Over the past few years, social media has become more and more important in the world of marketing, overshadowing some of the more traditional marketing channels such as email.
However, if you are hesitant to pay for or learn how to use a new email marketing tool, you might be glad to hear that you can easily get started with email marketing for your company using simple extensions for Gmail, an email client that most people are now familiar with.
Should I use Gmail for email marketing?
Unless you’re living under a proverbial rock, you probably know that there are tons of email marketing tools available for email marketers, from newbies to pros. Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, GetResponse, you name it. However, creating email campaigns with those tools costs quite a lot of money so you may be tempted to use Gmail instead.
In short, Gmail is free and that is its strongest selling point. If you want o create email marketing campaigns for peanuts, this is the tool to go for. It also comes with a bunch of third-party plugins and tools you can use to power up your campaigns and reach out to your Google contacts.
As a downside, Gmail limits your outbound emails to 500 per day. This is a serious limitation for bulk email campaigns. Moreover, you don’t have any options for email verification, segmentation, drip campaigns or any kind of automation.
In short, if you’re on a budget and looking to get a taste of what email marketing could look like within Google Workspace, it’s a decent option for an email builder. However, for anything beyond the basics, we recommend getting a dedicated email service provider account.
Step 1: Creating a contact list in Gmail
To get started with Gmail when it comes to email marketing, the first thing you need to do is decide on the Gmail marketing tool that you want to use for email services.
If you want to send mass emails, you can still use the Gmail interface that you are familiar with, but you will need to use this along with an extension since sending emails to large mailing lists without one can be difficult to manage and will quickly become overwhelming.
There are lots of different options to choose from, including Yet Another Mail Merge or Right Inbox, which offer a lot of great features designed for mass email marketing and cold outreach campaigns.
This is not to say that you can’t use Gmail alone for an effective email campaign, but it will get pretty difficult. For a properly powerful email marketing tool, look beyond those that rely on Gmail as a basis.
Step 2: Getting around the 500-email limit in Gmail
One of the downsides to using marketing extensions with Gmail instead of a dedicated email marketing platform is that you have a limit of only five hundred emails per day. If your email list is less than 500, you’re probably going to manage fine, but if you have a larger list then you might need to consider looking for a different solution for sending out promotional emails or newsletters.
Assuming that your email list is less than five hundred emails, you can manage it easily with Google Sheets. To do this, download and install a Google Sheets add-on, such as Yet Another Mail Merge, and add it to your list in Google Sheets. All you need to do when you’re ready is click on ‘Send X Emails’ and your email newsletter is ready to go.
Alternatively, you can use Google Sheets to manage your list, and simply copy the emails into the BCC field when you write your email using Gmail. While this is hardly considered email automation, it gets the job done quickly without using proprietary email marketing software. Luckily, you can save all your data on Google Drive for future progress and new mass email campaigns.
Step 3: Personalising your bulk emails
There are many benefits to personalising your marketing emails, including reducing the risk of them being trapped in spam filters, and encouraging recipients to open and respond well to future emails.
An Experian study found that emails that are personalised to whoever is receiving them have a huge 600% better transaction rate compared to those that do not. Merge fields and list segmentation are two of the main ways that you can personalise your emails using Gmail.
By using a marketing add-on that allows merge fields, you can add your customer’s name, instead of the generic ‘dear customer’, making the interaction feel more personal and targeted from the start. By reaching out to personal email accounts in this way, you’re guaranteed better metrics across the board.
Unfortunately, you cannot change your sender address, which may halt your email marketing efforts a bit. However, this should not affect your email deliverability or other email marketing metrics.
Step 3: Segmenting your lists
Although you can only send five hundred emails per day with Gmail for email marketing, chances are that if you have five hundred emails on your list then there are going to be a lot of different people included.
To make sure that your recipients are getting relevant email messages that they are interested in, you should segment your list. This refers to breaking your list up into different sections or ‘segments’ that are based on criteria like user behaviour or demographics.
This will help you increase the chance that you’re sending relevant content to each subscriber, which ultimately increases the chance that they are going to act on it. You’re going to ensure that one type of email goes out to one audience segment instead of blasting the same content to all subscribers.
Step 4: Going beyond the Gmail limit
While Gmail can be an excellent tool for getting started with email marketing, it is unlikely to be one that you are going to use for the rest of time since eventually, you may end up with more emails on your list than Gmail will allow you to send messages to each day.
As mentioned earlier, one of the drawbacks of using Gmail for email marketing is that there is a daily send limit of five hundred, which might not be a problem when you are first starting out but can make it difficult to ensure that you are communicating with all your subscribers when your email list grows.
If you are taking proactive steps to build your email lists such as lead magnets and sign-up forms on your website and social media, then it is important to be prepared for what you are going to do once you reach this limit of large mail volumes.
