I think it’s fair to say that email marketing, is the ‘life blood’ of business. Or at least that’s what I’m hearing over and over. It’s the only information that we own (unlike anything social media). Which of course means that you do need to occasionally send out emails. Do you plan and write them, so that you are scheduling emails to be sent out?
If you’re wondering – yes I do!
When it comes to working with my email list, it’s scheduling emails that’s most important. It’s sending out scheduled messages that has really given me a business. 😋
The ability to send emails has proven to be “worth it’s weight (in gold), especially with your own business.
It really allows me to take plan things out (I aim for a month at a time) and take breaks. I even fitted in a week break outside the UK!
In this blog post, I will guide you through the process of how I started scheduling emails myself, sharing the steps, tips, and insights I’ve gained along the way.
Email scheduling offers a number of benefits. Especially write and schedule the messages at a time that suits me. While still being able to send them at a time that suits my email list.
Professional Email Scheduling NOT Personal
The first thing to be clear on is this is not talking about using your personal email account (Gmail, Outlook, Apple or any of the others), to write and delay sending.
Check out my video How To Delay Email Delivery For Specific Times (In Outlook) on my YouTube Channel.
Nope, I’m talking about an Email Service Provider (ESP).
It’s a company that you use to store your email list (hopefully a lot bigger than your contacts list). Your ESP lets you send to all, some or part of your list at a time of your choosing (i.e. scheduling emails).
Let’s get started on this journey to mastering email scheduling, one that will undoubtedly transform the way you communicate and revolutionize your email management experience.
What are the Benefits of Email Scheduling?
In my experience, email scheduling has proven to be a game-changer when it comes to effective communication. It’s about the benefits in the practice of scheduling emails. Let’s explore some of these advantages:
Improved Productivity:
I dedicate specific time blocks to write and schedule emails. It allows me to focus on the email topic and write the message I want to send.
Optimal Timing:
Timing is everything when it comes to email communication. Scheduling emails enables me to send messages at the best time. So that my list are most likely to engage with them.
I can also pre-plan sales and targeted marketing. All the emails are then setup in advance and scheduled. I can ‘forget about them’, knowing they’ll be sent automatically.
Time Zone Considerations:
In today’s interconnected world, where we often communicate with people across different time zones, email scheduling becomes particularly useful. It allows me to take into account the recipient’s time zone and send emails at a suitable time for them, increasing the likelihood of prompt responses and avoiding inconveniences caused by time differences.
Time Management:
Scheduling emails enables me to plan and organise my communication in advance. I can prepare emails ahead of time and schedule them to be sent later, ensuring that important messages are not forgotten or delayed. This approach helps me stay on top of my responsibilities and commitments, especially during busy periods or when dealing with multiple projects simultaneously.
Choosing the Right Email Service Provider
When I made the decision to start scheduling emails, I realized that I needed the support of an email service provider (ESP) that offered robust features and functionality for scheduling. While popular email clients like Gmail and Outlook provide basic scheduling options, dedicated ESPs specialise in email marketing and automation, offering advanced scheduling capabilities along with other powerful tools.
Here are a few notable email service providers to consider:
Note: This is not a comprehensive list. Before selecting an ESP, please complete your own research.
ActiveCampaign:
ActiveCampaign is a popular email marketing platform known for its comprehensive automation features. Alongside advanced marketing automation, it also offers reliable email scheduling capabilities. With ActiveCampaign, I can easily schedule emails to be sent at specific dates and times, create follow-up sequences, and segment my audience for targeted messaging.
Mailerlite:
Mailerlite is a user-friendly email marketing tool suitable for small businesses and beginners. It provides an intuitive interface and a range of features, including email scheduling. Using Mailerlite, I can schedule emails to be sent at optimized times, track engagement metrics, and automate follow-up sequences based on subscriber behavior.
ConvertKit:
ConvertKit is a popular choice for bloggers, content creators, and small businesses looking for simplicity and powerful automation features. With ConvertKit, I can easily schedule emails and create automated sequences to engage with my audience. It also offers advanced segmentation options, allowing me to send targeted emails based on subscriber interests and behaviors.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is a popular ESP known for its user-friendly interface, comprehensive marketing automation features, and customizable email templates. It offers advanced segmentation capabilities, detailed analytics, and integrations with various third-party applications.
Email Octopus:
Email Octopus is an email marketing platform that aims to simplify and streamline the email marketing process. It provides a user-friendly interface and a range of features to help businesses effectively manage their email campaigns. With its affordable pricing plans and integration options with popular apps and services, Email Octopus is a reliable choice for businesses looking to optimize their email marketing efforts.
Picking Your Email Service Provider
Any ESP that you select will offer email scheduling – so that’s not a question to help you make a decision.
When selecting an email service provider, consider factors such as ease of use, available features, pricing plans, and scalability. Assess your specific needs and check how each ESP aligns with your email marketing goals. Additionally, read reviews and gather feedback from other users to gain insights into the reliability and customer support offered by the ESPs you are considering.
You’ve got a range of options to choose from I’ve done the initial leg work for you including cost comparisons and noting free trials. You can find it all, including ESP in Your Business Software Services List in my shop.
I’ve used both MailChimp and ActiveCampaign in my business.
Let me show you how you can schedule emails there.
Note: For whatever reason, most ESP’s don’t talk about ‘scheduling email’, instead it’s ‘campaigns’.
Can you schedule MailChimp Campaigns?
Well the answer is yes.
The option becomes available when you’ve finished writing the email campaign.
But
MailChimp is a popular ESP platform, because it starts withe a free option.
It’s the one that I started with, but scheduling a campaign, is only one of the ‘standard’ options that you want to use, that is only available when you upgrade to a paid account.
Schedule Email in ActiveCampaign
This is the current ESP that I use.
Like most ESP’s, I do have to work through creating a new ‘campaign’, the basics at least. Then I can skip to the final Summary section, and then return back to complete the email contents.
That can be a bit of a tip, if you think you might forget to schedule the email after writing it. 😉
On the Summary section, scroll down to see the Schedule.
Note: The final button (top right of the screen) will say Send.
Click on the displayed date (today), so see a few options, including specific date.
Select the date that you want to send the email.
Now use the drop-down options for hour and minute to select the exact time that it should be sent.
Note: You’ll notice that the time zone is set by your account. I’m in the UK, and we are currently on British Summer Time (BST) an hour ahead of GMT.
Click on the slider, to switch the scheduling ON.
In the top right, you’ll now see Finish instead of Send.
Click it to save the email and the settings.
If you need to change the scheduled date or time, toggle the option off, change them and toggle it back on.
Next Steps
After careful consideration, choose the email service provider that best suits your requirements and current budget. It needs to provide a seamless experience for you to schedule emails and other features.
If you can, think about what you need now, and in the future.
It’s not impossible to move between ESP’s – however there will come a time in your business (as it takes off), that it’s not as easy/simple to move.
For scheduling how-to, take a look at the Social Media Playlist on my YouTube Channel.
More Scheduling Posts
Need a break? You need to start scheduling content
How do I start scheduling emails to be sent? (current post)
Social Media Scheduling: Built into the Platform
Social Media Schedulers: What about specific apps?
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