Campaign Monitor (CM) is our pick for creating easy and beautiful email marketing campaigns. We’ve been using it for years, and we don’t plan on switching anytime soon. Here are our top tips to help you make the most of Campaign Monitor:
1. Sign up for the Monthly Plan and Don’t do One-off Campaigns
Why? One of the most powerful tools CM has is its automation. CM does the heavy lifting, which leaves you time to strategise and create more meaningful communication pieces for your customers. The lowest plan is only $12 a month (at the time of writing). Totally worth it, if you ask us.
2. Use CM’s Templates
We are skilled website developers working right here in our office, and we use Campaign Monitor templates! Why reinvent the wheel? Campaign Monitor tests all of their templates, and all of their templates are easily customisable. The key here is to modify the templates to suit your brand, and that’s where the true magic happens. Have a look at this example below: on the left is the CM template, and on the right is the branded Mettro version of the same template. Sweet, huh?
3. Use their awesome support services
These guys produce some awesome content. Every few weeks, we get a really concise email that has an article in it that answers a question, extends our knowledge, or just plain floats our boat. So, make sure you subscribe to their newsletter.
Before you tear your hair out, jump on their website. Just like their newsletter, Campaign Monitor have a great website with easy-to-find information from tips and tricks to how-tos and a design gallery. Check it out and get some inspiration.
If you can’t find the answer using the website or newsletter, use their support. CM would have to be by far one of the best on the internet as far as support goes. They are top notch! We tweet them, we get tweets back with answers. We email them, and they answer promptly. So don’t sit there and sweat it out – ask for help!
5. Integration
CM integrates with various third-party products, enhancing contact and workflow management. Check out the Campaign Monitor website for more information.
By the way, we do custom integrations for CM. We can do it for you. Just ask!
6. Get your tester list sorted from the get-go
Ensure that you test your emails before sending them out. I recommend setting up a dedicated test list from the beginning. This list should include individuals who will be reviewing your emails, as well as accounts from various email clients, such as Gmail. This approach allows you to verify that your email displays correctly across different platforms.
Additionally, I suggest including entries in your test list with some variables intentionally omitted. For instance, if you’re personalising emails with a greeting like “Dear <firstname>,” consider removing the first name for one of the test entries. This way, you can see how the email appears when that field is left blank. It’s helpful to identify issues like this before sending, as an empty field can lead to a less polished impression.
7. Personalisation
Email is personal, so you need to communicate with your audience personally by addressing them by their name.
Top tip: ask for their first name at sign up, if you are dealing with people like Drs, say “Hi Dr Smith, don’t use their first name. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS have a fallback. If there is no first name or any name, the fallback should be graceful. eg. Hi there.