Email Marketing Campaign Pre-Launch Checklist

• Email, Marketing
email-marketing-campaign-pre-launch-checklist

Email Design • • 0 Comments

Some say that the key to success lies in meticulous attention to detail. Whether we deal with simple tasks or tricky ones, whether we are building something brand-new and grandiose or just creating a regular blog update. We need to have our eyes wide open to catch even the slightest faux pas. This rule works on every occasion at all times. Launching an email marketing campaign is no exception.

Planning everything down to the last detail involves a whole host of variables. And, checking, and re-checking everything are its fundamentals.

Tip: Try Postcards and create HTML emails in minutes without coding knowledge.

The checklist is one of the most helpful tools out there. Quickly and without much hassle, it points out to our mistakes when we believe that everything is perfect. It is just a lifesaver when it comes to tasks with a significant number of things to take into consideration.

Planning an email marketing campaign is one of those cases. So today, we are going to focus on the pre-launch checklists that will save your email campaign from the catastrophe.

Let’s assume you have already determined the marketing strategy. In essence, an email marketing campaign pre-launch process has three main parts to monitor. They are design, content and technical part. Let’s consider each one thoroughly.

Content

Everything begins with the content. Before immersing yourself in choosing coloring, layout, typeface and all other design stuff, you need to make up your mind and determine what to include in your next newsletter.

Content Email Marketing

Here you need to choose not only the text but also images and graphics. Also, it is vital to not overlook some other crucial details like, for example, your physical address. You may ask: “Why do I need my physical address in the digital email newsletter? It leads to my website or landing page. My email newsletter has nothing to do with it, and digital contacts are more than enough”.

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However, it is not a matter of preferences. If you want to act legally, then you need to obey rules imposed by the CAN-SPAM and GDPR, the established requirements for commercial messages. If this took you by surprise, then our thorough checklists are certainly for you. They will make sure that nothing has slipped through the cracks.

Subject

  • The name of the company is included.
  • The subject line is strong and thoroughly picked up.
  • The subject line is no longer than 70 characters.
  • The pre-header features the alluring message.
  • The pre-header line is no longer than 80-90 characters.

Text

  • The email is personalized.
  • The headlines are bold and catchy and match the subject line.
  • There are no more than five-six chunks of text.
  • The text is jargon-free and appropriate for the targeted audience.
  • There is no contextual spelling mistakes and punctuation mistakes.
  • There is no tautology and redundancy.
  • The chunks of text are short yet informative and appealing.
  • An actionable language is used when it is needed.
  • The date is relevant.
  • Smart content is added.

Images

  • There are no more than one big image and four-five small ones.
  • The images ideally support the text.
  • The images are royalty-free and can be used for commercial purposes.
  • The images are credited if necessary.
  • The images are supplied with alt texts.

Links

  • There are links to corresponding articles or products featured inside chunks of text.
  • There are buttons if necessary.
  • The CTAs are actionable and attention-grabbing.
  • There is a backlink to the landing page.
  • There is a link to the main website.
  • There is a forward email link.
  • There is a link to the web browser version.
  • There is a link to a plain text version.

Contact

  • There are anchors to subsections in the email newsletter.
  • There are links to social media accounts.
  • There are links for sharing the newsletter with friends via social media platforms.
  • There are links to digital contacts including Skype, Telegram, Viber, etc.

Legal

  • There is an Unsubscribe link.
  • There is a physical address.
  • There is a copyright line with a relevant date.
  • There are links to Privacy Policy and Disclaimer.

Test

  • The text is re-read at least once.
  • The text is spam checked.

Design

After fixing all the issues with the content, the time has come to put everything in its proper place.

Email Design Marketing

The design has great importance. It is here where all the chunks of text transform into easily digestible pieces. It is here where headlines start to catch an eye, links start to pop out, and CTAs start to look very clickable. It is here where you can apply some psychological tricks to improve email conversion rates. In brief, the design stage is a part where regular content morphs into a marketing masterpiece. And everything should be done inside a small container. There are many things to take into account; let’s consider them in our checklist.

