Did you know that there are more than 4.2 billion email users worldwide? It’s almost equal to the number of people who use social media. The great thing about email is that it gives you a chance to reach out directly to potential and existing customers.

Email marketing is an excellent way to nurture active leads, re-engage inactive users, and build lasting customer relationships. You can even use it to build brand authority and drive conversions.

Effective use of automation helps you maximize these benefits. It eliminates the hassle of scheduling and tracking various emails. Instead, you can focus on creating better campaigns that grab eyeballs.

But here’s the thing – your target audience likely already receives a ton of promotional emails from brands. According to a recent survey, 34% of respondents unsubscribe from email lists because they receive emails too frequently. How do you make sure your automated emails stand out from the crowd?

Here are a few tips to help you get started:

Choose the Right Email Automation Platform

If you want to make the most of automated emails, you must use a platform like vcita that offers all the features you need for successful email marketing. 

With vcita, a management platform for small service businesses, you can set up automated email campaigns in a few easy steps. You can even choose from a wide array of customizable pre-built email templates to save time and resources, dispatching automated appointment reminders, reactivation offers, late payment notices or anniversary coupons, for example.

Also, vcita lets you segment your contacts based on various parameters, including their interests and location, or using custom tags in the build-in CRM. It means you can send tailored campaigns to each group of contacts, thus boosting open and click-through rates (CTRs). You can schedule these campaigns and track user activity to assess the performance of your campaigns.

Additionally, vcita lets you add lead capture forms to your website or using the platform’s own customizable client portal and landing pages. This comes in handy for showcasing your lead magnets and building a high-quality mailing list, which is a prerequisite for email automation success.

Outline Your Goals

Before you get started with an email automation campaign, you must know why you’re doing it. Typically, business owners and marketers use email automation to nurture leads, drive repeat purchases, and improve the customer experience.

It’s crucial to have a clear understanding of your goals and define measurable, time-bound key performance indicators (KPIs). It’ll help you monitor the performance of your campaigns, and identify ways to improve them. 

Retain the Human Touch

Just because you’re using automation, it doesn’t mean your emails have to look like they were sent by a machine. You can grab your audience’s attention by personalizing various aspects of a campaign.

Start by addressing the recipient by their name in the email. Also, make sure the content of the email addresses their unique needs and pain points. For instance, if you want to reconnect with an inactive customer, you can send a short email asking about things that’ll motivate them to purchase from you again.

On the other hand, if a customer makes their first purchase, it’s wiser to send a thank you email with a feedback questionnaire. You can even include a few personalized product recommendations based on their past purchases.

The key is to personalize your emails according to a recipient’s purchase history, email activity, and other parameters. Segmenting your mailing list comes in handy for this purpose.

Another way of adding a human touch is to use a proper “from name.” Think about it – if you receive an email from “Sales Team” and another one from “Jake from Sales,” which one are you more likely to open?

You can use personalized subject lines for each segment, too. Also, make sure you use A/B testing to test different subject lines, from names, and body copies and identify the best-performing ones. Many leading email marketing tools, including Mailmodo, support these types of experiments. 

Time Your “Asks”

Let’s say you’re using email automation for B2B lead nurturing. If the first email in your campaign asks potential buyers to schedule a call with your sales team, they won’t take the desired action. Instead, they might unsubscribe from your mailing list altogether.

Instead, you can send a series of emails with smaller “asks,” such as reading a blog post, downloading a product comparison guide, and checking out a case study. Each small ask will nudge the lead forward in the sales funnel and convince them to purchase from you.

It emphasizes the importance of mapping your “asks” according to every stage of the buyer’s journey. Use strategic calls-to-action (CTAs) that encourage prospects to take action without making them feel like they’re being forced to do something.

In Conclusion

Email marketing is one of the most cost-effective ways to reach potential customers and retain existing ones. Automation helps you increase the ROI of your email marketing campaigns further.

For the best results with email automation, you should segment your mailing list and send personalized emails to each group. Also, plan your campaign according to your audience’s needs and preferences at every stage of the buyer’s journey.

Lastly, use a robust platform like vcita that helps you quickly create, schedule, and send emails to your contacts.