We're now Mailchimp certified: what it means for your email marketing

Some news from us: Nova Connects is now Mailchimp certified. We've done Mailchimp's own training and passed their exams, so when we set up or run email marketing for your business, it's done the way the platform is built to work.

That's the badge. Here's why it matters to you.

What Mailchimp certification actually is

Mailchimp runs its own training programme, Mailchimp Academy, for agencies and freelancers who build email marketing for clients. To get certified you work through their courses and pass their tests. It isn't a one-off either. Mailchimp expects certified partners to keep their knowledge current as the platform changes, so it's something we keep up, not a certificate we frame and forget.

Why we bothered

Most of our work is getting new people to find you: Google Ads, social content, landing pages. But paying to win a customer once and never speaking to them again is expensive. Email is how you bring them back.

Your email list is one of the few marketing channels you actually own. Algorithms change, ad costs go up, but the people who've given you their email address are yours to talk to whenever you want. We wanted to make sure that when we set this up for clients, we were doing it properly.

What it means for your business

• A list that's set up right. Sign-up forms on your website, tags and segments so you're not sending the same email to everyone, and consent handled properly.

• Emails that send themselves. Welcome emails for new subscribers, follow-ups after an enquiry, birthday offers, abandoned basket reminders and "we miss you" emails for customers who haven't been back in a while.

• Emails that land in the inbox. Proper domain setup and sensible sending habits, so your emails don't end up in spam.

• Reporting that means something. Not just open rates. We look at clicks, bookings and sales, the same way we report on ads.

What this looks like in practice

A dessert bar can send its members first look at a new menu drop, and a birthday treat that brings them in with friends. A trade business can send a service reminder a year after the job and ask happy customers for a Google review. A shop can remind someone about the basket they left behind. None of it needs to be complicated. It just needs to be set up once and set up well.

Ads bring them in, email brings them back

The best results come when it all works together. Your ads and social content bring new people to your website, your website captures their email, and your emails turn first-time buyers into regulars. That's the joined-up approach we take with every client, and being Mailchimp certified means the email part is as solid as the rest.

If you're not using email yet, or you've got a list sitting there doing nothing, book a free 15-minute call. We'll look at what you've got and tell you what we'd set up first.