Every good marketer who’s worth their salt knows that email marketing is one of the most effective ways to reach customers and promote their brand.
The State of the Email Report by Litmus shows that 41% of marketers consider email marketing their most effective marketing channel.
However, as effective as it is, it can often be time-consuming and overwhelming, especially if you’re not experienced. This is where outsourced email marketing services come into play.
Rather than doing it all by yourself, outsource email marketing and campaign management to an expert agency. This gives you more time to focus on growing other aspects of your business.
Read on to learn why you should outsource email marketing in 2024.
Why outsource your email marketing?
An email marketing expert brings much more to the table than efficiency. Consider outsourced email marketing services to grow your client base and build your brand reputation. Let’s discuss why you should outsource email efforts.
Access to expertise and tools
Outsourcing can provide access to experts who may know more about email marketing than your in-house team. These professionals are updated with the latest email marketing trends and techniques. They can use this knowledge to help you refine your strategies. They’ll also have access to specialized tools, such as the best email marketing platforms.
These tools can help agency experts handle your campaigns — from ideation and creation to execution and reporting.
Email marketing providers also help businesses scale. They do this by performing audits and determining areas for improvement. They create effective strategies tailored to your brand. Your in-house team may have limited skills. Meanwhile, agencies have specialized skills to help you achieve your specific goals.
Cost-efficient compared to in-house management
Managing an in-house email marketing team involves various expenses. This can include training costs, salaries, overhead, insurance, and other add-on employee benefits. Plus, designs and photoshoots.
These costs can quickly add up and strain your budget, especially if you’re a growing business.
Expert agencies already have these tools on hand. With outsourced email marketing services, you can bypass overhead costs. This allows you to produce effective campaigns at a lower price, saving you money and improving your ROI.
Outsourcing also allows you to scale your business easily. You won’t need to incur the extra costs of hiring more employees or laying them off.
Choosing the right email marketing agency
Outsourced email marketing can work wonders for your brand if you hire the right agency. Choose one that clearly understands your brand voice and vision. This will help them bring your email marketing goals to fruition.
Here are the steps to choosing the right email marketing agency to work with:
Identify your email marketing needs
Identifying your expectations ensures proper alignment between your business goals and your email marketing strategies. It also helps guarantee a successful collaboration between you and the agency.
We’ll break it down for you.
- Define your campaign objectives: Your goal can be to drive more sales conversions or increase brand awareness. For example, if you want to nurture leads, you can invest in drip email campaigns. You can also set up specific automation workflows to streamline the process.
- Identify your target audience: You must specify who your campaigns are intended for. Identify certain demographic or behavior factors, such new subscribers, lapse purchasers, loyal customers, window shoppers, etc.
This gives the agency a clearer visual of the email marketing campaign and who to target. This allows them to create tailored content that captures the attention of your audience segments. This improves the relevancy of your emails and boosts revenue.
- Provide brand guidelines. Doing this helps the email marketing agency create outsourced emails that align with your brand tone. Paint a clear picture of your brand voice, vision, and design preferences. If possible, specify the kind of words or language you will or will not use as a brand.
Evaluate potential providers
Next, you need to research potential providers and shortlist the best fits. Here are some key factors to consider when narrowing down your search:
- Services and pricing: Outsourced email marketing services typically include email design, setup, and strategy creation. Agencies also help with subscriber list management, performance tracking, and subject line testing. Evaluate the agency’s packages and services to ensure that they can meet your needs. You should also consider the pricing, and choose an agency within your budget.
- Portfolio and client testimonials: One of the best ways to determine if an email marketing agency is capable of delivering on its promises is by evaluating its portfolio. Carefully review client testimonials and case studies. This will give you some insight into an agency’s track record and reliability.
If an agency doesn’t provide case studies in its portfolio, you can reach out and request it. You’ll also want to look out for agencies that have worked with clients in your niche or industry. They’ll have more experience creating niche-relevant email campaigns for you.
