Depending on your source, Ray Tomlinson’s first email, sent in 1971 or 1978, signalled the start of the modern communication era. The message consisted of a string of numbers and letters that appeared more like a password than a message, but its importance was enormous.

Years later, Gary Thuerk, a marketing manager at Digital Equipment Corp, sent the first commercial email to a list of email addresses. Even though the list only had a few hundred names on it, Thuerk was able to claim the title of “Father of Spam.”

Today, we’re swamped with email marketing campaigns, and while some of them feel spammy, there’s no doubt about the power of a well-crafted message.

Email marketing helps you to interact with your audience to promote your company and increase revenue. Emails can be used to advertise products, provide news, prevent cart abandonment, and tell stories, among other things.

But what if you don’t know how to start your first email campaign? 

Don’t worry because this article will guide you through every part of the process step by step.

So let’s begin…

Create an Email Campaign. 

Every email sequence starts with a single email, and to ensure that we are on the right track, we have to create a separate campaign for this situation.

Starting from the basics, we need to:

• choose a structure for your email
• add copy into the content block
• insert visuals 

After having all of the above ready to go, we need to insert our social buttons to boost our social media account’s engagement and, of course, a clear unsubscribe button.

Remember to test your email and check it’s a responsive design that plays a massive role in today’s world.

If you have any problems creating your email campaign, many email marketing services provide professional email templates just for you. Keep that in mind, and your life can become a lot easier.

Choose the Right Subject Lines

Subject lines are the number one element your recipient will see and decide whether to proceed with your offer or not.  

When creating a subject line, keep these tips in mind:

• use personalization to make a great first impression 
• highlight the value of your entire email 
• improve your open rates, click-throughs, and conversion rates

Some of the elements you can add to your subject lines to get ahead of the competition are:

• personalization
• emojis
• FOMO (fear of missing out)

A high-converting subject line will have some of the elements above. By the way, emojis will increase your subject line performance by 0.09% while personalization by 1.57%.

Keep these numbers in mind when you craft your next emails.

Pay attention to your Relevant Pre-header Text.

Your pre-header text is another crucial element to converting your subscribers. This text is a line of copy next to your subject line, which will give additional information and reasons to your subscribers to interact with your emails.

Many brands choose to highlight that they have free shipping on all orders, which is, by the way, a significant incentive for shopping. Others will say that they have a gift or a special offer.

Having the right pre-header text can significantly impact your sales and the percentage of your open rates.

Write your Email Copy

Each time you create a new campaign, you have to pay attention to your copy and ensure that it matches your brand’s voice.

Avoid becoming over promotional, especially in the first emails of your sequence, because these emails are all about customer experience and customer relation.

But what about these email newsletter campaigns that focus on sales?

To have the best outcome possible, try to implement these valuable tips: 

• Have a personalized copy
• Be short and have creative touches
• Have a warm wish at the end
• Write like you speak
• Make sure your grammar is perfect, and you convey the message smoothly.

Leverage Personalization

As we mentioned above, personalization is crucial to building a better relationship with your subscribers. People love a targeted message.

Personalization can be many things. Having the first name on the subject line, or even having their location and sharing facts about the weather that day.

The more personal an email, the more conversions and the better results it will drive. To have such a successful campaign, you need to have data about names, gender, location, and so on.

Leverage this information and create dynamic content blocks, which is an advanced approach but converts much better than generic emails.

Ensure to implement this strategy correctly, and you’ll see your subscribers engaging with your emails like never before!

Design your brand’s Visuals

For every special occasion, you need to create newsletters with unique visuals.

The best part is that you don’t need to be a professional designer to create content for your emails. There are several online photo and video editors to make your life easier. 

Subscribers expect to see beautiful, high-quality photos, so taking the time to craft your content will significantly impact conversions.

Many email providers support gifs, which is another excellent way to entice your customers and make them click.

End with an Email CTA

Beautiful visuals and a well-crafted copy is nothing without a way to convert your list. Having the right CTA at the right place will make a difference and skyrocket your click-through rate.

To improve your Christmas CTAs, have in mind these three things: 

• position
• color
• copy

Last but not least, use CTAs that combine action and time. Some examples would be:

• “Shop Now”
• “Get your Gift Today”

Email Examples for Inspiration from REAL Brands

Wildist Example

Subject Line: Alex, the last sale of the year ends tonight…

I received this email some days ago. This example consists of a strong subject line with personalization and a simple email design. After the offer and the time urgency, it has a strong CTA to make me convert.

Under Armour Example

Subject line: Forget Someone? It’s e-Gift Card Time!

The second example by Under Armour is the quick solution we mentioned above for last-minute buyers. An actionable and straightforward design, a clear CTA, and a mini-guide make it the perfect email at the right time.

The takeaway

Crafting the perfect email can be difficult and requires a lot of trial and error. The good news is that with the tactics we covered, the email ideas, and some examples from real brands, you have everything you need to start building your next email marketing campaign.

Let me know which of the tips will you implement first in the comments section?

Until the next one, keep sending!