What is an Email Blast and How to Do It

What’s an Email Blast?

An email blast, also known as a broadcast email, bulk email, e-blast, or email campaign, is the practice of sending a single email message to a large group of recipients simultaneously. These recipients can be your entire email list, a significant segment of it, or multiple lists together. Utilized predominantly for promotional content, newsletters, product promotions, and special offers, email blasts allow brands like WPBeginner to distribute useful tutorials or information to their subscribers.

Are Email Blasts Still Relevant?

There’s a debate around the relevance of email blasts in today’s digital landscape. Critics argue that email blasts can seem outdated, as they often lack personalization, segmentation, and can sometimes be unexpected, leading to higher rates of being ignored, marked as spam, or leading to unsubscribes. However, email remains a potent tool for communication, unmatched in reliability. With advancements in technology, executing email blasts “the right way” can yield impressive results.

Executing an Email Blast Correctly

To leverage email blasts effectively, follow a structured approach:

Select a Suitable Email Blast Service

Choosing the right email marketing service is crucial. Options like Constant Contact, Brevo, Drip, and ConvertKit offer functionalities to create, segment, and send emails efficiently. Constant Contact is particularly user-friendly for beginners, offering a plethora of templates and a drag-and-drop editor.

ConvertKit Email Blast

Step 1: Sign Up and Set Up Your ConvertKit Account

1. Create an Account: Go to the ConvertKit website and sign up. You can start with a free trial to explore its features before committing to a paid plan.
2. Basic Configuration: Once your account is created, set up your account preferences, including your company information and email settings.

Step 2: Build Your Email List

1. Create a Form or Landing Page: Use ConvertKit’s form and landing page builders to create attractive sign-up forms or landing pages to collect subscribers. You can customize the design to match your brand.
2. Embed or Share Your Form: Place your form on your website, blog, or share the landing page link on your social media to start collecting email subscribers.

Step 3: Segment Your Subscribers

1. Create Tags and Segments: Organize your subscribers by creating tags based on their interests, behaviors, or how they signed up. Use segments to group these tags for more targeted campaigns.
2. Automate Segmentation: Use ConvertKit’s automation features to tag subscribers based on their interactions, such as form submissions or link clicks.

Step 4: Create Your Email Content

1. Draft Your Emails: Write compelling emails that resonate with your target audience. Ensure your emails provide value, whether it’s informative content, exclusive offers, or updates about your product or service.
2. Use Templates: ConvertKit offers email templates that you can customize to save time.

Step 5: Set Up Email Automation

1. Create an Automation Sequence: Automate your email delivery based on specific triggers, like a new subscriber signing up or a subscriber clicking a link in an email. Use ConvertKit’s visual automation builder to map out your subscriber’s journey.
2. Test Your Automation: Before going live, test your automation sequence to ensure everything works as expected.

Step 6: Launch Your Campaign

1. Schedule Your Emails: Decide on the timing and frequency of your emails. You can schedule each email in your sequence to go out at specific times and dates.
2. Send Broadcast Emails: For timely updates or announcements, send broadcast emails to your entire list or select segments.

Step 7: Analyze and Optimize

1. Monitor Your Campaign: Use ConvertKit’s reporting tools to track the performance of your emails, including open rates, click rates, and conversions.
2. A/B Testing: Test different subject lines, email content, and sending times to see what works best with your audience.
3. Iterate and Improve: Based on your analytics, make adjustments to your campaign for better performance.

Additional Tips:

• Personalization: Utilize ConvertKit’s personalization tokens to make your emails feel more personal.
• Engage Inactively: Create a re-engagement campaign for subscribers who haven’t interacted with your emails in a while.
• Community and Support: Take advantage of ConvertKit’s extensive documentation, tutorials, and community forums for additional help and inspiration.

By following these steps and utilizing ConvertKit’s robust features, you can set up a successful marketing campaign designed to engage and grow your audience effectively.

Examples of Effective Email Blasts

• Flash Sales: Ideal for promoting limited-time offers.
• Event Promotions: Use blasts to inform subscribers about upcoming webinars or courses.
• New Product Launches: Announce new offerings to segmented lists to maintain relevance.
• Newsletters: Regularly update your audience with news, tutorials, or insights.

Conclusion

While email blasts may have evolved, their core purpose remains unchanged: to communicate en masse effectively. By prioritizing segmentation, personalization, and strategic execution, email blasts can significantly impact sales, engagement, and website traffic. Whether sharing a flash sale, promoting an event, launching a new product, or distributing a newsletter, email blasts are a versatile tool in your digital marketing arsenal.