When you’re setting up an email campaign for your business, you’ll need to have a set goal and an objective in mind. There are dozens of different goals and objectives that you could set for your email marketing (from warming up leads to encouraging visitors to buy a product), but it all comes down to one thing: What do you want your audience to take away from the campaign?

Email marketing is based on a very straightforward concept. It is the idea of convincing your reader to engage with you even further. You do this through a combination of factors and benefits that they are offered.

Email readers are often looking for something – whether it be answers to a pressing question or some new information that can help them in some way. If you can offer this, then you’ll have strong conversion rates and see the returns you’re after. Below we will use an example of exactly this: how having goals and objectives can lead to better email marketing results in the long run.

Ask yourself: “What are your email marketing goals and objectives?” Does that question make you nervous? Don’t worry, you’re not alone.

The reality is that in order to make real progress with your email marketing efforts, you have to set specific goals and objectives… and then work to achieve them! Yet most marketers don’t set clear and measurable goals and objectives for their email marketing programs.

Nevertheless, we will help you navigate through the various (email) marketing goals and objectives that you can achieve via your email marketing campaigns. But before we start, you need to understand that: Goals  ≠ Objectives.

Let’s be clear, your goals are not your objectives! Sometimes a specific objective can be a defined goal. But, eventually, they are two specific (and separate) concepts.

Goals

Goals are mainly related to the internal performance of the email marketing campaign. These goals are often related to how well your campaign is performing or the health of your contact database.

It’s a good idea to focus on one goal at a time. This way, it will be much easier for you to test how effective your efforts are.

Side Note: Metrics – sometimes identified as Key Performance Indicators (or KPIs; calculable measures composed of metrics – they are, therefore, a level above the metrics) – are your data points against which you measure the success of (email) marketing campaign.

1. Growing your email subscriber list

Growing your email list is a critical email marketing goal for any business owner, especially for those who aren’t getting much traffic from other sources. A CRM platform such as HubSpot helps you track all your contacts and allows you to build relationships with these people easily.

A proven strategy is to create content that directly engages your target audience. Create content that encourages them to sign up for your mailing list (this is often referred to as a lead generation piece). Then, use an email marketing service to send out regular content updates designed to encourage new sign-ups.

Related KPI: Total number of subscribers

2. Increasing email CTR

A well-written email with a lead-in can significantly boost the click-through rate (CTR). The higher the CTR, the better your conversion rate will be. This is especially true if the email goes directly to the person after they have asked for help with their problem.

Your Call-To-Action must serve directly the same conversion goal. If your conversion goal is to sell a specific product, your CTA will obviously be “Buy Now”, for example. A healthy and well-defined relationship between these two micro-goals will lead directly to a healthy CTR.

Related KPI: CTR (in %)

3. Increasing the email open rate

A rise in the open rate is its own reward because email providers are able to show a higher-quality experience to subscribers. The higher an email service’s open rate, the more people are engaged with it and the more likely it is to convert prospects into customers.

Email opens are a good way to measure the success of your email marketing campaign.

But how do you increase the open rate? There are two approaches you can take:

1. The first is to analyze your marketing material carefully. Are you sending the right messages? Are you sending too many of the right types of emails? Be sure to test different tactics and determine what works best for your list.
2. The second approach is to automate these tests so that you can focus on more important parts of your email marketing strategy.

Related KPI: Open rate (in %)

4. Keep your email database healthy

If you want more people to see your emails, you need a way to organize them. Email marketing databases can be created for almost any purpose. For example, you might have a blog that frequently sends out updates and new content.

Or perhaps you’re trying to promote a product and need to track which websites are publishing about it. Having a contact database at your fingertips makes it simple to find the emails that are most relevant to your business and helps you measure progress toward your goals over time.

Email marketing is an undervalued channel. In fact, most businesses don’t put enough effort into improving their email deliverability. This puts your business at risk of missing out on leads and sales.

Related KPI: Unsubscribes / Bounce rate

Objectives

Now, let’s talk about your email campaign objectives. They serve the holistic direction of marketing strategy. They usually answer the following question: “What do you want to achieve from (this) specific email campaign?”. The objectives are ideally related and aligned with the business goals.

