BASICS: What you need to know about EMAIL MARKETING
THE DIGEST—What you need to know about Email Marketing:
Be sure to include email as a strategy in your marketing toolbox: it’s cost-effective, and just about the only low-cost, one-to-one method of interacting with your audience that’s not controlled by a third party.
Send people emails that will help them (save money/time/stress, make money, improve something about their life—something that relates to your business).
NEVER put someone on your marketing list that hasn’t specifically agreed to receive marketing emails from you.
People have a love-hate relationship with email: they love to receive the email they want, and they hate being sent what they don’t.
Yes, plenty of consumers say they hate email. And plenty of your fellow business owners have told you it’s a waste of time to send it. But it’s important to consider what people DO, more than what they SAY.
The numbers tell us that plenty of people READ & RESPOND to EMAIL.
What do I mean by “plenty”?
A strong email marketing program for a small business might average 30%-60% open rate, and a 3-5% response (or click thru) rate. Meaning, they buy, download, register, click to read more, watch a video, subscribe, share with a friend…
Does that response rate sound small to you? Just 3-5 people out of 100?
Yes, and yet even these small numbers can equal BIG BUSINESS, especially when the cost of sending is so low, and the value of each of your contacts is so high!
How can you increase the response rate?
Help your readers save money, make money, save time, reduce stress, be entertained or informed, solve a problem, ask for help, (or any number of other valuable reasons you can think of).
Write subject lines that catch someone’s eye, and make readers eager to know more.
Don’t get caught up on the need to send a super short email, but DO make it easy to scan by using headings and subheadings, bullets, short paragraphs.
Sow good seeds and keep your business top-of-mind by providing value, entertainment, benefits… make it easy to buy again… and email can help you enjoy a good harvest.
What kind of results can you get from email marketing?
And results of sales emails in particular, the kind you might imagine people hate getting MOST OF ALL, tell a high-impact story.
On average, companies earn $36 for every $1 they spend in email marketing.
That’s quite a Return On Investment (ROI)! And those averages are even higher in some industries:
Travel, tourism & hospitality: $53 for every $1
Retail, entertainment, events, consumer goods & services: $45 for every $1
Software & tech: $40 for every $1
(Read the full study: https://www.litmus.com/blog/infographic-the-roi-of-email-marketing?ic=external)
If the numbers alone don’t convince you to put email into your marketing toolbox, here’s one that should:
Email also gives you a direct connection to your client or prospect.
This is also a reason it’s so important never to abuse the privilege. Email only people who give you permission, make it easy to opt-out of messages unrelated to an order, send only info that they want and will find valuable. Follow the CAN-SPAM guidelines.
Why not just use social media? Primarily because social media is controlled by a third party.
If your audience is all on Facebook, for instance (or whatever other social platform you prefer) and your profile gets blocked, what happens to your business?
Or maybe policies change and they slow distribution of your content, jack up rates?
Or just gets bought by someone with different politics or priorities?
Oh wait—ALL those things HAVE happened, to millions, in the years since social media came on the scene! There’s nothing wrong with including social media in your marketing mix, just don’t make it be your only means of maintaining contact with your audience.
The least of what you need to know about email marketing is that it’s smart to plan for it, and to use it intelligently. Don’t forget to sign up for OUR emails and get the news you need to succeed as an entrepreneur!