By now, you will have built your experience using Gmail for email marketing and may feel more ready to upgrade to an email marketing tool. Choose one that is easy to use, very user-friendly, and has all the features that you need for your bulk mailings.
Step 5: Split testing your Gmail marketing emails
When it comes to email marketing, it is a combination of science and art. Creativity is definitely needed to come up with engaging copy and design emails that are aesthetically pleasing.
However, at the same time, you need to be able to put more scientific strategies into practice to see how well your efforts and marketing messages are working. Split testing is one of the best ways to test your emails to see what is going to work best for the recipients in your address book.
It is a simple process that involves sending one email to half of your list, and the same email but with something different included to the other half. You can split test different things like email designs, copy, subject line, and more.
You can then track metrics like open rates, click-through rates, read time, and more to see which one performs best. It’s best to stick to one change at a time to get a better idea of what it is that is causing the changes. And you can perform A/B or split testing for anything that your emails might include such as preheader text, subject line, images, calls to action, colours, font sizes, copy, videos, and more.
Split testing may sound like a chore but it is a surefire way to skyrocket your engagement rates through effective campaigns.
Step 6: Measuring your success
As you continue to use Gmail to market your brand, you should consistently measure your success to check whether or not your efforts are having the desired effect. You can do this by either collecting data manually, for example, by sending out surveys or using an analytics tool.
The click-through rate or CTR is one of the most important ratios to consider when it comes to measuring email marketing success. This measure refers to the number of people that have clicked on a link in your email in comparison with the number of people that have viewed it.
Step 7: Additional tools to help you get started with gmail marketing emails
While it’s possible to start sending marketing emails with Gmail, you will need some marketing tools and add-ons to help you get the best results. Some good Chrome extensions, browser extensions, plugins and tools to consider include:
Bouncer
Bouncer is an email verification tool that helps you get rid of invalid email addresses. Some people on your list stop using an email, they leave a company or something happens and the account is inactive. Bouncer helps you clean up your lists so you’re left only with the actual email addresses of real people, ultimately building up your sender reputation. Clean contact lists and higher email engagement, what is not to like?
If you’re looking for one way to improve your deliverability rate and lower your bounce and unsubscribe rates, Bouncer is a necessity to get started!
RightInbox
With a lot of great productivity features, this add-on is designed to seamlessly integrate with Gmail. You can set tasks, add reminders, create follow-up emails, and schedule emails for later. There’s the option to create various signatures to add to the end of your emails and set up recurring emails.
Yesware
Yesware is a great Gmail extension that offers a set of tools you can use in email marketing. Monitor sent emails and get access to metric reports on deliverability, open rates, click rates, and more. You’ll get access to important email analytics and can easily set up and conduct A/B testing with this tool.
Boomerang
Boomerang can be a useful extension to have when it comes to scheduling emails. You can use it for non-marketing communications, such as when sending emails to customers or colleagues who live in different time zones, or use it to schedule marketing emails to be sent at a specific time.
WiseStamp
A professional email signature can make all the difference when sending marketing emails using Gmail. WiseStamp is a Gmail extension that provides you with all the tools you need to create a professional email signature.
There are several templates available to choose from that you can customise until you are happy with it. You can add several details including your name, contact number, social media information, web address, logo, photos, and more.
Mailtrack
If you want to get more information on open rates, this Gmail extension can be very useful since it lets you know when and how many times a recipient opens your email. All you need to do is set your tracking preferences, and you can set tracking only when needed so you’re not overloaded with information. A simple checkmark is shown in your outbox, to signify that an email has been opened.
SendPulse Save Email Template
Most Gmail extensions are designed to work with text. But if you want to get the template of an email that you have received, you can use this plugin to save emails in your SendPulse account as ready-made templates that you can use later.
While there are many great email marketing tools out there, Gmail can be an effective option for getting started.
Wrapping up
By now, you can see that using Gmail for email marketing is not only possible but can actually bring some decent results. While it cannot be used for email blasts, automated or drip campaigns, Gmail can help you do a lot with a single, free email address.
And if you want to keep your bounce rates low and click-through rates soaring high, make sure to validate your emails before sending them. With Bouncer, you can make sure you’re sending emails to real people so you can avoid hard bounces and getting caught in spam traps.
Grab a Bouncer account today and send cleaner, more effective emails today!
Frequently asked questions
Is Gmail a good option for email marketing?
It depends on your needs and the results you want to achieve. For email marketing beginners, it’s a solid choice but you’re going to need to upgrade at some point.
How many people can I send emails to in Gmail?
Technically, to an unlimited number of people, but you can only send up to 500 emails per day.
What is the best email marketing tool for Gmail?
It depends on your needs, but you should start with RightInbox and Yet Another Mail Merge.
