In this post, we'll take this a step further by looking at goals.

The first stage in formulating a strategy begins with outlining the objectives. Ideally, this is aligned to the company strategy and should guide decisions on the outputs you wish from your campaigns.  This is critical, not only on a strategic level, but also defines the metrics you use as part of your analysis. Typical examples of outputs would include:

• Retention - to retain our core customer base in response to increasing competition
• Acquisition - to acquire x% new customers this year
• Increase spend per customer - to cross-sell or up-sell a range of products & services to the customer base or new customers

Ideally you would have programs to support both acquisition & retention strategies. It also important to consider the customer perspective: How does it benefit the customer?

An overall goal would to be first make a buyer aware of your company/brand, then to consider your product/service. The next step is to convert them to customers, encourage take-up of further products or services & gain long-term customer loyalty. 

There are 5 email types that are widely used to achieve these goals: 

5 Email Types*

From the graphic, you can see most, if not all, email marketing journeys require a start & end points. Getting input into these journeys from your company stakeholders will make the programme easier to sell internally and more likely to yield a measurable result.