You have just got a website and now you want to get your business fully running. You are trying social media and several other marketing strategies, but why haven’t you thought of email marketing. I personally use GETRESPONSE as it comes with several functionalities.
Here’s a detailed explanation of email marketing and at the end of this article, you’ll have some questions answered like
- What is email marketing
- How does email marketing work?
- Can I find some Email marketing tools?
- What are the advantages of email marketing?
- What are the disadvantages of email marketing?
- How can I get the most of email marketing?
WHAT IS EMAIL MARKETING
Email marketing is using email to send commercial messages to a group of people…
It involves sending advertisement emails to people to achieve some objectives. It’s mostly used to build trust, loyalty and brand awareness or to promote a merchant relationship with customers who are still current or previous buyers, or to sell products and services.
We all receive emails from different brands, trying to promote an offer and we are like “not interested” I do feel that way though. But nevertheless, many people will be interested and this is one of the most effective ways people market.
Email marketing is one the oldest forms of advertising and still one of the most effective. It said to have an ROI of about $36 per dollar spent. Well, I can’t really assure that, but what I do know is that it’s very effective and the most popular ways big brands and other marketers promote.
Benefits of email marketing
1. You have total control over it
I can’t count how many times my social media accounts have been deactivated in my beginning with marketing especially when I’m almost closing a sale. Really painful and disappointing. Starting from scratch can be so painful. Care is needed as there are so many things that can backlist your account.
But in email marketing, the list is yours. You have total control over it, you can choose the kind of email campaigns you want to run, group your list for targeting, manage your webforms, emails and landing pages. With time, it will become one of your greatest assets.
2. Easy to use and you can measure results
To create an email marketing campaign is simple as you can design email templates, sign up forms with simple already made designs or tools that you can drag and drop and edit to your taste. And if it may still be hard for you, there are also ready-made templates that you can use.
You can integrate your email marketing software tool with Google analytics or other analytics to know the results your efforts are getting. This is good for planning as you’ll know which is getting more results and know how to manage the campaigns well.
3. High RIO
Email marketing is one of the most effective means of marketing. The average ROI with email marketing is about $36 for every dollar spent. So it’s like getting 36 times what you invested.
If you’re launching a sale or promotion, you can send email campaigns to your list and it will drive sales because it has high conversion rates. You can reach your customers and influence their buying anytime.
4. Accessibility
Emails are accessible to everyone. Well, I’ve seen many people who don’t use social media or they don’t use it too often, but when they check their emails often.
5. Low cost (Affordability)
Email marketing is not expensive to start. You can even see some free plans, but it’s not really advisable if you want to run it properly, but if you are just starting or on a tight budget, you can try the free plan before upgrading.
6. It helps to build brand awareness and loyalty
Emails are more reliable than social media post when it comes to reaching audience, as you will have no idea of who views your post but emails the engagement can be tracked.
How Does Email Marketing Work?
Now when thinking about starting email marketing, the first thing you’ll want to think of is the kind of people you would love to have on your list. If you’ve picked your niche already, then you will want to make sure you can get email list from people who will be interested in what you offer.
Then you’ll need email marketing software. There are so many emails marketing software out there but you have to choose the one that is best fit for you. I would recommend getresponse
This is good and you can send and manage your email subscribers and also manage your email campaigns. There are so many alternatives out there once again and you’ll have to do your best in finding the best fit for you. I personally use get response as it comes with so many features.
Get the Email List Coming In.
This is again where you put more effort and skills to see results. It’s not easy to get people to just give you their emails just like that. This is where you’ll have to apply for some skills like using incentives or anything that will make them want to give you. But be careful not to spread misinformation as it will spoil your reputation.
There are smart ways to start growing the email list. I’ve you have a website, then you should consider creating a pop-up form, where you can make people give you their emails in exchange for something relevant to them, like free e-books etc. So, it’s like a win-win for you guys. You can offer special offers and discounts too.
When you’ve got people’s emails, the first thing to do is to send them an automated welcome email. This will help start the engagement as soon as possible and introduce your brand.
Now you’ve got your email list and will be getting more with time. You will have to think about what you would like to achieve from your first campaign. Whichever you like, but it should be something that will fit into your business. It may be promoting a new product or getting more downloads for your eBook or updating your subscribers with relevant information.
Now Start Building Emails.
You may have little knowledge on this but don’t worry many emails marketing software like get response, comes with several Custom email templates that you can just drag and drop to make a nice email design that can automatically adjust to fit any device it’s viewed on. After you’ve made a good template, you will want to write a good email copy. This should be persuasive, engaging and add values. Be sure to use a good and engaging tone so as not to seem too boring. Knowing why you are writing the emails, what benefits it can give, it should instill curiosity among the readers.
The last thing to do is to optimize your email open rates and conversions.
Use a recognizable sender name and address, so in case people see the emails, they would have Known where it’s coming from. Also use the same name for all campaigns.
You should aim to create a compelling email subject line that would make people want to read the email. You may have no copy writing skills, but with time you can improve if you learn.
After writing the email copy, cross-check for errors.
Then lastly, monitor your campaigns to know how to improve your strategies for future campaigns. Tips for successful email marketing.
Use double opt-in.
opt in refers to the sign-up process, there are two types of opt in, first when the subscriber has added his email to the email list, and then the double opts in; this is when you send a confirmation email with a link to each new subscriber so that they can verify the process. They won’t receive your email if they don’t verify it.
Use An Engaging Email Newsletter Design.
Did You know that the design is just as important as the content? People are willing to engage in something that looks more professional.
Eye catching images will capture the attention of readers. Images shouldn’t be large nor should they be small but moderate
You can code, even if you only have knowledge of HTML.
With a good email copy that looks engaging, your sales will make a lot of sales. Along with helping to keep up with customer engagement.
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