What gets sent 205 billion times per day but only gets read about one-quarter of the time?
Your emails.
Depending on the industry, marketing emails might be opened more or less than that, but it’s a general indication of how many emails you send out versus how many do what they’re intended to do — nurture your leads and engage your customers.
From the moment we wake up, every couple of minutes during the work day, and right up until we go to sleep, we’re constantly checking our email. That alone is a pretty great reason to make email marketing a focus for your business. Want another one? Email marketing has the highest ROI, with approximately a $40 return for every $1 spent.
Obviously, email can be beneficial to every business. But, what can you do to ensure that your emails are effective, don’t end up in a spam box, and actually get opened? Just follow these tips for success.
Understand Your Focus
While every email doesn’t have to stick to the same theme, by and large, you start an email marketing campaign with the idea that the emails are going to accomplish a particular thing. Do you want to grow your community? Get more engagement on your site? Highlight specials? Bring more attention to your store and convert that into sales? For example, if you own a fitness center, your goal for your email list might be to educate and inspire clients to keep them motivated and returning.
But it’s important to define and stick to your email marketing goals. Sorry, “lead nurturing” is way too narrow a goal. Shoot for something solid like, “increase lead conversion by 30% this calendar year,” or, “encourage 15% more people to use our products and services after the sale.”
The List Matters
Third-party lists aren’t very effective. To get a real return on your investment, whether you want to build engagement or convert new customers, you need an email list that is composed of people who want to be there.
So how do you build that list?
A great way is with a pop-up on your site for first time visitors, all the better if you’re giving away a little freebie with signup. Have a signup form in the sidebar or at the top of your site, and link to it occasionally on social media. Any time you have a contest or giveaway, make signing up to your email list one of the ways to get an entry. A good old pen and paper signup sheet at your retail checkout and at all events is always a good bet, too.
At The Get Smart Group, we use a number of highly effective ways to generate solid, high-quality leads to build email lists: lead forms, landing pages, webforms, and more. Furthermore, we can help you target these leads effectively by designing drip campaigns that match your specific products and services. No more general emails that don’t speak to what a particular lead originally showed interest in.
Meaningful Emails
Once you’ve built that email list, how do you get people to open your emails, keep opening them, and stay subscribed? With well-designed, highly-targeted content!
Depending on what your focus is, this will be unique for each business, but in general, if your email is adding value to your subscriber, they’ll stay subscribed and keep reading. Here’s a few ideas.
- Does your email content answer their questions?
- Is it wholly a sales pitch, or does it provide useful, actionable information?
- Are you sending subscribers blog posts or a newsletter? The content needs to stay fresh, well-written, and engaging.
- Are you sending marketing offers? You may think the only time customers will be interested is if you notify them of specials or sales, but announcing new stock, limited editions, or focusing on a specific feature of your product is effective, too.
- Invitations and event notifications are a great way to improve CRM (Customer Relationship Management). Every time you host or sponsor a special event or class, or have something noteworthy on your calendar, it’s a good thing to include in an email to your subscribers. Sending pictures and an update after an event is also good email fodder.
- Always include images, graphics, and other visual content.
If you follow these tips, you can confidently create that subscriber list, knowing your emails will be well-received. Need a little help with emails, or managing your online marketing in general? Let us give you a review of your current online marketing methods, plus give you a few tips on meeting your goals with a Free 30 Minute Marketing Consultation!
