Its a great decision you’ve taken to plan your email strategy especially as the New Year is around the corner. But before you start sending out emails to growing your list, you must have a solid plan. With a mapped out plan you’ll have a greater sense of direction.

According to research conducted by Content Marketing Institute, 62% of businesses that document their Content Marketing Strategy consider it to be effective, compared to 32% of business who didn’t document their processes believe it’s effective.

Keeping records of your email strategy means you’ll be more likely to stick with it, target the right people and achieve your goals. This is one of the 5 powerful ways to monetize your blog and make money online. In this post I’ll be sharing four simple steps you should take in planning your email marketing strategy so you can use this plan and make your business bloom.

CREATE SMART GOALS

Without a goal, there’s nothing you can achieve. A good goal is a SMART goal. Which is an acronym that stands for:

S – SPECIFIC: Make sure your goals contain enough details about how you plan to achieve them. Avoid being vague.

M – MEASURABLE: You should be able to measure your goals using numbers or figures.

A – ATTAINABLE: When creating your goals, make sure it is achievable within your specific budget.

R – REALISTIC: Your goals should be within your means and reach.

T – TIME FRAME: Attach a date for the completion of your goal.

Let’s take the example below for instance:

I will grow my email list to 100 subscribers in the next 6 months by reaching out to my personal connections and asking them to join my list and also by adding a sign up form to my website.

This is a SMART goal. Its specific because it describes what you’ll like to do and how you plan to do it which is through personal connections and sign up forms. It is also measurable as it explains the number of subscribers you’d like to attain (100) in 6 months time, making it time bound.

So make sure to create goals that are realistic and achievable for you based on your current resources.

CHOOSE YOUR EMAIL MARKETING GOALS

Are you confused about the kind of goals to set for your email marketing strategy? You cold start by by writing down a list of areas you’d like to improve on, and if you’re just starting, you can start by focusing on the following:

Growing your email list: Having a larger email list increase your chances of building relationships with more people. You can tell them about your businesses and motivate them to purchase a product or service.

Getting more subscribers to respond to your emails: When more subscribers respond to your emails, you communicate with them directly and build relationships that could encourage them to buy.

Asking subscribers for feedbacks and applying that feedback: When you apply the feedbacks gotten from your subscribers, it helps you in creating more valuable emails for them that could increase your click-through and conversion rate.

Improving your email click-through rate: When your email click-through rates are high, its a sign that people like your content and business, which increase the chances of them buying from you.

These are some of the ideas you could start with for your email marketing goals.

DEFINE YOUR IDEAL AUDIENCE

Now it’s time to determine who your ideal subscriber is and create a persona for this subscriber. By doing so, you’ll be able to attract the right audience to your email lists and encourage them to sigh up, then you’ll be able to write email content that’s relevant to them and helps solve their problems.

Some questions your customer persona should include are:

What is your ideal customer like? Are they make or female? Or both? Are they married or single? What are their interests? Where do they reside? What do they do for a living? What are their goals? What are their problems and needs? What type of content do they consume?What could prevent them from buying your product/service?

With these information and any other you come up with, you’ll be able to create a Customer Persona that can help you attract the right subscribers who are ready to engage with you.

CREATE YOUR EMAIL MARKETING STRATEGY

Now it’s time to create your email marketing strategy. You can either write it down in a note book or using Google Docs. First of all, write down your email marketing goals in this document, make sure your goals are SMART. Next write down your completed Customer Persona in this document and be sure your goals are in line with it.

Ask yourself if your goals will help you attract your ideal customer. You can still add any other goals that’ll bring you closer to your ideal customer. Then Brainstorm.

Once you’re done it’s advisable to print this document out as a reference when deciding what content to send your subscribers, how often to send emails, how to grow your list and how to measure success.

To get started, use the information in your document to guide you. First would be to create a sign up form for your website or writing your first auto responder series. Then use your Customer Persona to write and design contents that speaks to your audience’s problems and needs. To see more blogging trends Click here.

I hope you find this information useful. Kindly share with us other strategies you’re using for your email marketing that we’ll find useful in the comments box.