There is good money to be made as an email campaign manager.
I am sure you are wondering why.
Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to generate business and customer interest.
If you’re an expert at email marketing, you can be a valuable asset to a business. For a copywriter, that means big bucks for your skills.
Email’s Superior Performance
If you’re skeptical, let us take a look at some facts.
Shoppers spend 138% more when approached by email. Email is also 40 times more effective at client acquisition than Twitter and Facebook combined. (Optinmonster)
Email is easy to deliver; all you have to do is click your mouse button, and you can send out thousands of emails to qualified leads. When using social media ads and updates, your chances are much slimmer.
Compare that to placing an ad on Facebook. If you use it, you will have to go through a rather rigorous process of setting up the ads and staying within FB’s terms.
Not only that, but with Facebook, you will only get a puny 0.07% click-through rate compared to the 15% to 25% open rate with email. (Statista)
Email is perfect for customer retention, too. It is easy to stay in touch with customers and subscribers using this channel. It is five times harder to market to a new customer than an existing one.
Why?
It’s a trust factor – people like to do business with someone they already know.
For one thing, you can easily use email to keep customers updated on your product. You can also create a culture of fans by staying in touch with them and talking about subjects related to your business. This will make them feel like they are part of your business rather than a mere customer.
Email Campaign Manager – A Great Opportunity for Copywriters
Now that you have seen the opportunity, I will give you step-by-step instructions on how to become an email campaign manager.
If you have no experience in writing email messages, I suggest you read this post on email marketing first: Email Marketing for Beginners.
(Note: The title on the post says it is for consultants, but it is for anyone interested in email copywriting.)
What an Email Campaign Manager Does
Simply put, email campaign managers run the email marketing strategy for a company.
If you are a freelance email copywriter, you have probably already worked with an email campaign manager.
Here are some of the responsibilities these managers have:
- Building opt-in forms
- Segmenting email lists
- Creating email templates
- Developing lead generation strategies
- Networking with staff
- Assembling performance data
- Giving report presentations
- Assessing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
- Assist in hiring staff and contracting freelancers
- Suggest improvements for the email campaigns
Other tasks usually come up, including writing email messages and creating templates.
4 Steps to Becoming an Email Campaign Manager
1. Learn How to Use Email
To become an email campaign manager, you should learn how to use email first.
(I’m dealing with readers with many different skill levels here, so I’ll start at the most basic one. However, if you don’t know how to use all of the functions of an email account, you need to view the video link provided below.)
If you don’t know a thing about this tool, you will need to get an account and start using it.
Email has been around since around 1965, when someone at MIT created the first program called, Mailbox.
At that time, the Internet was a mere group of computers linked together at universities, large corporations, and government entities like NASA.
If you don’t know a thing about using email, here is a video to help you get started.
2. Study the Fundamentals of Email Marketing
In your email account, you should have a bunch of messages trying to sell you something in your inbox.
(If you really want to see a bunch of promotional messages, check your spam folder.)
That’s because email marketers are sending you their promotional messages. This is how companies make money by generating sales through email.
Check out your email inbox and look at some of the messages.
Usually, email promotions look like this:
Usually, if a company is selling a product, you may get a simpler-looking promo that looks like this:
Email marketing is a way for businesses to send you messages about their goods and services.
Look at the stats I presented at the beginning of this post. you will see that email is the best marketing option for most businesses.
Learn to Write Simple Email Messages
An email campaign manager should know how to write email messages. The hardest part about writing email messages is making them simple. You should write on a 6th-grade level. (No, I’m not kidding.)
Why?
Several reasons. For one thing, most people read on that level. If you don’t believe me, look at these stats: Readability Study.
Also, take a look at this “intelligent” piece of professional writing:
IT professionals supporting today’s small and midsize businesses continue to face many tough challenges, as they are tasked with providing the right infrastructure capabilities to support their businesses, both manageably and affordably. As business owners and office workers increase their use of color devices—to improve their communications and marketing impact—IT professionals are tasked with identifying, implementing and managing the right mix of color imaging and printing devices to meet those business needs…
Or you could just say…
IT professionals must know how to work with color imaging and printers in order to service the companies they work for.
See how simple I rewrote it?
That is what you want to learn how to do.
Another reason you want to simplify your writing is that most people skim when they read online messages. People are bombarded with messages on the Internet, so they scan the text on the page.
Take a look at this email promotional I got in my inbox recently:
You could simplify this message further.
But you get the idea; writing marketing email messages is not rocket science.
And here is an excellent tip for you if you’re struggling with this. Here are two tools you can use — The Hemmingway App and Grammarly. They are free and can help you write uncomplicated messages.
Let me ask you a question. Do you think you can write a message like this?
I’m sure you can.
Write Enticing Titles
You must write titles that will suck your subscribers into your email, but there are two problems.
