So you want to know if email marketing is still a good tool to spend your time and money on? The simple answer: You bet it is!
Let me tell you why. The number of emails sent/received in 2020 was around 306.4 billion, and by 2025 that number could be as high as 376.4 billion.
That’s right, email is alive and well and remains the #1 channel for communication.
This article will tell you what email marketing is, why your business needs to use it, and how you can get started.
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Email marketing is a form of digital marketing used to send targeted emails to a contact list. These targeted emails are intended to get your list to buy your products or services.
The most important requirement for your list is that it’s full of people who’ve given you permission to send them emails.
Using social media to promote your products or services is a solid marketing plan. But keep this in mind: You don’t own those platforms, and you have no control over how they behave. These channels can (and do) change their algorithms whenever they want, and this affects how and when your posts are seen.
But you do own your email list. When you send your email, it arrives in your reader’s inbox at the time you’ve decided is best to send it. It doesn’t get filtered and replaced by something a formula decided is more interesting. So, you’re the one controlling what gets seen and when.
There’s more good news. Take a look at these statistics:
☑️ 50% of the global population uses email
☑️ 99% of consumers check their email at least once a day
☑️ 66% of consumers prefer to receive brand communications by email (versus 23% over social media)
☑️ ROI of 42:1 – for every dollar you spend on email marketing, you can expect $42 in return
☑️ 40x more effective than social media for getting new customers
Using an email service provider (ESP) allows you to send bulk messages to your list without having them end up in a spam or junk mail folder.
There are many ESPs to choose from. Here’s a list of some good ones:
Constant Contact
Sendinblue
Hubspot
Drip
Convertkit
Mailchimp
Mailerlite
Another useful feature of an ESP is automation. You can schedule your emails to be sent at a prime open time and instantly deliver your opt-in (freebie) as soon as they click the button.
With an ESP you can organize your contacts into segments. Segments are groups of people with behaviors or interests in common. Let me give you some examples:
New subscribers
Products
Abandoned cart
Gender
Location
Past purchase history
Creating a specific email sequence to send to these segments is perfect for making sure they only what applies to them by. There’s no limit to the number of segments you can create or sequences you can send.
Here are a few suggestions:
Welcome emails have an 82% open rate. So, make sure you send one as soon as someone hits the subscribe button or says yes to your offer (more about the offer in Step 2).
Take advantage of their newfound interest and send a few more to introduce yourself and your business. This helps them get to know you and builds a relationship.
Right now, they’re just sticking their toes in the water and probably not ready to buy anything from you. That’s why it’s so important to build a relationship before you asking them to buy.
The nurture sequence follows the welcome sequence. Use these emails to give your readers things to improve their lives or businesses, such as tools, advice, and education.
But that’s not all.
You should ask your readers to do something at the end of the email by dropping a Call to Action (CTA) at the end. In addition to asking them to buy your product or service, you can ask them to:
↪️ Follow you on a social media channel
↪️ Comment on what you said in your email
↪️ Share it with a friend
↪️ Tell me what you want to know
↪️ Read (or subscribe to) my blog
↪️ Book a free consult
Sometimes the people on your list stop opening your emails, or they open them but don’t take any action. But they haven’t hit the unsubscribe button yet, so you can move them into a kick start segment and send an offer to rev them up and get them engaged again.
This sequence builds curiosity and increases interest in something they can’t have yet. By the time your new product or service is available, they can’t wait to hit the buy now button.
The best way to grow your email list is to offer an incentive for someone to give you their email address. We call this a freebie, an offer, or an opt-in. Basically, it’s a bribe.
The opt-in is only effective, however, if it’s valuable and helpful. Here are some suggestions:
💡 Ebook
💡 Cheatsheet
💡 Checklist
💡 Case studies
💡 Webinar
💡 Free samples
💡 Coupon
💡 Quiz or self-assessment
💡 Free quote or consultation
Deliver your offer immediately, so they can use it right away.
A good way to ensure your email lists are full of quality leads is to use a double opt-in. When someone hits the subscribe button or says yes to your offer, that’s the first opt-in. Sending them an email to confirm their subscription or email address is the second opt-in.
The double opt-in keeps your email list clean, reduces your bounce rate, and keeps you from being marked or reported as spam.
You also need to make it easy to unsubscribe. This will also keep your email list clean, reduce your bounce rate, and keep you from being marked or reported as spam.
Getting your audience to open your emails is just the beginning. You need to keep their attention, keep them reading, and get them to answer your call to action.
Here are a few helpful tips:
📌 Create an attention-grabbing headline that gets them curious
📌 Personalize your subject line
📌 Use emojis in your subject line
📌 Give them content that benefits them
📌 Use a friendly, conversational tone
📌 Make it easy to ready by using bullets, putting key points in bold, and writing brief paragraphs
📌 Optimize the email for mobile phones by:
◾ using a simple, single-column format under 600px wide
◾ including a large CTA button that’s easy for thumbs to hit
◾ keeping some distance between links so they don’t accidentally click on the wrong one
Each ESP has certain reporting tools (analytics) that let you know how successful your email campaigns are. These reports tell you important information, such as if your subscribers:
👁️ Opened the email
👁️ What time they opened it
👁️ If they clicked on any links
👁️ If they unsubscribed
👁️ Where they’re located
When you test different subject lines or offers, these reporting tools will help you see which ones are the most effective, so you end up with the results you set out to get.
Embarking on email marketing will not give you overnight success. It takes time to build your lists with quality leads, and it takes time for those leads to know, like, and trust you enough to buy.
The best time to start email marketing was 5 years ago. The second best time is today.
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