Did you know that 61% of consumers prefer to be contacted by brands over email than other forms of communication? If aren’t using email as a method of customer outreach, you are truly missing out on one of the more effective ways to connect with your target market.

While social media has without a doubt proven to be a successful form of advertising for many businesses, your brand can get lost in the crowd – especially if you’re a startup. Don’t get me wrong, social media should undoubtedly be part of your marketing strategy, but when it comes to customer communication, email is essential for a number of reasons.

Just imagine if Twitter were to disappear tomorrow. Would you still be able to reach your customers? The answer is likely no if you don’t have an email list or a basic understanding of email marketing. That said, many small business owners don’t know where to begin when it comes to email marketing. That’s why we’ve created this easy step-by-step guide to building an email marketing campaign for free.

Last week on the blog, we talked about ways to generate leads organically and building your customer list. Once you have a clean, qualified list, you can start running email campaigns.

You’ll first want to define the type of email campaign you plan to run. Is it a promotion? A welcome email? A newsletter? Once you’ve sorted that piece out, there are four essential components you’ll need for any email campaign: an email engine, a design template, some enticing copy, and a clean list.

About the Email Engine

I currently use Mailchimp for email marketing, but there are many other free tools out there like Constant Contact, and others that offer free trials like Vertical Response.

As with anything that’s free, there are always a few drawbacks. With the free Mailchimp plan, there are limitations on the number of contacts you can load and emails you can send. With the free plan, you can add 2,000 contacts to the system and send 12,000 emails per month. That said, this may not be too limiting for a sole proprietor who is just starting out. Mailchimp offers other paid options if you’ll need it for larger campaigns.

The tool provides a variety of design templates that are incredibly easy to use, and includes tools you will need for any campaign including analytics, unsubscribe options, social media buttons, and the like.

A Design Template

If you are using another tool for email marketing -- even if you’re sending out a campaign through a Microsoft mail merge -- you still need a design template. Canva is another free tool that I like to use because the templates are incredibly easy to use and also eye-catching. With little to no marketing budget, you can create a template in a tool like Canva, and send it out of the email engine of choice without spending a dime.

Enticing Copy and a Clean List

Last week we talked about ways to build your first list, and while more often than not your first list is a “friends and family” group of connections, you still don’t want to spam them. You need to ask them to opt-in to receive communications from you. In order to get someone to subscribe to your campaign, you need to provide them something of value. Offer solutions that address pain points and use language that your clients and customers can relate to.

Here’s a great example of an opt-in campaign from FabFitFun.

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What’s so great about this email? First off, the design is easy on the eyes, with vibrant colors and an influencer’s face in the email design. The copy provides specific, transparent details on what you will get. Essentially, the opt-in campaign promises benefits that will come from receiving their communications.

Before you send out your first email, make sure your list is clean and that you aren’t emailing people who have not given you the ok to do so. Decide on the day and time you’ll want to send out your first campaign. Once you have your design and list, all you have to do is load everything in the engine and hit send. I highly suggest promoting your opt-in campaign on social media for free before paying for any advertising.

Check back again next week as we cover the different social media channels you’ll need to promote your creative business.