Email marketing strategy guide – 7 steps to success

A 7-steps to success guide teaching you how to build an effective email marketing strategy

How will this email marketing strategy guide help me and my business?

Email marketing remains one of the most powerful communications channels. It can be used for gaining new customers and for building out relationships and selling more to existing customers. In this guide we’ll look at both. The focus is on using email as a customer communications tool for known current and prospective customers. This is where email marketing gives the biggest commercial contribution and can integrate well with all your marketing efforts.

Given the importance of email marketing as one of the top channels for driving sales1 it’s worth treating seriously with a strategic approach needed to take advantage of the many features of email marketing available today.

We believe that businesses that succeed with email treat it seriously by developing an email communications strategy with the resources to match, rather than simply as a low-level tactic focused on an e-newsletter. This guide is structured to help you review your overall strategy to create an email or customer communications plan, but you can dip into individual sections like those on targeting or creative as required.

Who is this guide for?

This guide is aimed at marketers who are responsible for increasing the contribution of email marketing who want to create or update their email strategy as part of digital transformation.

We have written this guide for marketers with some experience in email marketing who want to take their email marketing to the next level of sophistication.

Typical roles of marketers who find this guide useful include:

• Email marketing experts and specialists
• Digital marketing managers
• Consultants and agency account managers creating plans for their clients

How is the guide structured?

The guide is structured around the questions you need to review create a strategic email marketing plan. The 7 steps recommended to review and improve your email marketing in this guide are as follows:

• Step 1: Prioritize your email marketing efforts with the CRITICAL factors
• Step 2: Set your goals and build a quality list for email marketing
• Step 3: Defining your email marketing proposition
• Step 4: Segmentation and targeting techniques
• Step 5: Defining an integrated communications strategy
• Step 6: Creating effective email templates and creative
• Step 7: Test, learn and refine to increase email effectiveness

Resource Details

• Authors: Jordie van Rijn and Dr. Dave Chaffey
• Format: Downloadable PDF guide, 127 pages

About the authors

Jordie van Rijn

Jordie is an independent email and eCRM marketing consultant. Entrepreneur Magazine titled him “One of 50 Online Marketing Influencers to Watch”. Brands like Unilever and KLM turn to him for advice. He is the founder of an international platform for Email and Marketing Automation Software selection.  Next to helping companies improve their marketing results, he is often asked as a trainer and keynote speaker. His practical and enthusiastic approach is contagious and will have you sending better emails the next day.

Dr. Dave Chaffey

Dave is co-founder of Smart Insights and creator of the Smart Insights RACE Planning Framework. He has consulted and trained for many businesses including large international B2B and B2C brands including 3M, BP, Barclaycard, Dell, Confused.com, HSBC, Mercedes-Benz, Microsoft, M&G Investment, Rentokil Initial, O2, Royal Canin (Mars Group) plus many smaller businesses.  For his full profile, or to connect on LinkedIn or other social networks, see the About Dave Chaffey profile page on Smart Insights. Dave is author of 5 bestselling books on digital marketing including Digital Marketing Excellence and Digital Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and Practice. He has been recognized by the Chartered Institute of Marketing as one of 50 marketing ‘gurus’ worldwide who have helped shape the future of marketing.