Let’s review: You know your audience. You’ve organized them. You’ve learned how to craft a personalized message. And you know all of this works together to send targeted campaigns. 

What’s next?

You’re ready to craft the perfect email! Let’s start with the perfect blueprint. 

Begin with your marketing objective–the WHY? What are you trying to accomplish? What message do you want to say? Jot down a bulleted list of goals, or one to two sentence statements that remind you of the purpose of your campaign. After you have your goals figured out, you’re ready to build your campaign. 

Mailchimp’s 5 Elements of an Email:

1. Frequency and Timing
2. Message Structure
3. Subject Lines and Preview Text
4. Content, Copy and Images 
5. Calls to Action 

Frequency and Timing

Use the bulleted list you’ve just written and create a feasible schedule to reach those goals. Having this list in front of you while you’re figuring out the timing will remind you why you’re doing it and keep you on message. We recommend sending at least one email per month, but as long as your audience is engaging with your content, this could (and should) be adjusted depending on the amount of content you have time to craft to support it. As a recap from an earlier blog, never send an email just to send an email. 

Message Structure   

Strategically send your content to reach your marketing objectives. This will help guide your email’s structure. And, when it comes to structure, always lead with the main point followed by an organized flow for quick scanning. Your information should follow a hierarchy of most important to least. 

Subject Line and Preview Text

The very first interaction your recipient has with your communication is the subject line and preview text. This first impression can make or break the success of your email. Your subject line should catch their attention and make them want to open. 

Here is Mailchimp’s 5 best practices when it comes to subject lines and preview text:

1. Personalize
2. Clarity beats ambiguity
3. Strength over length
4. Use emojis carefully
5. Who it is “from” (the sender) is part of your subject line

Content, Copy and Images

Your marketing strategy drives content. Decide what you want your audience to do, then drive results with engaging content. Copy can be written in so many ways. But, to really resonate with your audience, make it personal so they feel connected to your message. Spark their curiosity, stir their emotions or give them a laugh. Keeping your audience in mind prevents you from sending something you wouldn’t want to receive.

“A picture is worth a thousand words” is a cliche for a reason. People love images, and a good quality image goes a long way. Images can also be used to split up copy. Opening an email to paragraphs of text is usually a big turnoff. 

Calls to Action

What is your ultimate goal? What is the purpose of your email? (Hint: Look back at your list of objectives.) Your call to action should drive that purpose. CTAs should contain active and persuasive language to push your contact to take action. Your CTAs should be simple, important and clear. 

Now that you’ve put all these tips together, we’ll talk about email automations to make your life easier.  

Feeling overwhelmed? We can help!