First, keep your readers on the topic. Write about tropical fish if that is your subject, because you don’t want to lead them in a different direction with your message.
Second, try not to be spammy and use cheap tactics to get people to buy your products and services.
Here is an email title I get every day from the same business:
Time is running out, Mark, on this incredible investment opportunity!
If a subscriber feels like a fool for opening your email, you may get blocked as a spammer. That means your messages will go straight into the spam file.
Write Person – to – Person
Email works on a personal level. After your subscribers get to know you, they will crave real interaction. If you can, use their name as much as possible. Write your messages like you’re sitting across a table from them, sipping coffee.
Learn to Write Concisely
You do not want to write long messages. Many people read email on a mobile device, so you want to keep messages short. One way to give your readers longer messages is to link to a video or blog post.
Include Calls to Action
Calls to Action (CTAs) spur your readers on to take action. Use CTAs near the beginning of your email which is a good copywriting practice. Make sure you tell your readers exactly what action to take. If you want them to click on a link to a sales page, tell them how to do it. (Example: Click this link right now: Make Money Now)
Follow Proper Email Etiquette
If you are going to be an email campaign manager, you must mind your email manners. When people sign up for your email messages, it does not mean they want you to send them a bunch of junk.
If you are smart, you will provide them with top-notch content and try to add value to their lives.
And another thing you should keep in mind – do not sell or hand out any of the email addresses. The subscribers who signed up to be on your list may see you as an expert and friend.
When that happens it’s a good thing.
You do not want to destroy that respect by jeopardizing their email addresses.
3. Learn How Email Marketing Works
There are many tasks involved with email marketing if you are going to be an email campaign manager. I will give you a quick overview of each one, because each task could become a separate post.
List Building
A good email campaign manager should know how to generate email lists for any company or business. Email lists are vital to most companies’ marketing campaigns because email is so effective.
For every dollar a company spends on email marketing, it can expect an average return of $42.
Let that sink in for a moment because it is critical.
The bigger and better an email list is the more potential for large profits. (Of course, this will depend on how good the email marketing campaign is.)
You will also need to know how to use different tools associated with email marketing. Tools like opt-in boxes, segmentation options, and email templates are vital to running a campaign.
Become Familiar with Email Service Companies
Every email marketer should know how to work with an email service. I have used Mail Chimp, and in the past, I have also worked with Constant Contact and Aweber. These companies enable you to send thousands of email messages with one click of a mouse button.
Of course, there are other email marketing services they provide like:
- Email address compilation
- Segmentation
- Email automation
- Opt-In box creation
- Landing page builder
- Web-push notifications
Most email marketing companies have these services, but each company may run them differently. If you decide to use a different one, make sure you have the time to learn how it works.
Master Email Automation
You need to know how email automation works. Let me give you examples of what it is.
Someone signs up for your free eBook. Do you send them an email newsletter or a welcome email thanking them for signing up?
Of course, you will want to send them a thank you message. Email services, like Mail Chimp or Constant Contact, have ways for you to send an email thanking your new subscribers for joining.
Here is another situation: Someone buys a product from your online store. You can have an automatic message sent thanking them for buying.
Depending on the company you are using for online sales automation, there is a way you can have an email sent to new customers. People like to get messages telling them their transaction is complete.
If someone starts to buy and does not follow through, you can have an automatic email sent asking them if there was a problem.
Learning email automation is vital for email campaign managers to understand and use.
4. Learn Copywriting
Copywriting is a skill every marketer should have. I’m not saying you have to be an expert at it, but you should know the fundamentals.
Why?
Because marketing is selling, and learning how to sell using words is very important, especially if you are selling online.
If you are too busy to do the writing yourself, you should hire a copywriter. But, without any knowledge of copywriting, contracting one will be hard. Copywriting is not hard to learn and put into practice because there are so many resources for learning the craft you won’t know where to start.
You Must Learn to Love This
One of my pet peeves is people who tell me they want a business but don’t like selling.
Really?
That’s like telling me you want to learn how to fish but hate going near the water. If you hate selling, don’t waste your time starting a business because it’s the most fundamental part.
Copywriting is selling using words, and it is essential for anyone selling a product or service online. And if you don’t know a thing about writing copy, you are at a disadvantage.
Conclusion
Becoming an email campaign manager requires knowledge and experience, but anyone can learn it within a reasonable amount of time.
The best way to learn is by reading and doing.
The way I learned email marketing is by using MailChimp.
You can get a free account, and MailChimp will let you practice for free, and with a free account, you can send up to 10,000 free emails a month to 2,000 subscribers (I am not an affiliate but a dedicated user).
If you want to see how I’m using MailChimp, sign up for my freebies, and you’ll start receiving messages from me in a few days.
By the way, if you liked this post, please post a comment – it will really make my day.