You’re a business owner who wants to take advantage of email marketing to grow your business. But you’re not tech-savvy enough to set up your own email marketing program. So you turn to Google to find a simple-to-use service that lets you set up a Gmail business account and start emailing your customers and prospects.
Here’s what you need to know to get started.
Why Use Gmail For Email Marketing?
If you’re looking to take advantage of email marketing to grow your business, you have several options. You can run your own email marketing program through a service like MailChimp or Marketo. But if you don’t have the time or the tech-savvy to set up your own email program, you can also use a service like SendGrid or MailGun to send out email marketing campaigns.
However, Google offers a simpler solution. Just like other apps and websites on the Google platforms, Google has a built-in Email Marketing feature that can be accessed from the Google Dashboard. Once you’re there, you can create and send out campaigns in no time. The only difference is that with this Google app, you don’t need to have a Gmail account to be able to use it.
How Do I Set Up A Gmail Business Account?
To set up a Gmail business account, just do the following:
- Go to the Google Dashboard.
- Click on the Email marketing tab on the top of the Dashboard.
- Click on the Create button to bring up the Gmail settings page.
- Fill in the required details and then click on the Create button again to save the settings.
Now that your business has a Gmail account, you can use email marketing to grow your business. You can either use the business account for internal communication or create a separate Gmail account for marketing purposes.
What Will My Gmail Business Account Look Like?
When you first log in to your new Gmail business account, you’ll see a screen that looks like this:
This is the email settings page. Here you can see the general settings for your business email such as the email signature, password, etc. Then there are four icons at the top of the page. These are what we’ll focus on.
The Mail Settings Icon
Next to the word “Mail” in the upper left corner of the screen, you’ll see an icon that looks like a paper airplane. That’s the icon you’re looking for. If you click on it, you’ll see the following screen:
This is the Manage Mail Settings screen, which you can access by clicking on the mail settings icon. Here you can set up the basic mail behavior of your business. You can turn on spam detection to make sure you don’t end up in spam folder and delete mails you no longer need. You can also set how you want your email to appear in your inbox. You can select whether you want to see emails with a schedule or you want to stay up-to-date with what’s happening at all times.
The Folder Settings Icon
Next to the word “Folder” in the upper left corner of the screen, you’ll see an icon that looks like a file folder. In the upper right-hand corner of the page, you’ll see a down arrow. That’s the icon you’re looking for. If you click on it, you’ll see the following screen:
This is the Manage Folder Settings screen. Here you can create and manage your folders. You have the option of using a dedicated Gmail inbox or using any of the five default folders (Inbox, Drafts, Sent Mail, Spam, and Trash).
When you first set up your account, you’ll see a screen like this:
Here you can click on the + (plus sign) to access a long list of shared folders. You can click on any one of these folders to see its contents. In this case, we’ll click on the Sent Mail folder to see its contents:
This is the list of all the emails you’ve sent as part of this campaign. You can see that in this case, we have two emails: the first one we sent out on June 20th and the second one on June 21st. You can also see that one of the best communication tools available to businesses is right within the reach of all those who use Gmail.
The Schedule Settings Icon
Next to the word “Schedule” in the upper left corner of the screen, you’ll see an icon that looks like a piece of paper with some lines on it. That’s the icon you’re looking for. If you click on it, you’ll see the following screen:
This is the Manage Schedule Settings screen. If you click on the down arrow next to the word “Schedule,” you’ll see the following window:
Here you can set up automatic email sends at fixed intervals, such as once per week or each time you log in to your account. You can also set the days of the week that the emails should be sent out and the times they should be sent out.
The Label Settings Icon
Finally, if you click on the word “Label” in the upper left corner of the screen, you’ll see an icon that looks like a white sheet of paper with some words written on it. That’s the icon you’re looking for. If you click on it, you’ll see the following screen:
This is the Manage Label Settings screen. Here you can create and manage your custom labels. You can either create a single label for all your mail or create different labels for different types of mail. When you first set up your account, you’ll see a screen like this:
Here you can add text, design the label’s look, add attachments, and set the frequency of the email sends. When you click on the Check button next to the label, you’ll see the following:
This is the Labels screen. You can either keep the default options (set up once again as the first option) or you can change them. For example, you may want to create a special send only for important clients or executives. Or you may want to have a “Sale” label for all your discounted product sends.
As you can see, as a busy business owner, you don’t need to look any further for an app that can help you take care of your business’ email communication. Just make sure you’ve got a Gmail account and you can start using the Email Marketing app to take care of your business’ communication.