TL;DR: Don't let your team sleep on email marketing. Start curating your messages to see better results.
2 – Email Marketing: Not Just for Nigerian Princes Anymore Intro
2.1 – It's cost-effective.
2.2 – It's targeted.
2.3 – It's measurable.
2.4 – It builds relationships.
2.5 – It's fun.
Overview of Terms used. Marked with an asterisk (*).
ESP – or Email Service Provider, this is the platform that you're using to send mass email sends and campaigns. This is different than Outlook or gmail, which is only for personal use and not optimized to send to a large number of people.
Segment/Segmentation – to divide your contact list into multiple categories
Open rates – a metric that determines the amount of people that opened a particular email campaign. This metric is the crux of a successful campaign. Simply, if no one is opening your email, then you are not getting conversions.
Click-through rates – a metric that determines how many people visit the particular link you have featured in your email, most commonly leading customers to your business website.
A/B testing – sending two versions of a campaign to determine which performs better. From subject lines, to button colors, you can see what your audience is responding to more to make future adjustments.
Real talk: when you hear "email marketing," what comes to mind? Spammy emails cluttering up your inbox from sketchy companies trying to sell you something? It doesn't have to be this way.
If you're a business owner and you're sleeping on email marketing, then you need to wake up. Everyone who has ever had a job, gone to school, or set up a bank account has an email address. Believe it or not, your reach is not only greater with email marketing, it will not fall victim to the Great Algorithm like it would with social media.
Your email campaigns should not be the last thing you get around to or the one part of your marketing that is neglected, email is more than just lip service – it's a crucial tool for any business looking to grow.
Here are five reasons why it's time to to embrace the classic AOL slogan:
Forget about expensive print ads or billboard campaigns. With email marketing, you can reach thousands of potential customers for a fraction of the cost.
Email Service Providers*, (or ESPs as they're more widely known), come in all shapes and sizes with more robust tools for enterprises. If you're starting out, you can utilize free options like Klaviyo, MailChimp, MailerLite, Brevo (formerly Sendinblue), and Mailjet to name a few. Pricing tiers differ but mostly are contingent on contact list size and/or limited to a number of send per day/month.
I'd highly recommend finding an ESP that works best for you and your industry, and to make the most out of the free tier while you can.
With email marketing, you can segment* your audience and send specific messages to different groups based on their interests and behaviors.
Okay, let's break that last sentence down. Email marketing is more than sending the same campaigns to everyone. Segmenting is when you divide your entire customer list based on various things that are relevant to you and your business. For example, a realtor might have information to share with clients who are looking for a home, but have different information to share with his contacts that are looking to sell. In this case, the realtor would have two segments: one for buyers and one for sellers. That way, when he sends his message, it resonates with his client.
Better segmentation means you can personalize your message and increase the chances of conversion.
When relying on physical assets for marketing, it's hard to know if people are getting your message. After all the flyers and brochures are gone, you might wonder if the expense was worth it.
With email marketing, (and the right ESP), you can track open rates*, click-through rates*, perform A/B tests*, and see how your campaigns are performing. That way, you can make data-driven decisions and improve your strategy over time.
The key to great email marketing is always, by-and-large, consistent A/B testing.
Email marketing allows you to stay in touch with your customers and build relationships over time. This can be achieved in a number of ways, like implementing flows throughout the lifecycle of your customer's journey, or by providing useful content to establish trust and loyalty that can lead to repeat business.
Okay, maybe not for everyone, but if you're a nerd like me, you'll love the creative challenge of crafting the perfect email campaign. Plus, with all the analytics and data available, it's like a game – you get to see how well you did and try to beat your own score next time.
Email marketing is a game-changer for businesses that want to connect with their audience in a meaningful way. With the right approach, email marketing can be a cost-effective and targeted strategy that yields impressive results. So, stop neglecting our favorite form of communication. Embrace its power and watch your business grow and thrive in the digital landscape. It's time to unleash the full potential of email marketing and make it a cornerstone of your marketing strategy.
Not sure where to start? Feel free to connect with me.
