I know, an email distribution schedule sounds pretty boring, I'll admit that.
But I bring it up now because it is important, and you should understand why you need one and how to implement one in your business today.
We already know that — if done correctly — email marketing can provide some serious ROI (up to ~4,400% even, according to Campaign Monitor). The operative phrase here, of course, is: "if done correctly."
Because most business owners recognize the power of email marketing, there is endless chatter and spam that clogs customers' inboxes.
Communication is good...but too much communication too fast, is just too much.
For example, imagine if you just met someone. You like them and are interested to get to know them a little bit better, but you want to take your time.
How would you feel if over the next few days you got a dozen texts or so? I'd wager to guess you'd be Googling "How do I block a number forever?"
And when we're talking about a business courting customers with email communications, this is obviously a really fine line to walk.
You want to capture the positive engagement and power of email marketing, but you definitely don’t want to annoy your customers with constant emails.
This can be even more of a challenge if you run multiple promotions, create a lot of content, or have a few businesses with an overlapping customer base.
THIS difficult balance is exactly why an email distribution schedule is vital for your business.
And in today's article, I am going to show you how to use one in your business for more success.
Plus, I'm going to give you a complete guide to creating an Email Distribution Schedule, so you have a roadmap to success right at your fingertips. Just enter your info below and I'll send it over.
Get the Complete Guide to Creating an Email Distribution Schedule
Easily take your email marketing to the next level of success.
What is an Email Distribution Schedule?
At its heart, an email distribution schedule is a calendar in which you can determine ahead of time how, when, and with what content you will use to contact your customers.
This schedule ensures that everyone has a positive communication experience and isn’t bombarded with emails all day, every day. This is essential if you want to connect and engage while still building trust.
If you would like to learn more about how we can do it for you, schedule a free consult today and we'll help you create an email distribution schedule that works perfectly for your business.
How We Use An Email Distribution Schedule
There are a number of benefits to using an email distribution schedule in order to maximize your email marketing performance.
One way my full-service marketing agency, Built By Love, uses an email distribution schedule for our clients (and ourselves) is to set up dedicated days for specific campaigns and emails.
(And if you would like to learn more about how we can do it for you, schedule a free consult today and we'll help you create an email distribution schedule that works perfectly for your business).
Here's a simple example of such: We'll organize an email distribution schedule and set it up so new prospects will receive an automated welcome email for signing up/opting in on day one, an email with a special discount code on day two, and on day five, a friendly reminder that their discount code is going to expire.
This is a very basic setup, but is still pretty cool, right?
But if you want to see how an email distribution schedule can help your email marketing REALLY shine, let’s look at a more specific example.
One of our clients has 3 different but related businesses. That means there are three separate email lists to keep an eye on and three separate email lists that need to stay “warm” through frequent contact.
Some of the content and offers we want to send them overlap, and some do not.
You can see how this can pose a problem — first, if we were to send an email to the customers of Business A but we meant to send it to the customers of Business B, we’d have some egg on our face AND the customers would be confused. Naturally, that’s the last thing we want to do.
Here's another way an email distribution schedule can help — say a client who had both Business A and Business C had a bi-monthly webinar, a monthly workshop, and a seasonal product sale that they wanted to promote.
Even if all 3 of these email promotions were supposed to go to both Business A and Business B, we would want to be sure that the regular bi-monthly webinar emails and monthly workshop promotion didn’t overlap with the seasonal product sale — that would just be too many emails and one campaign (if not ALL) would get lost in the shuffle.
Of course, you can guard against this with an Email Distribution Schedule.
And luckily, it's not complicated in the least (AND I'm going to show you how to do it). Before I do, make life easier on yourself by nabbing your complete guide to creating your own schedule below!
Get the Complete Guide to Creating an Email Distribution Schedule
Easily take your email marketing to the next level of success.
How To Create An Email Distribution Schedule
As mentioned, creating an email distribution schedule doesn't have to be difficult.
Using a Google sheet or Excel sheet, create a monthly calendar and then block off days of the week (see image below).