Font/Coloring

  • The font size is no more than 16px and no less than 12px.
  • The letter-spacing is standard.
  • The typeface is readable.
  • The color of the text stands in contrast to the background.
  • The coloring fits the mission of the email newsletter and evokes the desired emotions.
  • The background is clean and does not distract the attention.
  • The graphics nicely blends in.
  • The social media icons are relevant and correspond with the overall theme.

Layout

  • The layout is no more than 600px wide.
  • The layout is carefully divided into sections both horizontal and vertical.
  • The layout is mobile friendly.
  • The use of whitespace is well-balanced.
  • There are gaps between the columns and rows.
  • There are vivid but not irritating gaps between the headlines and excerpts.

Text

  • All the dummy text and default content have been deleted.
  • There are no placeholders only the actual data.
  • All the chunks of text are in their proper places.
  • The text is easily scanned.
  • The most important content strikes an eye right away.
  • Offers are highlighted.
  • All the links are easily recognizable and stand out from the content flow.
  • The CTAs instantly draw attention.
  • All the headlines perfectly fit inside each cell.

Images

  • The images correspond with text blocks.
  • All the images are perfectly aligned.
  • All the images stay inside the layout.

Structure

  • The content is well-formatted.
  • The hero image does not take up the entire screen.
  • The leading message occupies the central part in the header.
  • There is a logotype or any other piece of brand identity.
  • The header includes brand, navigation, lead message, promo image, and CTA.
  • The footer includes copyrights, contacts, address and other business information.
  • The design of the email newsletter is aligned with its web version and the main website.

Technical Part

Last but not least, the technical part is nearly as important as the previous two stages. Its checklist is like a club bouncer that won’t let in all those who are not of legal age; or, in our case won’t let the email newsletter template without mobile-friendly layout to ruin everything.

Code Email Marketing

The technical part covers different things starting from the checking whether you remove all the unsubscribed readers from your list and ending with a reminder of sending an email newsletter to your inbox. So let’s enlighten the crucial moments.

Sender details

  • The sender details are correct.
  • The name and email address include your company’s details that are consistent all the time.
  • The reply-to address is provided.

List of subscribers

  • Those who unsubscribed have been deleted from the list.
  • The inactive were removed, and an email list was updated.
  • The targeted audience is chosen correctly.

Content

  • The personalization tokens are added.
  • The dynamic content is set correctly.
  • The tracking codes are added.
  • All the links are manually checked.
  • All the external links are anchor-specific so that readers get into the exact place on the page.
  • The promo codes are relevant.
  • The sponsor codes are relevant.

Images

  • All the images are optimized.
  • All the images are linked to the corresponding articles. And the links are alive and relevant.
  • All the credits are provided. And the links are alive and relevant.

Code and Design

  • The web version is aligned to the email newsletter.
  • The landing page is aligned to the email newsletter.
  • The layout is browser compatible.
  • All the tags are closed.
  • The CTAs are purely coded.
  • The code is valid and tested.
  • The email looks good in different email providers.
  • The email does not weigh a ton.
  • The server, i.e., your website, landing page, etc., works.

Test

  • The goods are in stock.
  • All the extra functionality (sign up, order) work correctly.
  • The email is manually checked across all the popular dimensions starting from huge monitors and ending with cell phones with 320px wide.
  • The plain text version looks fine.
  • The email newsletter with turned-off images looks fine.
  • The email was checked at least twice.
  • The test email was sent to your inbox.
  • The A/B testing was done.

Related: Try free the Postcards email builder – Create beautiful emails online.

Conclusion

The checklist of the email marketing campaign is the one that saves us from catastrophes helping to build flawless campaigns. Whatever you are up to, do not forget to stop by and glimpse into these important carefully assembled pieces of information. They always stand behind all those moments that begin with the phrase “Right, this one I forgot!”, providing us with an opportunity to fix everything in time.

