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Here’s how to know if an email marketing coach can help you, how to get the most from coaching, and where to find one

You’ve probably heard the saying “The devil is in the details” and never is it truer than in email marketing, where small changes or omissions can make big differences in response, revenue, or even which side of the law you’re on.

Agencies and consultants like us specialize in email marketing strategy and advice, but most require longer-term engagements or are best for companies that rely heavily on email as a revenue-producing channel and need continuous, ongoing support.

But what if you just have a few questions? Or are temporarily stuck? Can’t find the answers online? Or simply want to pick an expert’s brain for a day? The good news is there are solutions to fit an entire spectrum of needs. Read on to learn what to ask your email coach and where to find one (often for free!)

So What Should you Ask an Email Marketing Coach?

Practically anything that has to do with your email marketing program! As a consultant and strategist with over 10 years’ experience designing email programs and performance improvement plans for clients, I’ve had many of theses challenges and questions posed to me:

1)   What are the most meaningful metrics I should measure?

2)   I am having deliverability/complaint/response issues. What could be causing the problem?

3)   Do my transactional (as opposed to marketing) emails need to comply with email  laws? To what degree?

4)   Should my company expand a single-message campaign (like a Welcome for new subscribers) into a series? And what should it look like if we do?

5)   How can I use email automation/triggered campaigns to capture untapped revenue? Am I leaving money on the table by not using email in certain ways?

6)   What advice to you have for re-engaging inactive customers or email subscribers? How do I go about designing a program to do this?

7)   What are the most cost-effective ways to grow my list? Where do I turn?

8)   When is the best time to send email? How do I figure that out by testing or some other means?

9)   I’m a B2B company – how do I use email marketing to grow business when a single sale can take months?

10) How can I improve my email creative/template design? Make it mobile-responsive?

(and a biggee . . .)

11) How much email should I send (what’s my optimal frequency and how do I determine it)?

What Can Working With an Email Marketing Coach Do For You?

• Create a roadmap for your email message strategy and an editorial calendar for the month, quarter or year, by product, audience or program
• Boost email performance with insight into better offer segmentation and offer design
• Dissect poor-performing email campaigns to understand what is depressing response (and turn it around!)
• Discover your optimal email (and overall digital messaging) cadence – timing, frequency and rest intervals
• Leverage email and social media marketing via strategic connections for greater audience reach
• Implement or integrate content marketing into your email program(s)
• Get advice and workshop-style critiques on email message creative, response/landing pages and sign-up, unsubscribe, or preference center pages
• Learn what to measure and how to analyze the metrics you may already have

Where to Turn For Help

Here are 5 free or low-cost ways to get email coaching:

1) Schedule a Free Consult. Many agencies and consultants offer a free consult as a way to determine if they can help you and if there’s a fit for working together. Because sometimes a little help is all you need, take advantage of a complimentary session like this. Whether you discover that a single session is plenty or not enough, you’d be crazy not to invest an hour to get free help when you really need it.

2) Visit an Email Coaching Clinic. Many conferences, events, and associations have “free clinics” staffed with experts you can sit down with in person or by phone for assistance. The annual Marketing Sherpa Email Summit in Vegas is known for this, and if you attend you can book coaching clinic sessions all day long with different experts. Or, dial into one of the eec’s new Email Coaching Clinic monthly calls (next one in September) for free advice from vetted industry leaders. Sign up for eec email here to be notified of upcoming clinics.

3) “Dial-A-Coach” by the minute. With on-demand services like Clarity, you can search for a business expert in almost anything, then book and pay only for the time you need (often down to as little as 15 minutes!) These services aren’t free, but are an affordable way to try out several coaches or get quick help when you’re in a pinch.

4) Ask your ESP. Depending on the email services provider (ESP) you currently use to send campaigns, strategic assistance might already be included. It pays to check your contract and find out; if so, use it! But even if professional services cost extra, your client services rep might know enough to assist you with a few quick strategic questions, especially if they’re related to tactical questions you have about proper implementation.

5) Bring the Coach to You. Can’t get to a conference, event or group call? Especially if yours is a large company or you have entire teams a coach can help, consider bringing the coach to you for a private “workshop”, “intensive” or “VIP” day. Most coaches and consultants will happily travel to your location for a dedicated deep-dive into your issues and questions. Many of us also integrate this with facilitated sessions for finally mapping out your strategy, new programs, or annual plan (click to see what we offer). While this is the most expensive of options, it’s also hands-down the biggest bang for your marketing buck and usually costs less than attending a publicly-available training or class, neither of which are customized to your business nor designed to deliver specific advice.

Whether you need a little email marketing help at a time or a day-long bootcamp overhaul for one or many, it’s never been easier to get the advice, support, encouragement, motivation, and guidance an email marketing coach provides. Here’s to seeing you at practice and leaving it all on the field!

Please share your burning email marketing questions, challenges, controversies and confusion in comments below. What would you ask an email coach if you could?