Email marketing, or email marketing, is a proven strategy for small businesses trying to build customer loyalty and promote their products and services.
A survey in the US revealed that about 35% of marketers email their customers frequently . Although most of these companies are big brands, small businesses also have the opportunity to gain a foothold and engage with their customers on a whole new platform. Considering that 73% of millennials prefer to receive messages from companies through email over other marketing channels, this could be the perfect time to invest in email marketing.
The good news is that it’s very easy to set up your own email marketing strategy . All you need is an incentive to click and soon you’ll be capturing your customers‘ attention every time they glance at their inbox.
Read on to discover our most effective tips and templates to help you create an email marketing strategy that delivers results.
What is email marketing?
Email marketing is a certain type of online advertising that combines direct and digital marketing strategies. It consists of sending emails to potential and current customers to promote services or products.
Email marketing is a simple and effective marketing solution for small businesses, especially since the process can be automated. You can use this channel to promote an offer, highlight a new product or service, and keep your customers interested in your brand.
Important: You will need to request authorization to send emails to potential or existing customers. To do this, add a registration form on your website to generate a list of subscribers who agree to receive your email communications.
What are the benefits of email marketing ?
According to statistics, email marketing contributes to consumer purchase decisions by 59% , which clearly indicates that it is a channel that is paying off for many brands and companies. Here are some of the main benefits of email marketing for your business.
1. It is profitable
Emails are one of the most profitable marketing channels out there. In fact, it is a completely free way to contact your customers.
If you are designing a campaign with a limited budget, using email marketing could be the solution. You won’t have to pay shipping or printing costs, and there are no branding fees, unlike many other traditional forms of marketing.
2. Allows you to send specific messages and at the right time
99% of consumers check their inboxes every day . This means that you can schedule your newsletters to be sent to your target audience at the most convenient times.
Also, introducing a subscription service means that your services will only be disclosed to those who are actively interested and engaged with your brand. You can narrow down the groups even further to divide your audience into different segments, depending on characteristics like age and location. This way you can personalize the content of your email campaigns.
3. Easy setup
There are so many third-party platforms out there that offer the ability to automate your email campaigns, setting up and monitoring your email marketing is pretty easy. Once you’ve set your goals and built a list of subscribers, all you need is strong content and visually appealing images to start engaging your customers.
4. It should drive revenue
Due to the profitability of email marketing, getting a single sale through your last email campaign could result in a positive return on investment (ROI). In addition, effective email marketing encourages customers to buy, especially by promoting eye-catching offers, a strong call to action, and a direct link to the purchase page.
5. Success is easy to measure
By focusing on a single channel for your marketing strategy, you’ll also be able to more easily track and measure the success of a specific campaign or your overall marketing efforts.
Most programs include a feature that allows you to monitor conversions and email response rates (clicks), so you can easily get an overview of what campaigns are working and decide where you should invest your resources and efforts.
6. Offers the potential for increased customer engagement
Your customers will need to actively subscribe to your email marketing, which means you’ll start from a certain level of trust and brand loyalty. Get creative with your campaigns: send customer surveys and share news about your brand and its journey.
Strategy templates for email marketing
There are a variety of free and low-cost services, tools, and templates that can help bring your email marketing strategy to life . Here are some of the tools you might consider:
- MailChimp – Gives you access to over 100 email marketing and newsletter design templates, and has a distribution capacity of up to 2,000 contacts for free.
- HubSpot – Download one of 15 email templates designed for marketing and sales, which themselves span multiple topics.
- ZOHO Campaigns – Create , send, and track your email marketing in one central location with free templates, automation tools, and real- time analytics.
Tips for your email marketing strategy
Email marketing can be an effective and valuable channel for your marketing initiatives. However, because so many brands make use of it, it’s easy for emails to get lost in customers’ inboxes.
Here are five tips for creating an effective email marketing strategy:
- Offer incentives. It is not enough to ask your customers to subscribe to your newsletter. You have to give them a compelling reason, such as exclusive offers or discounts. .
- Define your goals. Why are you sending the emails? Is your intention to attract traffic to your website or to increase sales among your regular buyers?
- Divide your subscribers. Once you have a growing list of subscribers, you can start sorting them based on their interests, characteristics, etc. This allows you to create more personalized emails.
- Automate the process. Create a schedule, decide who each email should go to, and let the software do the work for you.
- Keep track of your success. Regularly check the success of your email campaigns to see which elements are successful with your subscribers. Pay attention to the reception of your marketing strategy (via click-through rate), conversions, and unsubscribes.
