How to start an email correctly? Planning is the first thing to think about. Everyone knows that.
But what not many people think about is a detail that can completely damage the planning, which is why it must come before it.
This is compliance with the General Data Protection Act.
Before thinking about the layout, copy and communication of the campaign as a whole, compliance with the law must be a priority in all email marketing work.
With the certainty that the messages you’re going to send won’t violate the law, you can now think about how to start an email marketing campaign safely.
Note that we are talking about something to be put in place before thinking about anything concerning a campaign…
So, let’s learn how to start an email marketing campaign the right way!
Table of contents
How to start an email marketing | step 1
To understand where to start with email marketing in the right way, let’s talk about the importance of communication in compliance with the LGPD.
Just to illustrate: anyone who commits an infraction against the General Data Protection Law is subject to a fine of up to 2% of their turnover, limited to R$50 million per infraction.
In the same way, the offender may suffer sanctions that cause reputational damage, leading to the loss of contracts and similar situations.
It is also important for professionals to know that the LGPD applies to individuals and/or companies. In other words, the person who sends mass emails is also subject to penalties. So stay tuned!
One of the most important elements of GDPR compliance
Anyone who works with email marketing knows how much spam can damage investments.
The GDPR requires the data subject to consent to receiving emails, meaning that spam (which is precisely the message that arrives in the inbox without the recipient’s consent) violates the law.
To avoid this, email verification is essential, as it is a list sanitizing service that removes all invalid addresses. These mainly include spam.
Now that we’ve seen the two essential elements to think about before planning email marketing (GDPR compliance and email verification), we can think about how to start an email.
Step 2
Now it’s time to plan! Here’s what you need to define at this stage:
- Who is your persona? Define their pains, as well as the stage of the funnel in which your audience is inserted.
- Time to think about communication: do the campaign arguments offer the solution your persona is looking for? This is copy time. What type of email will be produced and what will be said? Is the content relational? Promotional? Other?
- After structuring the text communication, it’s time to produce the layout with the aim of directing the consumer’s eyes to conversion. More than aesthetics, you need to think about the functionality of the piece, in order to create identification between the reader and what is being said.
Step 3
There’s no way how to start an email marketing campaign without automation. It’s through automation that you’ll get to know your persona’s behavior better; develop nurturing strategies within the funnel; strengthen relationships with leads to create loyalty, among countless other actions.
Automation is part of planning.
But where do you start automating the process of sending bulk emails?
How to start an email | step 4
Do a general review: do all the elements comply with good mailing practices?
For example, are the number of characters in the subject line and preheader optimal? Are the images in the entire email respecting the 500kb limit? Is the layout following the standard of 60% text to 40% images?
Just to remind you, email marketing that doesn’t follow good practices is subject to being blocked by ISPs. That’s why the checklist before sending is so important.
A/B testing is also important at this stage. In this way, the chances of assertiveness increase considerably.
See what can be tested:
Open rate:
- Subject lines and preheaders
- Day and time of sending
Number of conversions:
- Layout colors and images
- CTA copy
- Format and colors of the CTA buttons
- Content layout
How to start an email: conclusion
Although each communication has its own individuality, all email campaigns must contain basic elements that cannot be missing from the start, as we’ve seen in the course of this article.
That’s why thinking only about a creative email doesn’t guarantee results, as many people think.
GDPR compliance and Email Verification must be at the forefront of mass emailing. Only after these first steps can planning, automation and the checklist be applied safely.
FAQ
Compliance with the GDPR rules is essential, as infringements can cause major damage to email senders. In addition, there is Email Verification, which must be carried out in order to sanitize lists and thus guarantee that messages arrive in the recipients’ inbox.
In addition to irreversible damage to their reputation, causing loss of contracts and generation of new leads, email senders who violate the General Data Protection Law are liable to pay a debt of up to 2% of the company’s turnover, limited to R$50 million for each infraction. It is important to note that both companies and individuals are liable to fines and sanctions.
Defining the persona with their pains and habits, as well as preparing and organizing the communication arguments, adapting the copy and structuring the layout of the piece.
Checking a campaign should start with the subject line and preheader, which are the reader’s first contacts with the piece. After this phase, the content of the copy should be observed, to see if the layout, weight of the images and copy are appropriate to the objectives. A/B testing is an important tool for measuring the best opening and click-through rates.