Did you know that email is the best performing marketing channel? In fact, for every dollar spent on email marketing, businesses earn an average of $38 in return. That's a pretty high ROI! But what is email marketing, exactly? And how can you make sure that you're getting the most out of your investment?
In this blog post, we will discuss what email marketing is and how you can create a strategy that yields great results for your business!
What is Email Marketing?
Email marketing is the process of sending marketing messages or advertisements to a group of people via email. The main purpose of email marketing is to build relationships with potential and current customers, and to encourage them to take action.
By building a list of subscribers and sending them regular updates, you can stay in the forefront of their minds, build trust, and eventually drive sales. Email marketing is an essential tool for any entrepreneur and business owner.
What Email Marketing is NOT
Just because a marketing message is sent via email, this does not mean this is email marketing.
Sending cold emails (emails sent without permission), unless sent under strict restrictions, is called SPAM and is hated by everyone who receives it, and the last thing you want is to be known as a spammer.
Permission Marketing is the ONLY way to go. This is where you get your subscriber to confirm their email address within a double opt-in sequence.
Adding Your Entire LinkedIn Connections
Another pet hate of mine (might as well get it all out there) is when your LinkedIn connection adds you to their email list. This is SPAM!
Yes, you may contact me through LinkedIn's messaging system but sending me regular, unsolicited emails is a huge f*ck no, especially those which have NO relevance to me nor my business and you've not taken the time to check whether or not I'm a good fit.
Yes, You Need an Email Marketing Service
There are a lot of different email marketing services (EMS) out there, so it's easy to become confused about which service best suits your needs.
We're not going to go into that here, but you can read more about how to choose the best email marketing service for YOUR circumstances by clicking the button below.
Strategies for Email Marketing
There are a few things you should keep in mind when crafting your email marketing strategy:
- Make sure your list consists of people who have double opted in to receive your emails. This may seem like a no-brainer, but it's important to only send emails to people who have actually signed up to receive them. Otherwise, you run the risk of being marked as spam.
- Plan out your customer journey. You want to educate them on you and your offerings and lead your subscribers on a path of growth where your products and/or services will be of most usefulness to them.
- Segment your list. Not every subscriber is the same and you want to reward those who engage with your emails and purchase your products/services. Also, say you have 3 different courses - Course A, Course B and Course C, you want to target those on your list who are interested in those courses so that when you send out your offers they are going only to those who are interested in the offer.
- Relationship building. Email marketing is an easy way to stay in touch with your customers and build relationships with them over time. You can do this by sending weekly newsletters, or email updates. Your most important relationship building exercise should be done when a new subscriber first signs up. This can be called the indoctrination or welcome automation/ campaign where you introduce yourself, your best content and what your new subscriber can expect in upcoming emails. Encourage engagement by asking them to reply to your emails and make sure when they do that you reply!
In conclusion, email marketing can be an incredibly effective way to reach your target audience and achieve your business goals. By following the tips above, you can create a strategy that will yield great results for your business!
