email marketing automation tools offer distinct features and capabilities to streamline your email marketing automation process, catering to a wide range of business needs and preferences. Whether you seek AI-powered lead management, comprehensive all-in-one solutions, user-friendly interfaces, or multi-channel communication, there's a tool that can help elevate your email marketing efforts and drive better results.