From the Ode to Bouncing Around to today…it’s been a week and a great weekend has passed. I’ve been able to do some shopping for gifts. Weekends are nice.
Now back to business. Today’s topic did not come directly to my mind but I want to be consistent and make your Thursdays valuable. And so, I’ve been rehashing it in my mind and I’ve realized that the most valuable information that I can share with you is my own experience. You can tell from the title that learning to use Mailchimp is not necessarily a straight road to knowledge.
It is more or less a bumpy ride. What I mean to say is that at a moment in time you will believe you “got it”. Soon, you will find something you missed out on. It is the course of life and by reading more you always realise there is something more you could have done. On a personal level, it’s frustrating.
There are highs and lows and there are feelings involved. As soon as you start sending emails to real email addresses, you get nervous. Will they open the email? Will they click on the link I wanted them to? Because it seems that all that matters are the results. How are we performing compared to the industry? Successful businesses and solopreneurs? How am I doing? Do they like me? It is personal as it is professional. Because liking on the personal level translates to client satisfaction.
However, in my opinion, it calls for dissociation. Results are merely feedback on your output. If there is a bad open or click rate, did I do a bad job? No. It just means that you and in this case, me; we, haven’t figured out yet how to do this email marketing thing well. How to propose the right kind of content to the right type of audience at the right time? Deliver the value they want when they want it. There is a huge amount of criteria that is used, researched and tested in order to get to the point that the professionals call the “industry average”.
The test and learn phase in never ending and it is uncomfortable. Making endless modifications and tests sucks! Can’t I just have a template and send it over and over again? Unfortunately, the answer is no. We need to tailor our communication to the audience we are addressing, at the time they wish to be addressed, to the type of industry we are in. I wish I had a course that would teach me how to do this. I think I’ve told you before though, I’ve done my research and there are no tutorials that I found more than half useful. My plan is to prepare my own little course. First, I’d like to organise the knowledge I’ve acquired and secondly, I’d like to create a manual for others that are struggling just like me who may find it useful.
I’m starting to finish this post slowly. Maybe this one isn’t as organized as it could’ve been but it actually conveys my point exactly. Learning is chaos.
So…what to learn from all this? From writing (and rewriting) this post I’ve come to the conclusion that this sort of discomfort and change means than you are doing something. You are moving. Maybe you don’t know exactly where you are going but the ride is bumpy because you are moving forward. And that is good.
So believe in yourself, even if it is a bumpy ride!
P.s. Here are two links that I found useful when preparing Campaigns (emails).
- On the right time to send your email : Best time to Send an Email
- On the industry benchmarks on open rates : Benchmarks according to the Industry
ana mohar 
This is the type of posts we should read more often! Meaning, we always use some kind of “filter” when publishing content. Thus we tend to forget about the real stuff like learning and failing before it gets perfect. Regarding tips and tutorials – have you read Neal Patel’s blog already (https://neilpatel.com/blog/category/email-marketing/)? I find him to be an important authority in digital marketing. Would be interesting to know, what do you think about his blog regarding your true experience in practice?
Thank you so much for your comment Tadeja! What a pleasure to read your comment. The name tells me something but I am checking him out further, thank you for your link.
I’d also like to invite my readers to check your blog http://manj.si/ about being a little more eco-friendly in this world crazy about packaging and extra decorations. Not to say I don’t participate but Tadeja, your blog is a really cool place to be. It’s fun, informative and I always feel good and entertained after reading one of your posts.
Thanks Ana for such a nice recommendation! ^^ I definitely look up to your blog as an inspiration of easy-to-read writing style!
Ah ah, you are flattering me too much! ^^ (*please continue*)