Goals are important for email marketing campaigns because without them it is hard to know what worked, whether it was worth it, and what to change to improve conversions and optimize in the future.  Here are a few great ways to set realistic and effective goals for your email marketing campaigns.




Be realistic relative to the size of your list

If you have a 100 or 200-person list, do not set a goal for a million dollars in sales.  Unless you are selling something that costs thousands of dollars, it is unlikely for you to meet such a lofty goal.  Remember that your conversion rate from this list might be a low as 2% to 5% of the total, so make your goals achievable to avoid discouraging yourself.  Also, realize that the bigger the list, the lower your conversion rate is likely to be.  A larger list means that some of the customers are likely not your ideal, target customer and might never open or be interested in what you are marketing. 




Avoid nebulous goals that are hard to measure

If your goal for your email marketing campaign is to increase the presence or market share of your business, that is great.  But how do you measure that?  Is it the number of sales?  The amount of social media engagement?  Likely your real goal is to increase a bit of everything: sales, traffic, social media likes, word of mouth.  A goal this big and difficult to measure can be a bad thing. 




If you make more sales, you will assume it is because of campaign but it will be difficult to see a direct relationship since that is not what you are focused on quantifying.  A better approach is to identify what would benefit your business the most and then custom tailor your campaign towards that goal and that goal only. 




If you are focusing on social media and not sales, then don't send them to your sales funnel in the email.  Establish a base line of where you are before the campaign, research what you think you might achieve, and then follow that progress throughout and at the end.  This clarity and precision of data will help you with future campaigns and strategies rather than just giving a slight business bump that could be from anywhere.




Consider A/B testing

A/B testing is a common technique for marketers.  Mostly used in advertising or lead pages, the idea is that two different pages are shown to customers, randomly, to determine which one converts the best.    You can harness this technique for your email campaign as well. 




Instead of sending the same email to everyone on your list, you could have one for customers less than a year old and a different one for everyone else.  It is likely that customers that have been on your list for a while have already seen or purchased your previous product, so their email could focus only on your new stuff. 




The email to newer customers could have the new product but also allude to the other great offerings you have which can increase engagement and open rates of your emails.  The more information you (hopefully) collected on your customers about their preferences and what they bought will allow you to do all sorts of other A/B testing based on your brand.    

Digital marketing is fast paced but rewarding at the same time.  In the matter of a few weeks, a social media site or popular forum can fall out of favor and your customers are now halfway across the internet.  Here are a few surprising statistics about why you should put the effort in to keep up in this digital track meet. 




Posts over 1500 words get 68.1% more tweets and 22.6% more Facebook likes than shorter posts (source).

For a long time the old adage “content is king” was enough.  But in today's hyper competitive digital marketing environment, the right type, format, and length of content is more important than ever. While a few sentences about your day at the beach or a picture of your new puppy are entertaining, that won't hold your audience’s attention for more than a few seconds.  Long, detailed, thoroughly researched content is critical to engaging the reader at a deeper level and getting them to share with their friends. If you spend more time writing better and longer content and less on marketing, it could very well happen that your readers take up the marketing task for you.




60% of millennials rely on social media for their news. (source)

The millennial segment of the population is an ever growing and ever changing beast.  With many companies competing for this segment due to their age, growing incomes, and changing tastes, understanding how and where to market to this group is of the utmost importance for digital marketers. If you have a new product, news about your company, or run a company that is related to news in some way, consider bulking up and analyzing your social media usage to find spots to improve. Most millennials are not watching CNN or reading newspapers, but rather want their news in a short viral format in the palm of their hand.  Find a way into those palms, and the rewards could be substantial. 




83% believe that companies should support nonprofit and charity organizations (source)

Beyond being a good corporate citizen or doing what’s right, using the results of philanthropic efforts in marketing can help establish credibility and trust among consumers.  Consumers are getting smarter and more savvy by the day so the chances of them shrugging off advertising or reacting negatively to marketing is higher than ever. 




Rather than trying to highlight the benefits or advantages of your product or service, marketing the good you are doing in the community can help generate more followers and likes.  This can snowball because your future traditional marketing efforts and posts will have a further reach and be well received due to the trust you established. 




Inbound marketing delivers 54% more leads then traditional outbound marketing (source)

Outbound marketing is slowly going the way of the dinosaur as customers get savvier at hiding from or dodging traditional marketing attempts.  The challenge for the digital marketer now is to go where their customers hang out and spend their time, and establish a presence there. 




These efforts might not seem like they directly translate into sales like traditional ads or marketing would, but the effect will be seen slowly over time as your inbound leads pick up.  Having your content in the right places and the right time without shoving it down your customers throat is the way to go in 2015 and beyond. 




The best part?  Inbound marketing is usually dramatically more affordable than traditional marketing or sales teams.  This is due to harnessing the sharing and “viral” power of the great content you produce and having your customers tackle some of the marketing effort for free.

Interoffice email is a great communication tool that virtually every modern business relies on to function.  Here are some things to consider making sure your emails are professional and make the most of the unique features of this medium.

Understand the limitations of email 
Email is a great medium for communication but it is by no means perfect.  Before sending your email, consider the limits of email and how misunderstandings can happen easily.  Sarcasm, exaggeration, and other advanced language devices do not translate through email as they would during face to face or phone conversation.  It is for this reason it is best to stick to short, simple instructions or questions rather then using complicated language that cloaks your true meaning.  Effective communication is about being clear and straightforward.

