Email marketing has become a vital tool for digital agencies to establish effective communication channels with their target audience. By integrating the Mailchimp plugin with WordPress, agencies can utilize the power of email campaigns to engage users, nurture client relationships, and drive website traffic and conversions. In this article, I will explore the technical aspects of setting up the WordPress Mailchimp plugin, while highlighting the numerous benefits email marketing brings to digital agencies. We will also be incorporating valuable insights from Olivier Hoareau, the marketing manager at WLA and an agency owner himself. Olivier emphasizes the significance of email marketing, stating:
“Email marketing is a crucial component of the overall digital marketing strategy. It allows us to manage interactions with clients seamlessly. It acts as a natural extension of our website and serves various purposes.”
The benefits of email marketing for digital agencies
Let’s delve into the value of email marketing, based on insights from our experienced marketing manager, Olivier Hoareau.
- Generating prospects: Email marketing allows agencies to capture leads and convert them into paying customers by offering valuable content or incentives.
- Keeping in touch with customers: Email marketing provides a valuable channel for maintaining ongoing communication with customers. You can keep them informed about new product releases, updates, and industry news.
- Reactivating old contacts and clients: Through targeted re-engagement campaigns, you can reignite inactive clients’ interest and bring them back into the fold.
- Building brand awareness: By regularly delivering valuable content, you can establish yourself as a reliable source of information to reinforce your brand image.
- Providing follow-up to the website experience: Email marketing and the WordPress Mailchimp plugin itself allow you to extend the conversation with the client beyond the website experience. You can demonstrate your commitment to customer service by promptly answering inquiries and offering support after e-commerce purchases through automated follow-up emails.
Key features of Mailchimp in email marketing campaigns
WLA’s Marketing Manager shared specific features of Mailchimp that have proven valuable in email marketing. Let’s discuss each of them.
- Multichannel campaigns: Mailchimp allows you to seamlessly integrate and combine email, social media, and shopping channels in your campaigns. This approach enables you to reach your audience across multiple touchpoints, maximizing engagement. For instance, you can send a promotional email highlighting a new product launch, while simultaneously running targeted social media ads to drive traffic to the product page.
- Library of templates and email editor: Mailchimp offers a vast library of professionally designed templates and a user-friendly email editor. You can create visually appealing and impactful emails without extensive design or coding knowledge.
- E-commerce specific features: The WordPress Mailchimp plugin provides a suite of features tailored specifically for e-commerce businesses. From abandoned cart reactivation emails to customer scoring and product campaigns, these functionalities help to drive sales and enhance customer retention.
- Advanced audience targeting and segmentation: Mailchimp’s advanced capabilities allow you to deliver highly personalized and relevant content to your subscribers, by segmenting your audience based on various criteria such as demographics, purchase history, or engagement level.
- Complete records including social media interactions: Mailchimp provides comprehensive data on open rates, click-through rates, and conversions, as well as social media interactions. This information will help you refine your agency’s strategies, optimize your content, and make data-driven decisions to the way of your agency’s success.
How to install and activate the Mailchimp plugin
With the WordPress Mailchimp plugin, you can effortlessly add a signup form to any post or page on your website, allowing visitors to join your email list from anywhere on your site.
If your website is hosted on WordPress.com or uses Jetpack (version 7.1 or higher), you already have access to the Mailchimp block in the block editor. To get started, open a post or page, add a new block, and either search for “Mailchimp” or choose it from the list of available blocks.
If you do not have access to the Mailchimp block, visit this page for guidance.
Once you’ve added the Mailchimp block to your content, you can easily customize the following aspects of your signup form:
- Placeholder text: You can provide placeholder text for the email address field. This text will disappear as visitors start filling out the form.
- Submit button text: Customize the text displayed on the submit button to match your desired call-to-action.
- Terms of service disclaimer: Include terms and conditions that serve as a contract between you and the subscriber. This ensures clarity and mutual agreement.
- Success message: Personalize the message that appears after visitors successfully submit their email addresses.
- Error message: Set up an error message to display if there are any issues with form submission.
By following these straightforward instructions, you can easily create and customize a signup form using the Mailchimp block within WordPress.com, enhancing your ability to capture and engage with your audience effectively.
