As an agency, we pride ourselves in having a team of people who constantly want to learn and grow in our careers. In order to provide fresh ideas to our clients, we challenge ourselves to think outside of the box.
Pushing the boundaries in this way can only be done by learning from each other. One of the ways in which we all work towards utilizing our strengths and learn new skills is through our KWSM Mentorship Program.
This four-month program allows our team to tap into areas of digital marketing that they are not as experienced in, but want to learn more about.
Our Assignment
Each team member was paired with another and was assigned either the “mentor” or “mentee” role. My mentor for this project was our KWSM Atlanta Managing Content Editor, Rick Ormsby. Together, we were assigned to learn about email marketing. This assignment was an exciting journey for me, as I have always wanted to dive deeper into this subject. Even though we were experienced in certain aspects of email marketing (such as monthly newsletters), we wanted to find out how we could take our email marketing efforts a step further. We wanted to use this mentorship time to learn and apply it to our own clients.
Our Project
As we began our mentorship process, Rick and I both agreed that we needed to provide something valuable, not just for ourselves, but everyone on the KWSM Team. We began by researching the different ways in which we could utilize email marketing, from newsletters to drip campaigns. We eventually decided on creating an email automation program for a current client. This specific client offers their audience a new special each month, which inspired our strategy to focus on a specific offer for the current month.
The objectives we developed were:
- Introduce a monthly special
- Understand our audience through segmentation
- Build trust with our audience through education
- Nurture leads through more frequent communication
- Learn about the audience’s needs through direct feedback
The Process
Our original thought was to create a drip campaign with four separate emails that would be sent out a week apart. These emails would contain an introduction to the monthly special, inspiration to utilize these products, and educational blog posts. Over the course of a month, our audience would be reminded of the monthly special, while gaining insight on our client’s industry and products. Throughout our planning and testing, Rick and I ran into some issues. We realized that if someone was put into the email list halfway through the month, they would not receive the emails at the exact time they were intended. This would result in some people experiencing one of two issues: not receiving enough emails for the month, or receiving offers that were meant for the previous month.
Through this experience, we learned that this specific client was not a good fit for an email drip campaign. Since their special changes every month, new people would not receive timely emails. We then decided to create an email automation system instead. These emails focused more on building a strong relationship between the audience and client.
The Result
Through trial and error, Rick and I were able to smooth out the kinks of our original idea and create a fully functional email automation system that this client can use consistently. We considered all of the details of a captivating email and researched ways in which we could continue to improve. Since this process involved so many new things to learn, we created a document for the rest of our KWSM team to reference when they create their first email automation system in the future. While we both have learned a lot through this process, we knew the outcome of the project needed to be something that everyone who touches email marketing at KWSM can utilize.
As a mentee, I had the opportunity to spend time learning from and working with Rick, which is something that we don’t do as frequently across KWSM offices as we do with the members of our own office. Implementing this program with our team members has given us the opportunity to not only gain more skills, but it has also strengthened our relationships with one another.
72% of consumers prefer email as their source of business communication.
Don’t get left behind, work with KWSM to develop a powerfully targeted email marketing campaign that will expand your reach and generate leads and more potential customers.
CONTACT US to learn more about creating the results you’re looking for with an effective email marketing strategy.
