I recently had the pleasure of doing a trial run of a new email marketing tool for a client. I had heard good things about Campaign Monitor and figured it was about time to give it a try. Plus, they were offering a free trial which is always good to try out a new tool.
I’m going to walk you through the process of setting up e-mail marketing for a Magento store. First, let’s take a quick look at what is Magento and why you might want to consider using it.
What Is Magento?
If you’re not familiar, Magento is a popular e-commerce platform that is used to power hundreds of thousands of websites across the globe. You can use Magento to create an online store or boutique, where shoppers can browse and purchase products. It’s super simple to setup and use and comes with a whole lot of amazing features.
Why might you want to use Magento for e-mail marketing? Well, this e-commerce platform offers a lot of advantages when it comes to setting up an email marketing campaign.
Features of Magento That Make It Suitable for Email Marketing
Here’s a short list of the many features that make Magento suitable for email marketing.
- Attractive Design
- Highly Configurable
- Secure And Safe
- Offers A Whole Lot of Plugins
- Compatible With Most Web Browsers
- And Much More
You’ll notice that a number of these features are listed as “plug-ins.” That is because they can be added to your Magento store using extensions. These extensions are like small apps that can be accessed from within your storefront. They can enhance your customer’s experience by offering features like discounted shipping, additional payment methods, live chat, and more.
Now, let’s take a quick look at how to set up e-mail marketing using Campaign Monitor.
Step One: Identify Your Audience
As the name would suggest, email marketing is all about sending email messages to a consumer base. With that in mind, you first need to identify the audience you are trying to reach. There are various ways to go about this. You can use demographic information, interests, hobbies, or even something as simple as looking at previous purchases to establish which email marketing segment you should target.
One of the best things about using email marketing to grow your business is that you can target your audience based on certain criteria. You can use tools like Google Analytics to find the types of content that your audience are engaged with, and what they’re reacting to. This way, you can determine what content you should send to them based on their previous behavior. Essentially, you are learning how to be a good marketer while you’re building your audience.
Step Two: Choose The Right List Of Emails
Once you’ve identified your audience, you can start to build a list of emails. You have three basic options here. You can use a tools like Mailchimp or AWeber to create a list of emails, or you can manually type them in. The third option is to use a tool like Spokeo to find email addresses of people with similar interests. This way, you can create a highly targeted list of emails.
The advantage of using a tool like Spokeo is that you can upload a list of interests and hobbies and it will search its databases for email addresses that match your criteria. Spokeo is incredibly easy to use and has a whole lot of features which make it suitable for marketing campaigns. For example, you can use it to look for email addresses of employees at a company you’re targeting, female executives in the technology industry, or even email addresses of people that purchase a certain product or service frequently. The options are endless!
Step Three: Create The Subject Line
You need to put the fun into marketing with a captivating subject line. You’ll typically use the subject line to briefly describe the content within the email. There is no set formula for a perfect subject line, so you’ll want to come up with something creative that causes your recipient to click through your email.
If your subject line is short and to the point, you might want to add a quick call to action at the end. This is basically a request for the reader to take a specific action. For example, you can ask them to visit your website, make a purchase, or even subscribe to your email list. Typically, the call to action will be at the end of the email. So, if you’re using an email marketing service, you’ll want to ensure that your subject line is short and snappy, while also being relevant to your email’s content.
Step Four: Customize The Email’s Content
Once you’ve got your subject line and list of emails ready, you can start to craft the actual content of the email. You want to ensure that your email’s content is relevant and valuable. Moreover, you want to create an experience that will convince them to click on your call to action (CTA). To do this, you’ll want to use the features provided by the email marketing platform you’re using to build your list.
Once you’ve gotten the hang of it, customizing emails is similar to blogging. You’ll want to come up with content that is unique to your brand and offer frequent, helpful tips and tricks on how to buy products that they might find useful. You can also include marketing material like coupons, discounts, or exclusive offers.
Keep in mind that the reader is always right at the center of your content creation process. This means that you should always start with a problem you’re trying to solve. Moreover, you should always include a call to action at the end of your email content. Your email’s goal is to get your reader to click on a link or button that will take them to your website, purchase a product, or subscribe to your email list.
Step Five: Test Your Email’s Creative And Technical Specifications
Once you’ve got your email’s content finalized, tested, and approved, you can finally begin to deploy it to your list. To do this, you’ll want to use a tool like AWeber or Mailchimp to send out your email blasts. Ensure that you’ve got enough emails on your list to reach your audience (if you’ve chosen a reputable service like these, you’ll be good to go).
If you’ve followed these steps correctly, your e-mail marketing should be ready to go live and begin generating sales.