Then, you'll want to use a color-coding system to ensure each email campaign is kept separate and organized (see other image below).
In this Email Distribution Schedule example, we're going to continue basing it off the example of the client with 2 separate, but related, businesses.
This color system makes it easy at a glance to see when and to who you’re sending emails to. And it ensures that the right emails are sent at the right time to the right people.
And, of course, by doing so, you have a chance to maximize your engagement level (and increase sales) without becoming a nuisance to your customers.
How To Use An Email Distribution Schedule For More Success
Now that you’ve know how to create an email distribution schedule, it’s time to learn how you’re going to use it.
That means you'll need to decide:
- How many emails to send
- When to send those emails
- What those emails should say
Answering all those questions in detail is another (or several) blog post(s). The number (and frequency) of emails you send depends on the particular campaign or promotion, as does when and what they should say.
That being said, we still want to provide you with some best practices to think about when you're structuring your own email distribution schedule.
Below are a list of specific points that will be helpful as you try to enhance your email communication without annoying your subscribers.
Deliverability
Nobody likes spam. Because of this, the biggest email providers (i.e. Gmail, Outlook, Hotmail, etc.) have built up fantastic spam protection. There's a chance your email could be sent directly to spam, and all the effort spent on creating that email was wasted!
If you want to learn some insider trips and tricks about email deliverability, I recommend listening to this Biz Power Hour podcast, "Getting to the Inbox: The Deliverability Saga." I talk with two masters of email marketing, Aaron Barrett and Rich Sharpe, to pinpoint and uncover the challenges, triggers, and solutions to ensure your message makes into the inbox and beyond.
Opt-out and FTC guidelines
I'm sure you've seen (and used!) the "unsubscribe" link in marketing emails you've received.
Those links can be an absolute godsend if you accidentally sign up for an annoying email list, but more than that, they’re a legal requirement! FTC guidelines require companies to give their subscribers the ability to unsubscribe at any time. Make sure all your emails contain an opt-out option.
Cater your content
Not everyone on your email list will be exactly the same. Some may consume your content regularly and be a big fan of you. Others may have opted in for a lead magnet yesterday but have no idea what to think about you yet.
In order to enhance your communication and maximize your results, you'll need to send specific content depending on where your prospects are in their customer journey. I dive deeper into a very cool and effective way to do so in this article here: The Funnel is Dead. Welcome to the R.A.M.P.
Be consistent!
The best people you know (I’d argue) are probably those in your life who are consistent and dependable. The same logic applies to your email list.
If you always email at the same time each week (say Tuesdays at 11 am), you will build a dependable trust with your readers. They will know what to expect and when and they may even being to look for them on certain days. Let them know they can depend on you by remaining consistent.
Get the Complete Guide to Creating an Email Distribution Schedule
Easily take your email marketing to the next level of success.
Hopefully by now you see the massive value that can be unlocked by using an email distribution schedule.
Email marketing can be a double-edged sword: on one hand, it's a powerful tool that can unlock incredible returns; on the other hand, it also has the potential to hurt your business if subscribers become frustrated with your inconsistent barrage of emails that have no determinable rhyme or reason.
The use of an email distribution schedule can ensure that you stay on the right side of email marketing.
Want more help with marketing strategy and growth?
If you're a business owner in need of a full-service team to help you grow your business using strategies like this, I'd like to personally invite you to schedule a free strategic consult with my agency.
We'll discuss how we can add value to your company by creating and implementing intelligently designed marketing strategies, video, graphics, and copy writing into your business. Click here to schedule your free consult.
Daniel Bussius is an award-winning Infusionsoft Certified Partner who is highly sought after Marketing Agency CEO and Professional Consultant, Daniel and his agency, Built By Love, work with celebrities, New York Times best-selling authors, Fortune 500 companies and over 1,000 small business owners from around the world.
Daniel is the world's only dual certified StoryBrand Certified Agency and Infusionsoft Certified Partner. His agency holds a long list of certifications and hires top talent that has one primary goal: to make the client achieve their wildest dreams.
