Email Marketing
Automated Email Series
An automated email series is a sequence of pre-written emails that are automatically sent to subscribers based on specific triggers or schedules. These emails can nurture leads, onboard new customers, promote products, share educational content, and more. The goal is to deliver relevant and timely content to keep your audience engaged and guide them through the customer journey.
IMPLEMENTATION
Define Objectives: Determine the goals of your email series (e.g., lead nurturing, customer onboarding, product promotion).
Segment Your Audience: Group your subscribers based on criteria like behavior, interests, or demographics to tailor the content.
Create Content: Develop valuable and relevant email content for each step in the series. This can include educational articles, product information, tips, and special offers.
Set Triggers: Define the triggers that will initiate the email series (e.g., a new subscription, a specific action taken on your website).
Choose an Email Marketing Platform: Select a platform that supports automated email workflows, such as Mailchimp, HubSpot, or ActiveCampaign.
Design and Schedule Emails: Design the emails and set up the schedule or trigger-based workflow within your chosen platform.
Test and Optimize: Test the email series to ensure everything works correctly. Optimize subject lines, content, and timing based on initial performance data.
Launch and Monitor: Activate the automated email series and monitor its performance using analytics provided by your email platform.
Refine and Improve: Regularly review the results and make necessary adjustments to improve engagement and effectiveness.
STRATEGY RATING
SCORE
20
Automated email series have moderate costs, expertise, and time requirements. They offer high engagement and longevity, providing continuous value to subscribers.
RATING 1-5, 5 BEING THE BEST
3
Expertise
Requires moderate expertise in email marketing and content creation.
2
Cost
Moderate cost, depending on the email marketing platform and volume of emails sent.
3
Time
Moderate time investment for initial setup and ongoing optimization.
4
Engagement
High engagement due to personalized and targeted content.
4
Longevity
Moderate interactivity, as emails can encourage replies and clicks but are not as interactive as real-time channels.
3
Interactivity
Moderate interactivity, as emails can encourage replies and clicks but are not as interactive as real-time channels.
QUESTIONS TO ASK
What are the primary goals of our automated email series?
Who is our target audience, and how should we segment them?
What type of content will provide the most value to our audience?
What triggers will initiate the email series?
How will we measure the success of the email series?
HOW TO MEASURE
Open Rates: Percentage of recipients who open the emails.
Click-Through Rates (CTR): Percentage of recipients who click on links within the emails.
Conversion Rates: Percentage of recipients who complete the desired action (e.g., purchase, sign-up) after clicking through the email.
Unsubscribe Rates: Percentage of recipients who opt out of the email series.
Bounce Rates: Percentage of emails that fail to deliver.
Engagement Metrics: Overall engagement, including replies and social shares.
EXAMPLE
Company: Airbnb
Implementation: Airbnb uses automated email series to onboard new hosts. The series includes a welcome email, tips for creating a great listing, information on setting prices, and guidance on hosting best practices.
Outcome: The automated email series effectively onboarded new hosts, providing them with valuable information and support. This helped increase the number of active listings on Airbnb and improved host satisfaction. The personalized and timely content kept new hosts engaged and motivated to succeed.
By implementing an automated email series, Airbnb successfully nurtured new hosts and facilitated their onboarding process, demonstrating the effectiveness of this content marketing strategy.