5 Tips to Launch a Successful Email Marketing Campaign
If your nonprofit has yet to take full advantage of email marketing to spread the news about your organization’s accomplishments, mission, upcoming events, and more—you’re getting left behind the eight ball. Consider this. According to Radicati’s 2018 Email Statistics report, email will be used by over 3 billion people by 2022. That’s almost half of the world’s population!
Email is king, and you should use it to your organization’s advantage. After all, it is relatively inexpensive to use and plays a major role in driving donor and volunteer acquisition and retention. For every $1 you spend on your nonprofit’s email marketing, you can expect an average return of $38.
Why You Need It
A carefully executed email marketing campaign can do wonders for your nonprofit’s mission. It can strengthen existing community relationships, attract new ones, and convert one-time donors or members into repeat visitors, long-term donors, or dedicated volunteers.
With email marketing, you have much more to gain than lose—if you know what you’re doing. You’ve probably heard the age-old saying, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” For long-term results, email marketing requires consistency. It’s not something you do once in a blue moon, and then just hope for the best. It requires careful planning and some knowledge.
Getting Started
To get your first email marketing campaign off the ground, follow these five tips below:
1. Grow your email list
In order to launch an email marketing campaign, you’ll need to acquire a relevant list of email addresses first. Here are a few easy ways to do it from scratch:
- Use a list-building plugin on your website
If you have a website (and you SHOULD), there are a variety of plugins that you can download to create your email list. One of our favorites to use is Sumo. There is a free and paid version. When you install this particular plugin, a website popup will prompt visitors to subscribe to your e-newsletter via email. (SEE EXAMPLE HERE). If you’re not a fan of popups, don’t fret. You have the option to embed an email subscription box throughout your website’s content. (SEE AN EXAMPLE HERE). - Use old-fashioned sign-in sheets
If you have guests, members, or donors who are either visiting your nonprofit’s office or taking part in an event, have them fill out a sign-in sheet. Along with their name, make sure you have a place on the form for them to include their email address. - Promote a free giveaway
Everyone likes free stuff. Perhaps your giveaway is a gift card to a restaurant or some cool swag you had donated. In either case, promote the giveaway on your website and social media channels. Require entrants to sign up for the contest by submitting their email details.
2. Manage your campaign
Several affordable email marketing platforms are available to make managing your campaigns a breeze. Not only do they manage your email list, but many also offer drag-and-drop options to create your nonprofit’s e-newsletter easily. Most importantly, they can make sure your emails get to the right people at the right time. Some well-known, web-based email-marketing services include:
3. Create an eye-popping subject line
Unfortunately, mail spam is rampant. As a result, a lot of people ignore many of the emails they receive. So, standing out from the pack has never been more important. If you want to increase your open rates and click-through rates, entice readers with interesting subject lines. Change the subject line for every email — even if it’s your monthly newsletter. You can use several headline-generating tools, and here are some other guidelines for creating an effective headline.
4. Determine the content of your email’s body
Never send an email blast to your list just to send one. When generating the body of your email blast, ask yourself: “Why should readers care?” Get creative. Storytelling should be a part of any good email marketing campaign. The stories should engage readers and also tug at their heartstrings. Also, don’t forget to include images. People are visual creatures. Some potential topics might include:
- Featuring of a family individual who has benefited from your nonprofit
- Details about an upcoming event
- How donations allow your nonprofit to help the community
- Celebration of an important day
- Highlighting a volunteer or donor
5. Know your audience
Segment your audience to tailor your emails to individual groups or audience personas. The more finely-tuned your email segments, the more effective your communication will be — which means higher click-through rates and more customer conversions. Segmenting also allows for A/B testing, which lets you send two versions of an email with slight differences and see which one does better.
Blog post by Alizah T. Epstein
Alizah Epstein is a seasoned, award-winning, creative professional, speaker, and mentor to nonprofits and women entrepreneurs. She founded the Epstein Creative Group—a strategic branding and communications firm — with the purpose of using design for the greater good. Guided by these values, Alizah supports mission-driven organizations that aim to improve our community, focusing on helping women and children. Clients have come to depend on Alizah as a strategic, creative resource, a champion of new ideas, and a tireless advocate in helping them achieve their goals. Her artistic skills and philanthropic spirit are matched by her keen ability to create systems and processes that deliver a smooth experience to her clients. To learn more, visit epsteincreative.com. Design with purpose.