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Martech is Marketing: A Live Q&A with Scott Brinker

• Marketing, MarTech
martech-is-marketing:-a-live-q&a-with-scott-brinker
Live Webinar with Scott Brinker!Martech is Marketing: A Live Q&A with Scott Brinker.”

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Marketing Land. Staff authors are listed here.


About The Author

Choosing a marketing automation platform

• Choosing, Marketing
choosing-a-marketing-automation-platform

The proliferation of digital channels and devices can make it difficult for B2B marketers to accurately target prospects with the right messages, on the right devices, at the right times. Faced with these challenging market dynamics and increasing ROI pressure, B2B marketers at companies of all sizes can gain benefits from a marketing automation platform.

MarTech Today’s “B2B Marketing Automation Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide” examines the market for B2B marketing automation software platforms and the considerations involved in implementing this software in your business. This 48-page report is your source for the latest trends, opportunities and challenges facing the market for B2B marketing automation software tools as seen by industry leaders, vendors and their customers.

Also included in the report are profiles of the 14 leading marketing automation vendors, pricing information, capabilities comparisons and recommended steps for evaluating and purchasing.

If you are a marketer looking to adopt a marketing automation software platform, this report will help you through the decision-making process. Visit Digital Marketing Depot to download your copy.


About The Author

Digital Marketing Depot is a resource center for digital marketing strategies and tactics. We feature hosted white papers and E-Books, original research, and webcasts on digital marketing topics — from advertising to analytics, SEO and PPC campaign management tools to social media management software, e-commerce to e-mail marketing, and much more about internet marketing. Digital Marketing Depot is a division of Third Door Media, publisher of Search Engine Land and Marketing Land, and producer of the conference series Search Marketing Expo and MarTech. Visit us at http://digitalmarketingdepot.com.




Martech is marketing

• Marketing, MarTech
martech-is-marketing

For today’s marketer, technology touches everything we do, from the CRMs that house our client data to the design software that powers our most daring creative. In fact, the martech-enabled ways in which we create more personalized and meaningful connections with our customers have moved from being experimental to foundational as the tool landscape grows and the tactics become established. If you think about it, the separation between the tech and the tactics has shrunk to the point where there might be no separation at all. You might even say martech is marketing.

That’s exactly what we’re saying, and we’ve even made “Martech is Marketing” the tagline for our MarTech conference series.

Webinar: Martech is Marketing: A Live Q&A with Scott Brinker

Over the past decade, marketers have incorporated marketing technology so much that it is our second nature. While every organization is different, martech is instrumental in how marketing operates. From dynamic digital executions to managing traditional campaigns, martech is at the center of everything in marketing. 

We develop strategy around our tools

 Marketers use technology that is just as critical as the branding assets and content. Many teams invest in technologies to support their own unique use cases and requirements. Once they start using it, marketers tend to discover additional use cases, particularly as new features are rolled out by vendors.

Marketing teams recruit specialists with platform-specific experience to ensure compatibility with preferred martech. It’s not uncommon to see jobs that require that applicants have at least a few years of experience working in a particular software environment. Many require certifications.

According to MarTech Today’s 2019 Marketing Technology and Operations Salary Survey, 34% of respondents indicated that, of the most vital marketing capabilities supporting the delivery of marketing strategies over the next 18 months, marketing technology ranked second only to marketing and customer analytics. The martech we use may be the most critical component to how we develop strategies for cross-channel marketing campaigns; we use martech to determine strategy, to share and compile content, to execute the content and finally, analyze the results to inform future campaigns.

Other departments are also using software that integrates with martech; sales teams, for example, can use CRM software and call analytics among other tools that integrate with marketing technology to provide data-driven insights. It’s not just the marketing team that needs to be aligned with the technology — other teams’ strategies are built around it too.

