Have you ever considered creating an email marketing system that’s similar to Constant Contact’s? You can, and it’s easier than you think. With a little bit of work, you can replicate the functionality of the popular marketing automation tool.
Constant Contact is one of the most popular and sophisticated email marketing tools available, and for good reason. Its robust feature set makes it a popular choice for busy marketers seeking to streamline their workflow. What if I told you there was a way to build an email marketing system with similar functionality, but at a much more affordable cost?
Introducing LiquidMail. LiquidMail is built on top of the Amazon ElastiCache service, which accelerates content delivery and makes your emails more engaging.
Since LiquidMail is open source, you have the power to examine the code and modify it to suit your needs. In this article, we’ll walk you through the steps to build your own email marketing system that has many of the features found in Constant Contact, without the hefty price tag. Let’s get started.
Features At A Glance
Let’s gloss over the features for a moment and focus on the value proposition behind each feature. LiquidMail includes some pretty fantastic features, which we’ll cover in more detail below.
Firstly, you can set up automated email campaigns based on custom rules and schedules. For example, you can set up an auto email to send to a newly subscribed customer five days after they signed up. This feature is called “Automated Email Activity” and it’s a “sticky note” feature similar to what you’ll find in other email marketing tools.
Next, you can integrate your email list with all the major social media platforms, including the ability to follow and connect with customers on social media platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn. This is accomplished via “social media connectors”. For example, you can connect your LinkedIn profile to your email list, which then enables you to send targeted email blasts to users based on their interests and profile data.
LiquidMail also offers some unique features. For example, you can create email newsletters that are curated from your social media platforms. This means that you can send out a curated email every week, which includes all the content that your audience is engaging with on social media.
Additionally, you can create email lists based on the devices your users are clicking on. So if you’ve noticed that a lot of your traffic is coming from mobile devices and you suspect that this is going to be the case for the foreseeable future, you can create a list of mobile users and another list of desktop users.
Step By Step Guide To Build Your Own Email Marketing System
To get started, you first need to create a free account at goo.gl/DZFPBH. This is a one-time process, so don’t worry about needing to create an account again. After you’ve created your free account, navigate to https://build.liquidmailsystem.com. You’ll see a form with all the information you need to create your first email campaign.
Go through the prompts to fill in the form, keeping in mind that you don’t need to enter all the information. When you’re finished, hit the Create Email list button. A new window will pop up with two buttons at the bottom. One is for creating more lists, and the other is for creating automated email campaigns.
To start with, create a list called “Automated Emails”. Next, scroll down and click the blue button titled “Create Automated Email Campaign.” You’ll now see a form with all the relevant information about your first email campaign. Click the “Campaign Settings” button to enter the campaign’s name and description. Don’t forget about the option to set up the first email of the campaign to be a template.
Next, you’ll see a grid with all the relevant information about your first email campaign, including the list of all the subscribers. As you can see in the image above, there are five columns in the grid, which correspond to the five templates you’ll use for your campaign.
The first column is for subscriber verification. Basically, you’ll need to add a verification step to your email campaign. This is a security measure so that spammers can’t post or distribute spam through your system.
The second column is to indicate whether the email contains an attachment. Attached emails generally work better for boosting conversion rates, so you may want to leave this option enabled. One downside to having attachments is that they eat up more space in your inbox. So if you have a small inbox, you may need to keep this option disabled.
The third column is to specify the frequency of the email. Varying the email’s frequency increases the chances of the email being opened and acted upon. It’s a good idea to leave this option at its default of once per week.
The fourth column is for specifying the timing of the email. Timing your emails so that they arrive shortly after the event they’re associated with increases the chances of the information being retained. For example, if you’re sending an email after an event, the attendee will still be thinking about it when their next email comes in.
The fifth column is for specifying the content of the email. This is where you enter the text of the email itself, which will be pulled directly from your clipboard. Don’t worry about the size of the text, as you can always cut and paste from Microsoft Word’s “Full Text” button (command + F on a Mac).
When you’ve entered the content for your email, you’ll see the final column showing you the schedule for your email campaign. Use the drop-down menu to select the day and time at which you want the email to go out. Once you make your selection, hit the “Save Changes” button to save and close the form. Your email marketing system will be created with all the relevant information you entered.
Now that you’ve got your first email marketing system set up, you can begin experimenting with different email campaigns to find the ones that work best for you.