For small businesses, it’s tough to decide which marketing strategies will best benefit their business ventures. There is a lot to consider before investing in marketing ideas that may make or break their reputation in the digital market. Of course, you also would not want to exhaust and waste your budget and resources on marketing campaigns that are not certain to boost your edge in the marketplace. So, if you’re looking for a budget-friendly and effective marketing idea, then email marketing is the answer.
Did you know that some studies show that majority of customers still prefer receiving marketing materials through email? Email marketing has been around for a long time and for good reason. It’s been a part of most, if not all, businesses’ toolkit throughout the years and continues to be a dominant marketing channel. In fact, marketing through email can still generate more conversions than social media. When done right, it is a really effective and inexpensive way to improve engagement and drive sales.
Here Are Effective Ways to Leverage Email Marketing
You can turn one-time buyers into loyal customers when you leverage this marketing channel right. Not only that but small business owners can also improve customer relationships with existing customers and make their brand known to a far greater market.
We understand the struggle that start-up businesses face when trying to build their image and reputation in the online scene. So, today, we will help you out by sharing effective ways to use email to market your small business.
Make signing up to your mailing list convenient
First and foremost, you have to make sure that customers can sign up to your mailing list without hassle. If you have a website, add or create subscription forms on some areas on your site, such as in your home page, footer area, or near the navigation bar. That way, your customers can easily spot the form and subscribe conveniently.
Create varying content
Repetitive promotional email content can get annoying and will negatively impact consumer interest. To avoid that, you must create varying email content that makes consumers feel that they are being offered something of value to them. You can achieve this by sending different types of email, such as the following:
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Event emails
Holding a seminar, product demo, or hosting an event? You can use email marketing to invite local customers to your business events.
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Newsletters
Share relevant and valuable information to your customers. This could include engaging content, promotional materials, discounts, and many more.
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Promotions
Have upcoming sales, discounts, special deals, or coupons? Your customers will definitely want to know about promotional deals! Let them know through email marketing and watch your sales and revenue skyrocket in no time.
Segmenting your email lists
Instead of sending the same generic email to all your customers on the mailing list, why not segment your email list? That way, the marketing emails you send will sound more personalized. For example, create email content targeting customers that have made a purchase recently, another for your new subscribers, or make one for those who have not opened their emails in a while.
Do not forget call to actions
Give your customers something to do when they read your email. That way, you increase engagement and encourage customers to make a purchase, schedule an appointment, or avail of a service, among others.
To make your call to actions effective, below are some tips you can apply:
- Don’t make your CTA wordy.
- Make it action-oriented (e.g., Click Here, Download Here, Register Now).
- Ensure it is easy to find.
- Create urgency (e.g., 40% off today only).
- Make the button or text large, legible, and visually clear.
- Avoid having more than one CTA.
Do not be over the top with your design
Different email types have their respective templates or designs to follow. However, always take note that the primary purpose of emails is to save customers time. So, don’t get over the top with your email designs. Focus on the content.
Focus on quality and not quantity
No one likes to get bombarded with repetitive and generic promotional emails in their inbox. Your customers will probably regret subscribing to your mailing list if you do that. So, instead of spamming your customer’s inbox, focus on creating email content that your target audience will like to read. The value of the content is always more important than the number of emails you send.
Make it mobile-friendly
The majority of your customers are reading their emails through their mobile phones. Provide them with the best experience by ensuring your marketing emails are mobile-responsive and optimized. Remember that all it takes is one negative customer experience and your consumers will likely unsubscribe to your mailing list.
Set up an automated welcome email
Make your new email subscribers feel welcomed from the get-go. Doing so will build customer trust and start your customer relationship right. Not only do automated emails improve customer relationships but they can also save your business a lot of time.
Make it accessible to customers with visual or cognitive impairments
Technology advancement paved the way for email accessibility. With the help of voice assistants and screen readers, promotional emails can now be easily accessible for readers with cognitive or visual impairments.
Here are other tips to make it more accessible for various customers:
- Use bullet points
- Avoid difficult words
- Make it concise and legible
- Create helpful descriptions for images
- Use headers
- Choose fonts and colors that make it more readable
Analyze the email’s performance for future email campaigns
Clicking “send” is not the last step in email marketing. After sending your email campaigns, take this opportunity to evaluate its performance, the boost in sales and revenue, and the conversions you got, among others. You will learn a lot about your target audience’s behavior and prepare for your future email campaigns.