1. Sales, sales, sales!

Obviously, your ultimate goal is to sell your product (or service) and generate revenue. Technically, this is not a “marketing” goal, but it’s an essential outcome for your (email) marketing campaign.

Whether you are a SaaS company, an eCommerce Platform, or even a Brick and Mortar business, you need to generate revenue to maintain stability and scale for growth. Increasing sales through email has the biggest ROI of any other form of digital marketing. It is quick, easy, and cost-effective.

Related KPIs: Conversion rates

2. Content distribution

Without diving deep into what content distribution is all about – content is king! Email marketing, in an attempt to stay relevant, provides an important service by helping to distribute relevant information; either way, it is needed.

This could be informing the public about an upcoming event, promoting a coupon or referral program, or even marketing a product or someone else’s services.

In an attempt to control spam email addresses and drive more genuine customers to your business, constantly deliver relevant content. Having something relevant in the subject line helps bring people towards the message. Being informed about new products and updates can help people make better purchase decisions. Regardless of whether it’s on-topic or related to the subject of your newsletter, be sure to look for opportunities to promote content.

3. Branding and perception

Email marketing can be a powerful tool for building brand awareness, providing instant gratification, and promoting positive relationships with your customers.

It can be deployed into brand development and perceived benefit. The former is designed to build a sense of customer intimacy with a company; the latter seeks to drive sales via emotional appeals.

Each has its place, but choosing the right fit requires knowing how each will support your overall business objectives. The answer isn’t always straightforward. Make sure you ask questions and set goals that fit your business – not just yours.

Related KPI: Brand recall (lift)

4. Lead generation and nurturing

Email marketing can be a powerful tool for driving traffic and leads to your websites. It’s quick, easy, and inexpensive compared to other forms of digital advertising. Email remains a highly effective form of communication.

With the right strategies and an eye for quality communication, you can build an impressive list of prospective customers who will become active participants in your business. The prospect of communicating with you can be both exciting and nerve-wracking.

One reason (email) marketing professionals have such a big impact on customers is because they nurture them. They don’t just sell to them but give them reasons to return. That means nurturing relationships with your customers, and not just financial ones, but social and emotional ones as well. Your customers are your most valuable asset, and it’s in your best interest to nurture them.

Nurturing means being there for them – making them laugh, supporting them when they’re down, etc. It doesn’t mean just sending emails. You should also take the time to use blogs and forums to educate your customers.

There will always be users out there who will do anything they can to undermine the good things you’re doing. Be careful and respond quickly when presented with concerns or comments undermining your efforts to build a positive relationship with your current customers.

Related KPI: Customer Lifetime Value, Upgrades, Conversion rate

5. Customer retention and loyalty

A customer relationship is a win-win situation for both parties. The successful launch of a new product or service often depends on nurturing a good relationship with an existing customer base.

As an email marketing expert, it’s in your interest to identify customer relationship nurturing opportunities, nurture them, and build good relationships with them. Unfortunately, sometimes customers have unrealistic expectations about what they deserve from businesses. Expectations can be raised or lowered based on results – even if it’s not realistic to expect a certain outcome.

Related KPI: Customer retention, churn

6. Generating and building traffic

Generating traffic is the easy part. Building an email list is where the real work happens. Not only do you want people to subscribe to your email list, but you also want them to stay subscribed to specific content.

Chances are, if you’re busy working on something important, most people will forget about their subscription to your email list.

The first step in building a traffic-generating website or app is to identify an audience for it. Then you can figure out how you will get them to take some action (subscribe to a newsletter, download an app, etc.).

Once you have figured this out, creating content around that audience will provide you with many potential leads. It is almost always better to create content for an audience that is already engaged with you online. This is because when someone views something on the internet, they almost always have some level of interest in it and willingness to act upon it.

Related KPI: CTR

Conclusion

One of the best ways to ensure your emails are effective is to make sure your audience is engaged with your emails before you send them. Time spent planning is time well spent. Because when you know what you’re trying to achieve, it’s easier to build a successful email marketing strategy.

We hope this post has helped you figure out how to set up your own email marketing goals and objectives. We know that email marketing is a powerful tool, and we want to ensure we’re doing it right.