Email marketing has always been considered to be ‘the classic’ method of marketing and communicating with customers. We are always being sent emails to sign up for a service or purchase a product, and more recently, we’ve begun to see ‘emails’ pop up as promotional messages in our social media feeds. That’s made email marketing more relevant than ever, especially as brands have realised the benefits of using this powerful tool.

Why Email Marketing?

You may be wondering why you should bother with email marketing when you can simply share a blog post or tweet about your product. The answer is quite simple – email marketing allows you to create and send out personalized messages to your audience. It’s also a great platform for creating awareness about a brand or product. As a digital marketer, you can use email to take advantage of people’s natural curiosity about new things and to encourage them to engage with your content.

When Should I Outline My Emails?

We’ve all been there. We’ve all seen that viral meme of a cat wearing a flower crown and clutching a small pink kitten. In that fleeting moment, he looked like a total hipster, but then we blinked and he was just a kitten in a crown clutching a smartphone.

That’s how fast viral memes can go viral. The key takeaway here is that you need to put a serious thought into your email marketing plan before you send that first message. You should always have an idea of how many emails you’ll need to send and when you’ll need to send them. Doing this will help you plan your strategy and ensure you are keeping your audience engaged with your content.

Imagine you’re a business owner or marketing manager. You’re looking to grow your email list and want to know what works and what doesn’t when it comes to getting people to subscribe. You read a ton of case studies and, after a while, you realize that most of the successful emails fall into two distinct categories: those that are focused on product promotion and those that are focused on offering valuable information to their subscribers.

If you’re looking to promote your product or service, you’ll want to send out a variety of emails. Some examples of product-focused emails you may send out include:

• A promotional email about a new product or service you’re offering (e.g. 10% off your first order)
• An email containing a discount code (e.g. for a product you’re promoting)
• An email about a contest you’re running where you’re giving away free stuff (e.g. a new iPhone)
• An email about a webinar you’re hosting for your industry (e.g. Moz)
• An email about a workshop or class you’re running (e.g. for a service you’re offering like graphic design or copywriting)
• An email about an upcoming event you’re participating in (e.g. SXSW)
• An email about a course you’re teaching (e.g. Treehouse)
• An email about a book you’ve read that relates to your industry (e.g. Seth Godin’s “Traction’)
• An email about a podcast you’ve listened to that relates to your industry (e.g. Marketing For Non-Profits with Chris John)
• An email about an article you’ve read that relates to your industry (e.g. “How to Promote Your YouTube Channel’ for bloggers)
• An email about a webinar you’re hosting for your industry (e.g. HubSpot)
• An email about a workshop or class you’re running (e.g. Startup Weekend)
• An email about a product review you’ve written for your industry (e.g. Tech Radar)
• An email about a blog you’ve started that relates to your industry (e.g. The Growth Lab)
• An email about your Twitter account, where you’re sharing content about your industry (e.g. @mentalfloss)
• An email about a new book you’ve read that relates to your industry (e.g. “How to Promote Your YouTube Channel’ for bloggers)

If you’re looking to educate your audience about your industry, you’ll want to send out the other kind of email. Some examples of information-focused emails you may send out include:

• An email about an online store you’ve built for your industry (e.g. Shopify)
• An email about your blog’s rankings on different platforms (e.g. Google)
• An email about a product you’ve tried that relates to your industry (e.g. Buffer)
• An email about a new book you’ve read that relates to your industry (e.g. “How to Promote Your YouTube Channel’ for bloggers)
• An email about a webinar you’re hosting for your industry (e.g. HubSpot)
• An email about a workshop or class you’re running (e.g. Startup Weekend)
• An email about a podcast you’ve listened to that relates to your industry (e.g. Marketing For Non-Profits with Chris John)
• An email about an article you’ve read that relates to your industry (e.g. “How to Promote Your YouTube Channel’ for bloggers)
• An email about a Twitter account you’re using to share industry news (e.g. @mentalfloss)
• An email about a blog you’ve started that relates to your industry (e.g. The Growth Lab)
• An email about a course you’re teaching (e.g. Treehouse)
• An email about a book you’ve read that relates to your industry (e.g. Seth Godin’s “Traction’)
• An email about a podcast you’ve listened to that relates to your industry (e.g. Marketing For Non-Profits with Chris John)
• An email about a new product or service you’re offering (e.g. 10% off your first order)
• An email about a webinar you’re hosting for your industry (e.g. HubSpot)
• An email about a workshop or class you’re running (e.g. Startup Weekend)
• An email about a blog you’ve started that relates to your industry (e.g. The Growth Lab)
• An email about a course you’re teaching (e.g. Treehouse)
• An email about a book you’ve read that relates to your industry (e.g. “How to Promote Your YouTube Channel’ for bloggers)
• An email about a podcast you’ve listened to that relates to your industry (e.g. Marketing For Non-Profits with Chris John)
• An email about a Twitter account you’re using to share industry news (e.g. @mentalfloss)
• An email about a webinar you’re hosting for your industry (e.g. HubSpot)
• An email about a workshop or class you’re running (e.g. Startup Weekend)
• An email about a product review you’ve written for your industry (e.g. Tech Radar)
• An email about a blog you’ve started that relates to your industry (e.g. The Growth Lab)
• An email about a course you’re teaching (e.g. Treehouse)
• An email about a new book you’ve read that relates to your industry (e.g. “How to Promote Your YouTube Channel’ for bloggers)
• An email about a podcast you’ve listened to that relates to your industry (e.g. Marketing For Non-Profits with Chris John)

No matter what you’re looking to do with your email marketing, you need to have a clear plan and take the time to study what’s worked for others. By doing this, you will ensure you’re developing relevant material that will appeal to your audience and help you achieve your business goals.