Your Advantages with Email Marketing
This marketing strategy is still widely used by big and small businesses alike. Those who have not tried email marketing might not be able to understand right away why this strategy remains popular despite the ever-changing market and consumer. So, we have listed down below the primary reasons as to why leveraging email marketing is the best choice for a small business like yours.
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No need to break your bank
Don’t have the luxury of spending lavishly on paid advertisements and other mainstream marketing channels? Not to worry. Leveraging email marketing will not require a big sum. You might want to consider investing in a specialist software for automation, tracking, and evaluating emails, but rest assured that their costs are far lower than other marketing campaigns.
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You are communicating to an already engaged audience
Your biggest advantage with email marketing is that it’s the only marketing channel that consumers ask to receive. Most businesses send email marketing materials to customers who signed up on their mailing list. Hence, this will guarantee higher conversions and drive more sales as you’re already talking to an interested customer.
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It drives more sales
When it comes to driving more revenues, there’s no better marketing channel than email marketing. You can take advantage of impulse buyers with tempting calls to action and direct links to products, services, consultations, appointments, and more. Furthermore, consumers are likely to buy something that they can easily access in just a few clicks.
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It is easy to use
Creating effective email campaigns is quick and easy. Email marketing also does not require a big team to make it work. Moreover, most successful email marketing materials use simple and plain templates. This suggests that consumers focus more on the email’s content and not on fancy templates — though good templates can also help attract customers.
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Reach a wider audience
The bigger your market, the more sales and conversions for your business. Email marketing is especially useful for small business owners. This marketing channel will let you reach consumers no matter where they are in the world. A global audience means more opportunities for you to skyrocket your reputation in the global marketplace.
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See results in an instant
Want faster conversions and more sales? This brilliant marketing ploy can do wonders for your business. Email marketing creates a sense of urgency that will lead consumers to make immediate actions. Instead of waiting for weeks to see marketing results, leverage emails to drive sales within minutes.
What to Avoid in Email Marketing
Poorly written and designed email campaigns can negatively affect your business reputation. Your customers will likely just send your marketing emails straight to the bin or spam folder if you do things that will annoy or disinterest them. You wouldn’t want that, right? So, we have listed below the common mistakes that email marketers make for your reference and guidance in your future email campaigns.
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Poor subject lines
Most people don’t have the time to read every content provided in emails. So, customers usually just scan each email subject to find things that pique their interest or are of value to them. Avoid creating subject lines that scream spam. Instead, make it professional sounding and personalized.
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Don’t write misleading content
Customers today avoid reading any content that hints phishing scams. So, ensure that your email content is relevant and not shady. Once your business is regarded with a negative reputation, it will be hard for you to gain customer trust in the future, especially if you are a small business.
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Not beta testing email campaigns
Have you come across marketing emails that look awkward or do not load properly on your phone, tablet, or computer? That’s probably because email marketers are not beta testing the emails they send on different devices. Failing to do so can result in the loss of potential revenue and your customers unsubscribing to your mailing list.
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Not tracking your email campaigns
Email marketing does not simply end by clicking send. Afterward, you will have to determine, track, and monitor whether the promotional email you sent is successful or got sent straight to the bin. Knowing this will allow you to plan and create better content for the future email campaigns you’ll send.
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Sending emails at the wrong time
It’s best to find out what’s the best time to send your email campaigns. Learn which time best engages your target audience. For example, readers usually read newsletters in the morning when they commute or when they arrive at work. Time-sensitive email campaigns will also help avoid getting your emails mixed up in a crowded inbox.
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Using a lot of stock images
Your marketing emails are better off not having any images at all than including stock images that your customers have seen a lot elsewhere.
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Having sales-heavy content
Personalize the email campaigns you send. Customers tend to ignore emails that contain too much promotional content. Instead of highlighting how good your products or services are, talk about the benefits that customers can get and other things that will be of value to your consumer.
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Too many words
Not all your customers have the time to read long paragraphs. Make the email content short and concise. Too much content will only make readers lose interest in your email campaign.
The Key Takeaways
Proweaver understands how tough gaining a competitive edge in the marketplace can be. So, for small businesses that need room to grow and succeed in the digital market, leveraging email marketing will help you achieve that and more. It is a great marketing tool for big and small brands alike. As long as your marketing campaigns are done right, expect a boost in sales, conversions, and improved customer engagement and loyalty.
Proweaver Can Help
If you are having a hard time navigating the digital market, our expert developers, SMM and SEO specialists, and content writers are always ready to help. We have served thousands of happy customers in their digital ventures. Give us a call at +1 (866) 777-8315 for more details on our digital marketing services.