- Tools and resources. Evaluate the type of email marketing tools and resources that the agency uses. Collaborate with agencies that use advanced email management and analytics tools.
They should also have a competent team of email experts who can handle all aspects of crafting effective email campaigns. For example, they should have expert copywriters, designers, and developers with a proven track record and experience in the niche.
Services offered by email marketing service providers
An email marketing agency can offer a package deal, such as comprehensive email campaign management. On the other hand, they can offer specific services like email marketing audit, content creation, email design, and automation.
Comprehensive campaign management
Email marketing agencies can help you create and implement effective strategies from start to finish. They’ll expertly determine your brand’s positioning and identify your unique selling points. Based on this, they’ll create an email strategy to help you achieve your marketing and business growth goals.
Once a strategy is in place, email marketing professionals have the expertise to implement it. For example, they’ll carry out extensive list management. This involves cleaning and managing your email list to improve deliverability. This also helps reduce wasted resources. They’ll also segment your audience to improve the relevancy of your email campaigns.
Email marketing service providers will carry out tests and analyses. For example, they can A/B test various elements of your emails, such as your email subject lines. This way, they can determine which variables result in optimum results, such as higher CTRs and conversions.
Usually, agencies work with several email platforms and suggest them to their clients. So don’t be surprised if you get recommendations for one or another. This is because they master these tools and can achieve the best possible results. They know how to access in-depth insights and performance metrics of your email campaigns. This allows them to continually refine and optimize your email marketing strategy.
Content creation and automation
Email marketing agencies will also focus on specific aspects of your email, such as email copy and design. For example, you can hire seasoned copywriters to write engaging emails for your campaign. They can write subject lines, headers, and email copy that strikes a chord with your audience while aligning with your brand voice.
Meanwhile, expert designers can create eye-catching email designs, including custom graphics and images. They can also create multiple email design templates using your brand assets.
Email marketing experts can also set up email automation workflows to further optimize your campaigns. They can set up workflows for welcome email series, abandoned cart reminders, or re-engagement campaigns. This depends on your marketing objectives and needs.
Managing the outsourced email marketing process
The success of your campaign is largely dependent on how well you manage the outsourced email marketing process.
Here are some guidelines you can follow:
Establish clear communication and goals
When you outsource email marketing, you must maintain transparent and ongoing communication.
- Start with a kick-off meeting. This is when you can clearly express what you hope to accomplish by working with the email marketing service provider. Ensure you lay down your brand guidelines. You must also discuss specific details like deliverables and the expected delivery time.
- Ensure the agency’s seamless collaboration with your in-house sales and marketing team. This will help maintain a coherent messaging and marketing approach.
- Streamline communication. Assign dedicated points of contact who’ll regularly keep in touch with the agency. Carry out weekly check-ins or monthly reviews to stay updated.
Monitor and evaluate performance
The only way to know if you’re making progress is to constantly monitor and evaluate your campaign performance. Doing this will also help you improve your approach.
- Regular tracking and reporting: The email marketing agency will be responsible for tracking the performance of your campaigns.
They’ll also provide you with regular reports to keep you updated. The reports should be detailed and easy to understand. They should also highlight key metrics, such as open rates, engagement, conversion rates, and delivery metrics.
- Data analysis. It’s important to review and analyze the data obtained from tracking your emails. This will help you identify key areas for improvement.
For instance, one of the reasons why you might notice a decrease in your open rates is because your subject lines aren’t effective.
The email marketing agency will then be responsible for running tests. Based on the results of this data analysis, they’ll re-strategize and adjust your campaign plan.
Wrap up
Outsourcing email marketing is a cost-effective and time-saving solution. Email marketing professionals have the expert knowledge and experience to help you achieve your goals.
Before you pick an agency to work with, always identify your email marketing needs. Only pick providers who offer the services you require and fall within your budget.
Finally, you can manage the outsourced email marketing process by requesting regular updates. You’ll also need to analyze the data they provide. Don’t forget to monitor your email performance and re-strategize wherever needed. Best of luck in your outsourced email marketing endeavors!
