When sending email marketing to potential customers, this process is not thought of it positively.
This is mostly due to the quality of the content of the emails.
Many people are hesitant to give email marketing a try. This is something that can be beneficial to an entrepreneur when it is used correctly.
I had success with 1 in 5 email marketing campaigns which are better than an opt-in emailing campaign.
To see what email marketing can offer you, you need to give it a try.
If people do not respond to the email marketing campaign that is the worst thing that can happen. You will not gain a new customer but you will not lose one either.
If you are ready to try email marketing there are some tips for you.
Mastering Email Marketing
A cold email campaign is based on making a connection instead of a hard-selling approach. People are used to getting many emails and can often block them out.
The emails should focus on what is being offered to the customers and not what is going to be done for them. A person should be asked to write something on the blog or if they are willing to be interviewed.
This will get them to respond and see that the email is different.
You are going to want to make the emails interesting and engaging.
It should tell a story and talk about the success of the company. Do not use phrases such as “hopeful”, “if it makes sense”, and other words that can reduce the credibility of the author.
The email should be customized to the person that is going to be receiving it.
If a company is not taking the time to learn about the consumer, the customer will not feel valued. You need to take the time to learn about them and what they need.
The email should not be used from a contact on the social media page or email.
You may be wondering how to send someone an email if their email is not available to the public.
If you know a person’s first and last name you may be able to guess their email.
Most emails are set up in the same format. If you can get an example of the email you may be able to get it for the entire staff.
There are some examples of when email marketing is a good approach.
Business Development
If you are looking for someone to invest in your business they are not going to contact you. You are going to need to find a way to get their attention.
When I was starting up my business I pitched an idea to over 100 different firms and got a couple of dozen meetings.
While I had some time getting initial investors and plenty of rejection letters, it did help me become a success in the long run.
The rejection letters gave me an idea of what I needed to improve and how I could change the approach that I was taking.
This helped me learn to improve my communication skills and how become more informed about my business choices.
These emails will help make contact with people that may have been out of reach before.
Even if they reject the proposal they still answer the email. There is a valid contract as well as a chance to get feedback. This can help you progress forward.
I also let the contacts know when my business takes a step forward.
I kept pushing forward and shared my accomplishments.
With my series A, I was able to make $4 million in investments and I have learned to embrace email marketing.
Recruitment
In most cases, people are not going to apply to a post that they have seen on a job board.
They already have jobs and are not looking to change employment.
While many people looking for a job are employed the best employees are looking for opportunities for advancement.
I may be interested in learning more about your role in your company.
You need to be proactive when looking to hire. You need to be able to reach out to people and email marketing is one of the best things to do.
If you are looking to hire a good candidate you can check out LinkedIn and related sites.
You may have more success this way.
Networking
Networking is very powerful and helps business professionals contact each other.
They can access ideas and make connections with each other. They can work on future business ideas and help each other out with challenging situations.
Entrepreneurs, professionals, and others can provide value to business topics.
It is better to reach out to these people rather than to miss out on a lost connection.
It is easy to make contact just by sending an email as part of your marketing campaign.
There are some easy ways to make contact. This can include an invitation to a business lunch or another meeting.
This can be a way to start a professional relationship. All you need to do is send the email.
As stated above you do not have to focus on the yes answer as much as you do on making contact. If they see how your business can benefit them, it will be easy to network.
Person Data Protection Act
When you are sending out emails to potential customers be sure that all of your emails follow the Personal Data Protection Act.
This act was passed in 2012, and all organizations must disclose the use of personal data and how it is going to be collected.
If your organization does not comply with this act you can be fined up to 1 million dollars as well as the loss of customers.
If you are collecting information on the people you are emailing, you need to tell them how you are going to collect their data and what this data is going to be used for.
Your organization must also take measures to keep its data safe from hackers and other unauthorized users.
Any data that is collected must be checked for accuracy.
This information can only be used for business purposes such as marketing and must be used legally. when the information is no longer needed, it must be securely destroyed.
All of the emails that you send out must have an option where a person can unsubscribe from your mailing list.
If they wish to do so you cannot email them again and must comply with their wishes.
Is Email Marketing all you need?
Can email marketing help a business achieve all of its goals?
The answer is not as simple as yes or no. This is an option that you can use and technology makes it easy to reach people.
Email marketing can be an effective tool and is a good practice for entrepreneurs to use.
You need to collect your business tools and use your knowledge to make connections.
You need to give up the fear of rejection and try cold emailing. The results may have pleasant surprises for you.
Contact us for results-oriented digital marketing services in Singapore including email marketing guidance.
