Getting your email marketing system running

“You know the theory behind an email marketing system. But theories don't drive revenue; action does. Our final clinic talks about costs, timing, and project management…”

Ronen Yaari, OpenMoves
Questions? Drop me an email or call!

To turn email marketing theory into email marketing revenue, you need to follow a simple action plan that describes the process, budget, and timeline. Your plan should cover:

1. Strategy and content development
2. Design and coding
3. Testing
4. List building
5. Delivery
6. Tracking and analysis
7. Production calendar

These are all concepts we’ve touched on in our previous clinics.

Who should do it?

If you have the staff and in-house skills, do it yourself. If not, outsource. Given the nuances of email marketing, most businesses prefer to take a mixed approach.

For instance, you could help with the strategy and produce the monthly content, but leave the execution of the actual campaigns to a competent email marketing company.

Some of our clients, for example, have their own copywriters and programmers, and are happy to simply outsource the initial email template design, get trained on our email management engine, and deliver the email themselves.

Other clients prefer OpenMoves to manage everything, so they can focus on their business. Of course, they approve everything before it goes out.

Whichever route you choose, don’t take a step before making a solid commitment to the project for at least a year. As with any other business project, successful email marketing takes practice, refinement, analysis, more refinement, more analysis, a steady budget, and time.

There are no shortcuts or get-rich-quick schemes. Steady as she goes.

So what does this cost?

In the broadest terms, a custom newsletter template can range from $1,000 to $1,500 to design and code. Monthly production, delivery, and tracking generally cost between $350 and $500 per issue, depending on complexity.

If you provide the content, your first year of email marketing could cost as little as $5,000 in all for a monthly newsletter.

If you’d like us to help you develop the content each month, our custom publishing division can provide you with a quote.

How long does it take?

The design phase usually involves two phone meetings, a text prototype, a design comp, revisions, and coding. From start to finish, this takes four to six weeks. During that time, we can build the database that will house your lists.

What’s next?

Let’s chat and see if there’s a good fit between what you’re trying to accomplish through email and reality. If there’s a fit, we’ll draft an agreement and go from there.

We normally work month by month. If your needs, priorities, or expectations change, you can modify the arrangement or cancel at any time.

So that’s all there is to it?

Email doesn’t live in a vacuum. It’s the great connector. It can drive folks to your website, store, event, shopping cart, blog, autoresponder series (like this one), or forum. If you’re curious about other pieces in the marketing puzzle, give us a holler. We specialize in building online business communities.

That’s it for this series of email marketing clinics. Now it’s up to you to put this understanding to work, creating new revenue for your business.