Email marketing is the preferred channel for many of today’s most successful marketers. For small businesses, it’s an easy, affordable way to reach a wide audience, converting prospects into customers and turning occasional customers into loyal fans. Here’s why:

  • Email is the communications channel people go to. Virtually everyone checks their email daily, something no other marketing channel can claim.
  • Your audience is under your control. You own your email list. On social media, your account, with all its fans and posts, is owned and controlled by the platform, which can suspend or delete you without notice.
  • You can’t beat email’s return on investment (ROI). It’s an amazing 4,400%, and the average email order is at least three times the value of an order from social media. Plus, people who buy products marketed through email spend 138% more than people who don’t receive email offers.

Setting Up Your Email Program

Build your list. Get website visitors to give you their email addresses by putting an opt-in form on your home page with a compelling offer, known as a “lead magnet.” This is something that appeals to your target audience that you give visitors if they give you their email addresses:

  • A coupon
  • A deal only available to email subscribers
  • A downloadable PDF with tips, case studies, or helpful information
  • An e-book
  • A free consultation, estimate, or webinar
  • A link to a special podcast or video

Get an email service provider. These automate scheduling and sending your emails, and provide other services, such as ways to segment your audience. Check out:

Decide on the type of emails you’ll create. Choose from: promotional emails with special offers; loyalty programs where repeat customers earn special discounts; regular e-newsletters with useful information; transactional emails documenting purchases, shipping notifications, and payments. This last type of email gets high open rates, and when it contains offers, they it can produce up to six times more revenue than other email types.

Produce the content. Think about what your audience needs that you provide. Answer their questions, provide valuable information, address their concerns. Develop emails for different audience segments, based on their purchase behavior, age, or needs.

Be mobile friendly. Make sure your emails are formatted for phones and tablets.

Running It

Set up a schedule. Email your list consistently, but don’t be an annoyance. The biggest reason people unsubscribe from emails is they get them too frequently. Contact folks more than once a month but no more than a few times a week, unless you’re sending out daily information or updates people requested. Fine tune your schedule by time of day—first thing, during breaks or lunchtime, or end of day.

Track performance. Keep improving your results by tracking:

  • Bounce rateP—email addresses that reject the email versus emails sent
  • Open rate—emails opened versus emails sent
  • Click-through rate—how often links in the email are accessed
  • Referral traffic—how many site visits came from the emails sent
  • Conversion rate—sales made versus emails sent
  • List growth rate—how often you gain new subscribers
  • Unsubscribe rate—how many subscribers opt out from each emailing

Some tips from the experts:

  • First send yourself a test copy. Check for message errors, typos, how links and CTA (call-to-action) buttons work, how content appears on mobile devices.
  • Don’t buy email lists. They have high unsubscribe rates and can hurt your image.
  • Make it easy to subscribe. Put several CTA buttons on your site and use autofill.
  • Make it easy to unsubscribe. Make unsubscribe links obvious, with friendly wording. People who opt out could refer you, or return later.

Remember, your AdviCoach is ready to help you develop the marketing programs that will take your business to the next level!