Module 2: Email Marketing Strategy & Planning
Email marketing is most effective when you have a clear plan. Without strategy, emails can feel random and fail to engage your audience. In this module, we’ll explore how to build a strong email marketing strategy by understanding your customers, setting clear goals, targeting the right audience, personalizing content, and following important legal rules.
Understanding the Customer Journey
The customer journey is the path a person takes from first hearing about your business to becoming a loyal customer. Email marketing fits at different stages of this journey:
• Awareness: When someone just discovers your brand.
• Consideration: When they are thinking about buying but need more info.
• Decision: When they are ready to buy.
• Retention: Keeping customers engaged after the purchase.
By knowing where your customers are on this path, you can send emails that feel helpful and relevant.
Example:
Goals help you measure success. Without them, you won’t know if your emails are working. Common email marketing goals include:
• Increasing sales
• Growing your email list
• Boosting website visits
• Improving customer loyalty
Each goal has its Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) — measurable numbers that show progress.
Example Goals and KPIs:
• Goal: Increase online sales by 10%
• KPI: Track click-through rates (CTR) on promotional emails and number of purchases made via email links
• Goal: Grow your subscriber list by 500 new emails
• KPI: Number of new sign-ups per month
Setting goals keeps your strategy focused and helps you improve over time.
Identifying Your Audience
Not everyone is the right fit for your emails. Knowing who your audience is allows you to send emails that matter to them.
To identify your audience, ask:
• Who are my current customers?
• What problems do they have that I can solve?
• What are their interests and preferences?
You can gather this info through surveys, website analytics, and social media insights.
Example:
A bakery’s audience might be local families, young professionals, or dessert lovers. Each group may like different email content — families might want kid-friendly recipes, young professionals may prefer quick snack ideas.
Segmentation and Personalization
Segmentation means dividing your email list into smaller groups based on characteristics like age, purchase history, or location. Personalization means tailoring emails to each group or person.
Segmentation helps make your emails more relevant, so people are more likely to open and act on them.
Example:
In a bakery’s email list:
• Segment 1: Customers who buy bread regularly
• Segment 2: Customers who prefer cakes and sweets
You can send Segment 1 a special offer on freshly baked bread and Segment 2 an invite to a cake tasting event.
Personalization can be as simple as including the person’s first name in the email greeting or recommending products based on past purchases.
Compliance and GDPR (CAN-SPAM, etc.)
Email marketing isn’t just about sending messages — you must follow laws to protect people’s privacy.
Key rules include:
• Get permission before sending emails (opt-in)
• Include a clear way to unsubscribe
• Don’t use misleading subject lines or sender info
• Respect privacy and store data safely
Important laws you should know:
• GDPR (Europe): Requires explicit consent and data protection
• CAN-SPAM Act (USA): Requires clear unsubscribe options and honest email content
• CASL (Canada): Similar rules for consent and identification
Following these rules helps build trust and avoid legal trouble.
Summary
• The customer journey shows how to send relevant emails at the right time.
• Setting goals and KPIs lets you track your email success.
• Knowing your audience helps create content they care about.
• Segmentation and personalization improve engagement.
• Following email laws like GDPR and CAN-SPAM protects your business and customers.
Real-Life Example: Imagine You Run a Small Bakery
You collect email addresses from customers who visit your shop and those who order online. Every week, you send a friendly email sharing a new recipe, offering a discount on your best-selling pastries, and inviting customers to an upcoming event.
Because you understand the customer journey, you send welcome emails to new sign-ups, special offers to frequent buyers, and event invites to those who showed interest before.
Your emails have clear goals: increase repeat visits and boost sales during slow days. You track how many people open your emails and click your discount links to measure success.
You segment your list by customer preferences — bread lovers get updates about fresh loaves, while cake fans hear about new flavours.
You personalize your emails by including customers’ first names and recommending items based on their past orders.
And you always ask permission before adding emails to your list, include easy unsubscribe links, and follow all legal rules.
Over time, customers begin to look forward to your emails and come back more often because they feel connected to your bakery. This simple email marketing approach helps your business grow without spending a lot on ads.