Air on the side of formality
While you may be friends or close with a good number of your coworkers, at the end of the day they are just that, co-workers.  They are not your friends, family, or social media followers.  When unsure of what the tone of your email should be, air on the side of formality and professionalism.  Without the assistance of facial queues and body language, an email’s meaning is more about the actual words on the screen then other forms of communication. 

Understand company hierarchy
An email to your direct report employees should read much differently than an email to the CEO.  Take the time to tailor your email to your intended recipient to ensure your email gets full consideration and isn’t deleted due to unprofessionalism.  Keep in the mind the higher up an individual is in the organization, the more emails they are likely to receive per day.  Consider short and to the point emails for executives, and if they like your idea or value your input, more emails or a meeting can be arranged. 

Wait to write the email if you are emotional
Stressed about a deadline or project?  Just got out of a meeting where you vehemently disagreed with everything that was decided?  Before you jump to your email to rant about your boss to your co-workers or tell someone about how much you hate the new marketing plan, take a deep breath and step back from your computer.  Emailing while in an emotional state of mind often has disastrous results.  A simple 5 or 10-minute delay can help you write a more leveled headed and professional email that will likely be more persuasive in the end.
 
Email is NOT social media
One word responses, links to viral videos, and other content that is typical of social media is not acceptable for an interoffice email.  Email should be used to communicate work and project instructions or questions, transfer documents such as spreadsheets, or other essential business functions.  Do not slouch on using proper sentences and greetings when writing emails and your co-workers are likely to take what you have to say much more seriously.  

Proofread, then proofread again
With the amount of email we send out and consume every day, it can be tempting to avoid proofreading as closely as you should in the interest of speed and efficiency.  This can be a grave mistake, however, as you never know who or where your email will be forwarded to.  If a higher up in the organization is forwarded your mistake-filled email about an important topic, that can reflect poorly or your attention to detail and leadership abilities. 

While marketing automation is still in its early stages, more and more businesses are opting to use this marketing style. As companies now have to work harder than ever before to keep their brands in the minds of consumers, the optimization of marketing automation can help make the entire process easier. Below are some of the benefits of business marketing automation.

1.    Productivity
One of the primary benefits of marketing automation is the elimination of routine marketing or organizational tasks. By removing them, employees and staff are better able to focus their efforts on projects that require more manpower and monitoring.
2.    Increased revenue 
While investing in any new software is never cheap, the increased revenue created by marketing automation can offset – and overcome – the costs. More than 78% of marketers identified automation as the key to their improving revenue. Even B2B businesses see the difference; when compared to nurtured sales, automation increased sales by more than 20%. 
3.    Customer retention
Using marketing intelligence, businesses can work to keep the customers they have while continually working on acquiring new ones. By gaining more insight and information on customers, automated marketing can help target products or promotions to the right consumers and the right time.
4.    Monitor campaigns
Although data analytics are an important part of marketing, automation provides the ability to instantly measure and monitor the data collected by a campaign. This, in turn, helps you determine the success or failure faster and adjust future marketing strategies accordingly.  
5.    Improve accountability
The data collected by marketing automation creates an impartial picture of your company. This not only improves the accountability of departments such as marketing and sales, but can also identify areas that need improvement. This impartial feedback can help insure that all areas of your business are operating effectively.
​
Marketing automation can provide businesses with unprecedented amounts of data about their customers, while at the same time increasing productivity and identifying areas that need improvement. Because of these benefits, marketing automation can help businesses improve, grow, and better serve the consumer. 

Instead of individually formatting each and every marketing email, creating a great template can help streamline and simplify the process. Likewise, it creates a cohesive look and brand that customers can easily recognize and navigate. Below are some of the best ways to create a great email marketing template. 
​
1.    Use the right software
Creating an eye-catching email marketing template is not the time to utilize Microsoft Word. Instead, programs like HubSpot, Dreamweaver, and even Notepad can be used to help you create code that won’t go wonky in an email.
2.    Manage email width
If you want to allow your emails to be viewed in Outlook’s vertical preview pane, email widths should not exceed 650 pixels. Likewise, limiting width can also ensure users with slower software or connections do not experience issues opening up your content.
3.    Avoid HTML text
While HTML text, such as the pretty bullet points, may seem more exciting and enticing than their plain text counterparts, they can also cause serious issues with spacing and readability for recipients who do not have HTML rich text enabled. Instead, write content in plain text to ensure all readers, including those on mobile devices, can read your text without issue.
4.    Create a plain text version
In addition to minimizing the use of HTML text, emails need to be accompanied by a plain text version. Not only does this mean that everyone can have the option to view your email regardless of the device or platform they use, it also prevents your messages from getting flagged as spam. 
5.    Check your photo formats
No matter how great your email’s graphics are, if they can’t be viewed, they take away from your template. While .jpeg and .gif files are generally accepted – and the most widely used – formats like .png may not open up in certain platforms.
6.     Include an unsubscribe link
Nothing frustrates readers more than not being able to easily unsubscribe from email marketing they no longer want to receive. Including it as a permanent part of your email template – along with the company name and physical address – ensures that you are CAN-SPAM compliant  and that these items are never left out of an email.