Actionable Email Marketing Hacks for Accelerated Growth
Email marketing is a trendy topic, and for a good reason. Brands from across the globe invested thousands of dollars in email marketing strategies. The high ROI that this strategy potentially offers often lures marketers into venturing into it even before they learn the ropes.
Is Email Marketing Overrated?
Should I invest in email marketing? This question is often asked when discussing digital marketing plans with clients.
First, before transitioning from your current marketing strategy to a new one, it’s imperative to do due diligence about it. Otherwise, you may end up plunging your business into financial turmoil.
Email marketing isn’t overrated. We dare say it’s one of the best ways of connecting with potential customers in the current fast-paced digital world. Numbers don’t lie – here are email marketing statistics to keep in mind.
- 89% of marketers rely on email as the primary lead generation channel.
- The average unsubscribe rate in 2020 was 0.1%
- The average click-through rate was 2.6%
- The average bounce rate was 0.7%
- The average ROI of email marketing is $42 for every $1 spent
- More than 306.4 billion emails were exchanged in 2020
These numbers are impressive, and no other digital marketing strategy has hit such a high average ROI. Email marketing is relevant and will continue reigning supreme for years as people rely more on email.
Photo credit: Neilpatel.com
Position your business for success by developing a robust email marketing campaign. Here are two primary reasons why you should spend money on it.
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Its Highly Cost-Effective
Imagine getting $42 for every $1 you spend reaching out to your target customers. Email is no doubt one of the cheapest marketing channels today.
However, the performance of your campaign is hugely dependent on the quality of your email list and the content you send.
Concisely, the email copy must be concise and relevant to the customers to encourage them to convert.
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Its Highly Adaptable
The digital world is dynamic, and you cannot rely on strategies that worked a few years ago.
Unlike other campaigns that force marketers to go back to the drawing board and start from scratch, email marketing is highly adaptable.
You can use it for many purposes, such as running a cart abandoners campaign, cross-selling, and up-sell.
All you have to do is group the customers based on their unique characteristics such as buying patterns, age, gender, location, social class and more.
Once you have grouped the customers, send personalised emails to each group. Be sure to incentivise them to take the desired action by offering valuable and well-thought-out offers.
How Do I Build an Email List?
We mentioned you need an accurate email list to run a successful email marketing campaign.
Unfortunately, creating an email or subscriber list is daunting, especially for new businesses with few customers.
However, your low sales or low clientele base shouldn’t stop you from running an email marketing campaign.
Here are expert tips on how to build a subscriber list today without spending a fortune.
Leverage your social media profiles: Share links to signup forms and encourage them to submit their email address by offering discount codes that can only be redeemed after the form is filled.
Be straightforward when requesting email addresses: Online customers are always skeptical and hesitant to give out their email addresses. Build customer trust and credibility by clarifying why you need their email addresses. If you tell them you need the email address to send newsletters, only populate their inboxes with email addresses. Otherwise, if you send promotional emails and other forms of content, you risk your emails being marked as spam.
Include a signup form on your website: Request the website design team to create a custom signup form and upload it on your website. Optimise it by making sure there are no unnecessary forms. You may have to offer a freebie to some customers to encourage them to fill out the form. Also, you can subtly request them to opt-in by mentioning your intentions in the newsletter you send out.
Unsubscribing should be easy: One of the reasons a majority of email marketing campaigns fail is because email lists have addresses of people who are not interested in the products or services. Your goal for running the campaign should be to generate sales and establish cordial relationships with your customers.
Therefore, make it easy for anyone who is no longer interested in receiving your newsletters and other emails to opt out. Do this by including an unsubscribe button or link towards the end of every email.
Now that you know what email marketing is, why it’s important and how to create an email list, let’s shift gears and look at actionable email marketing hacks to scale up your business.
Actionable Email Marketing Hacks to Enhance your Business Growth
The internet is filled with countless blogs on how to enhance email marketing campaigns. Unfortunately, most of the content is vague and inaccurate.
After extensive research on brands that have grown through robust email marketing campaigns, we can confidently state that the success of your email marketing strategy is based on four central pillars, namely;
- The Subject Lines
- The Main Content
- Design of the Email
- Automation
Let’s dive in and look at each of these pillars in detail.
The Subject Lines
The subject line helps the recipient decide whether to open an email, delete it, or mark it as spam. It is what will make your emails stand out and pique a potential customer’s interest to read the contents.
Here are easy but effective ways of writing high-performing email subject lines.
- Personalise them: Generic subject lines will only get you so far. It would be best if you took the time to make them succinct and personal to the recipients. Grouping the customers based on their unique traits will help you do this easily.
- Don’t be verbose: The subject line should be short. The customers don’t have time to read an entire sentence. Keep it sweet, short, and alluring.
