Even though social media and website advertisements are thriving, email marketing is still a major source of customer engagement and keeps breaking ROI records. Putting together a marketing campaign that knocks recipients’ socks off requires creativity, trend awareness, and the seven must-use tools we cover in this article.
- Marketing Automation Tools
No one sends emails out by hand anymore. Rather, successful marketers leverage automation tools to create email templates, set up triggers, and plan weeks’ worth of follow-up emails at once. Marketing automation is instrumental in eliminating the rote work that would otherwise bog down your creative efforts, leaving you to focus on crafting email content and other finer strategy points.
- Graphic Design Platform
These are godsends for small businesses and startups that don’t have the budget for a dedicated GD department but still want professional-looking emails and eye-catching content. Graphic design platforms make template creation and brand identity building a snap, even if you lack prior experience.
- Personalization Tools
Modern marketing is all about the illusion of catering to each individual. For emails, that means including several elements that look tailor-made for the recipient. More than 70% of consumers don’t want anything to do with companies that don’t cater to their interests. Their address gives you a foot in the door, but personalization tools will help seal the deal. They can help craft emails that naturally incorporate the recipient's name, highlight appealing offers based on past purchases or interests, and more.
- A Business VPN
To their detriment, some marketers wouldn’t mention a VPN in the same breath as the other tools on the list. In reality, VPNs serve two critical functions for any successful campaign. The first is safeguarding your data. Successful marketing depends on leveraging personally identifiable information, customer purchases and associated payment data, and campaign specifics reserved only for team members. VPNs provide an encrypted connection to communicate and exchange files without leaving them open to interception and theft.
Companies that target international customers depend on VPNs for quality assurance. Bypassing regional restrictions lets them simulate local conditions and route the connection through different ISPs. This may uncover problems like falsely associating their emails with spam. However, you should choose a VPN provider wisely for your team. Remember that not all of the providers available on the market will suit your needs, and some will not offer the features you want. Before you choose, check out the sources, such as the VPN comparison table on Reddit.
- Segmentation & A/B Testing Tools
A growing email list is great, but not every campaign is an ideal fit for every contact. Segmentation lets you create targeted, highly effective campaigns based on criteria recipients have in common. Some campaigns target geographic areas, while others may work better if you only reach out to customers who've purchased something recently. Once you’re satisfied with a segment, you can refine a campaign further through A/B testing. Dedicated A/B testing tools simplify making minute changes, running them by audiences, and reporting on the results.
- Analytics Tools
Analytics tools keep you from running blind. They can track KPIs like bounce and open rates, CTA efficiency, and sales. They provide timely performance insights, letting you implement informed changes on the fly and better meet campaign goals.
- A Password Manager
Apart from being essential for elevating your future email campaigns, all the above tools have one more thing in common: they require accounts. Ensuring everyone involved has unique credentials for each of their accounts might not seem like a top priority. Yet, it can quickly turn into one once a single compromised and reused password makes multiple accounts vulnerable.
Team password managers ensure you don’t leave such matters to chance. They can instantly generate and safely store countless passwords and even speed up your workflow by filling them in automatically. Better yet, multi-factor authentication protects each account even when an associated password is no longer safe.
