5.2 Understand the Brand's E-mail Marketing Needs

So. What are we doing here? We're trying to get you clients- ready so you can start making a name for yourself as an e-mail marketer. We went over a few questions you can ask to better understand the business you’re working with. 

 And once you’ve done that, the next thing you need to do is think about the business’ e-mail marketing needs.

 The first question you want to ask is:

 What is the expectation?

This question is quite straightforward. What does the brand expect of e-mail marketing? Does it want to just set-up some basic e-mails to respond to incoming leads or inquiries? Does it want to nurture leads into customers? Or does it want to drive sales through e-mail marketing?

And just a heads up, it's possible they will lean on you to help them get clarity on the answers to these questions.

The next question you want to ask is:

Does the business model allow for e-mail nurture and sales?‍

Simply put, can the business' products or services be sold on e-mail. You would find it hard to sell a swimming pool on e-mail. I mean you could try but the chances are it may not work. On the other hand, some impulse purchases are hard to sell over e-mail too. For example, a person looking to buy a phone cover doesn't need convincing on e-mail to make the purchase.

However, if the product is something that does need some convincing, and can be bought online, then e-mail marketing is a pretty good bet. Having said that - never forget the first and only rule of marketing - there are no rules. The point is - figure out what works best for the business you’re working on. 

Now the next question is:

Should you do a drip, a drip-sales or a hybrid personalised e-mail plan?‍

Now, if you do come to the conclusion that this business can be sold on e-mail, you only have to decide on the type of e-mail campaign. Sometimes, all the business needs from e-mail marketing is to keep the brand alive in the mind of the user. This happens in cases where sales is done mostly in-person and not online. In cases like these a drip e-mail is more than sufficient because it helps increase brand-recall.  

However, if the business is such where e-mail can drive sales - either online through e-commerce or by getting sales calls, then sales should definitely be a goal. For example, in the Lancify Abroad case, the e-mail tried to get users to buy the test prep which could happen online without any human interaction, and so we needed sales e-mails. If the business has a lot of different kinds of users that it would like to cater to individually, then the personalised e-mail might be the best way to go.

The last question is:

How is the business going to build resources?

A big factor that drives success in e-mail marketing is the availability of resources. As explained in the drip e-mail series, a large part of an e-mail nurture is adding value. This value needs to be added in the form of ebooks, videos, podcasts, whitepapers, templates, tools etc.

It is important to understand if the business has the budget to create the resources needed for you to build an effective e-mail marketing campaign. To build a solid e-mail plan you will need to work with the client to understand what resources they can create and build your plan around that. 

Alright so let's do a quick recap of what we’ve learned here in this chapter. We’re talking about how you can set yourself up for success when you’re managing a client for e-mail marketing. 

In understanding the business you have:

1. What’s the brand’s history vision mission?
2. What is the target audience?
3. What is the brand identity?
4. How does sales happen?
   

In the e-mail marketing side we have:

1. What is the expectation?
2.  Does the business model allow for e-mail nurture and sales?
3. What kind of e-mail marketing campaign do they require?
4. How is the business going to build resources that can be used in these campaigns?
   

With these questions, you’ll be able to start strong and nail any project that comes your way.