Email marketing is one of the most powerful marketing channels and arguably one of the last true “owned” marketing channels. When you send an email to your mailing list, you get to reach every person on the list at no additional cost (ideally, you’re not on a pay-per-email plan). Compare this to other “owned” properties like Facebook and Twitter and the traffic generating power of email is 10x. If you’re reading this, you probably don’t need to be sold on email marketing, so let’s get to the good stuff.

Choosing an email provider can be difficult and unless you have very specific needs, it probably comes down to preference. Some people swear by Aweber, some can’t live without GetResponse, and others are loyal to MailChimp. For the most part, these types of services are incredibly similar. They all allow you to build lists, segments users, create autoresponders, etc. I’ve used almost every popular email marketing platform, and I always come back to MailChimp. I enjoy the simplicity of it, and my familiarity with the platform allows me to work efficiently.

I apply all of the following strategies to my MailChimp campaigns, however, you can use most of them with any email provider.

I’m assuming you have a basic understanding of setting up lists, sending emails, and creating autoresponders. I should also note that all of these strategies are focused on what happens AFTER a subscriber is added to your list, as optin tips is a whole nother topic.

Here we go.