- Avoid spam words: Email service providers have bots and algorithms that sniff out spam emails by analysing the subject line. Prevent your emails from being marked as spam by not including spam words such as buy now and act fast. Don’t create a buzz and a sense of urgency by using these words. Instead, be genuine and straightforward.
- Optimise pre-header text: Pre-header text refers to the sentence displayed under the subject line in the email notification. Like the subject line, optimise it to capture the customers’ attention and encourage them to open the email.
- Carry out A/B tests: A/B tests will help you to know which type of content, writing style, and tone resonates with your customers. Split customers in the same group, write two different subject lines and monitor the open rate. Do the same for email copy and CTA buttons.
The Main Email Content
Already, you have won their hearts with a captivating subject line. The next thing you should do to seal the deal is to write compelling email copy.
Here are five tips on how to write better email copy.
- Be Brief: Like the subject line, it should be brief. The customers don’t read every word and sentence. They skim through the email looking for the key points and CTA button or link they are supposed to click to visit the website.
Thus, desist from sending lengthy emails with blocks of text. Find a way to convey the intended message using as few words as possible.
For example, if the email is meant to introduce a new product or service, list the main features or unique selling points in a bulletin, then provide a link to the page with additional information about it.
- The subject line should match the email content: The last thing you want is to promise the customers something in the subject line and fail to keep the promise. Keep your word by ensuring the subject line is aligned to the email content.
Adopt a simple and conversational writing style to radiate your brand’s personality and grasp the reader’s attention and interest in what you offer. The tone of voice should evoke positive emotions that consequently result in sales.
- The offer should be valuable: The target customers won’t bother to click the link or CTA button if the offer is not beneficial. Put yourself in the reader’s shoes and ask what kind of content you expect from the brand. Also, use market research findings to make your content relevant to them.
- Focus on benefits, not features: Customers are more interested in the benefits they will get from the product, not the features. Convince them why your product or service is the best option. Save the features for the product pages on your website. Include an optimised CTA button in the email copy to direct the customers to the landing page. Design of the Email
The design has an immense impact on the perception that your email portrays to potential customers. A well-written copy will fail to convert if the email design is poor or distracts from the main message. Here are tips for improving email design.
- Properly organise the content: Organise the content for viewing on different devices. Remember, most people use their smartphones more often to read emails. If the design is not mobile-friendly, your email marketing will not deliver the expected results.
Essential information and CTA buttons should be placed above the fold. This email section is what the customers see when they open it. Use rich text formatting to highlight the main points, but be careful not to use unreadable text fonts.
- Use the same branding assets: Consistency is vital when doing email marketing. Using different branding assets such as logos and colours will confuse the customers. Make your brand recognisable by using the same branding assets on your email marketing campaign and other digital marketing strategies.
Stand out by opting for custom templates created from scratch specifically for your brand. A basic layout that other brands overly use won’t get the job done.
- Include relevant videos and images: Make it easy for the customers to digest the content by including relevant images and videos. The two will eliminate the need for a lengthy email copy. One image can convey a message that would have required more than 300 words.
The videos and images should be optimised for viewing on mobile devices. While at it, confirm that the CTA button is displayed well on mobile devices.
- Use the right font: We recommend using one font style in the email copy to enhance readability. Font size 12 is ideal for shorter emails and 14-point for length emails. The choice of font should match your overall brand identity. Be consistent to avoid creating any confusion.
- CTA buttons should be prominent and clear: Most customers will only read the content displayed over the fold. The CTA buttons should be placed in this section. In addition, there shouldn’t be more than three CTA buttons or links in the email.
Email Marketing Automation
Automating your email marketing campaigns will save time for other business tasks and enhance efficiency at your workplace. We recently published an article on the top 30 email marketing software.
Check it out.
Email automation will help you create user-based and targeted campaigns with which your customers will relate and take the desired actions.
Here are the reasons why you should use email marketing automation software.
- It makes it easy to schedule emails
- Provides valuable data that you can use to optimise email sending frequency. No more guessing when is the right time to send emails to customers.
- Eases the process of segmenting email lists for purposes of creating targeted email marketing campaigns.
- Supports the creation of targeted drip campaigns. You can set it to send a welcome email, reminders, updates automatically, and abandoned cart emails based on pre-set customer behavioural triggers.
- It makes it possible to track the results of multiple campaigns. The reports are displayed in one dashboard, using visuals such as graphs for a more straightforward interpretation.
Final Thoughts
Email marketing is the missing piece in your digital marketing strategy that will take your online business to the next level.
Get professional help on how to run successful email marketing campaigns by contacting us today.
We have a team of professionals who can create custom campaigns for your business and monitor them to ensure they are successful.
We look forward to hearing from you.