Martech supports online and offline execution 

When many people hear martech, they might think of strictly digital execution — social, email, paid search — and not relate it to their brands’ offline marketing execution. Marketing automation software is just one example of martech that incorporates offline touchpoints — like a direct mail campaign — into a bigger strategic campaign.  Multitouchpoint attribution solutions are available for marketers looking to attribute brick and mortar foot traffic and sales to digital ads and campaigns. While consumers adopt the digital-first mindset, so does all of our marketing.

New solutions for tracking metrics like call analytics bring the traditionally offline touchpoints into the online view by integrating call data with customer data to give sales and marketing better insight into their customers.

Approval processes for marketing assets — online and offline — often take place using project management systems made for marketers. Brands that work with agencies use martech to share marketing assets, manage campaigns and collaborate on strategy; martech is ingrained in the end-to-end marketing process. 

The increasing opportunities to execute cohesive offline and online campaigns, better visibility into our efforts and the ability to more easily analyze data from both channels actually releases us from being limited to thinking of our campaigns as digital vs. traditional and realize our efforts are all part of marketing.

Marketing silos are unnecessary

When it comes down to it, those of us using martech (digital or marketing ops) and marketing are all the same team — why treat the relationship any differently? According to MarTech Today’s 2019 Marketing Technology and Operations Salary, 67.4% of marketing technology management roles report into the marketing department. 

CMOs are not only buying more tech than CIOs, but they are also spending more on martech than labor. According to Gartner’s 2018-19 CMO Spend Survey, last year alone, nearly one-third (29%) of CMO’s budgets were allocated to martech, an increase of 7% from 2018. Labor comes in second at 24% — a 5% decrease from the previous year.

and size. On one end of the scale, we have organizations that rely on a few tools and consultants for their marketing, and on the other are digital-first organizations fully invested in martech.

Agile startups are often quick to adopt martech, as many take a digital-first approach. Some larger organizations may be slower to adopt internally and depend on external consultants for portion of their martech implementation and execution. However, these brands still rely on martech for the majority of their customer-facing communications.

Martech is the tools — and the skills

In a blog post describing his take on organizational martech maturity, MarTech conference chair and HubSpot vice president of platform Scott Brinker noted that while strategy is important, marketers need martech for execution. “Strategy alone isn’t enough. You’ve got to be able to execute on it,” he said. “And martech has become integral to marketing execution. That’s what ‘martech is marketing’ really gets at. And martech isn’t just the tools. It’s also the skills to wield them effectively.”

Whether you’re a specialist who is part of an enterprise marketing team, or proudly operating as a department of one, martech is marketing — we cannot do our jobs without it, and it’s not going anywhere.

Want to learn more? I’ll be hosting a discussion with Scott Brinker on the topic on August 15 with our webinar: Martech is Marketing: A Live Q&A with Scott Brinker. We’d love to see you there.


About The Author

Marketing salary survey 2019: Compensation trends in the U.S.

• Marketing, salary
marketing-salary-survey-2019:-compensation-trends-in-the-us.

In our 2019 Marketing Technology and Operations Salary Survey, we broke down salary insights across the marketing landscape with the aim of building a benchmark reference for industry professionals.

Previously, we looked at marketing compensation through a global lens, examining how salaries stack up around the world. This time around, we explored marketing wages in the U.S. to highlight majority trends, identify key disparities, and direct attention to the roles that are shifting with the digital industry.

The majority of survey participants identified with one of the following types of marketing-related roles:

  • Digital Marketing / E-Commerce Marketing
  • Marketing Operations
  • Marketing Operations Technology (combined)
  • Marketing Technology / Marketing IT / Marketing Technologist
  • Service Provider / Consultant

Of the sample of 673 survey respondents across the U.S., 26% reported earning a base salary between $50,000 – $74,000, excluding bonuses and additional compensation. Nearly a quarter of respondents (24%) reported a salary range of $75,000 – $99,000. Just 6% of respondents reported making more than $200,000 annually.