Email marketing for small businesses is still an outstanding opportunity to gain customer trust and enhance the selling opportunity.
Is email marketing overdone?
I will email most days, and my principal reason, if I am true to myself, is that I have completed a marketing function.
An action that will produce a result tomorrow or in twelve months I will never know.
Therefore, it follows my Philosophy “if you do nothing, you get nothing.”
How effective is an email campain
Customers only buy when they trust you.
I believe this is mostly true, and my constant contact keeps me top of mind when the time is right.
Another reason for consistent contact is that once they have made a purchase, they are ripe for another round of buying that you can promote. You have established a ready market.
The importance of a list
We cannot talk about email marketing unless you have a current up to date list of customers.
This is an asset that should always be on top of your mind as you build and segment the customers into groups.
Not everyone is into knitting or off-road wide tyres. Target the correct customers and finally take them to a resolution.
Your brand is important when emailing
The average office worker receives about 150 emails a day, in fact, I am close to that mark myself, so what do I read?
Or should I ask you the question what emails do you open and what do you flick?
The answer lies in the sender's name well before the subject and content.
We read about people we know and like and that rapport must be established over time by the magic of the internet.
Ok, I am getting a bit dramatic but there are ways to get read that you can use.
Firstly your brand is a step we must establish, it may be a business name or you personally, however, your readers must associate with it.
For example, I have many customers that provide regular email newsletters.
I know that they can see if I have looked at their product, it in the sent report so I am sure to at least glance at the script.
This is the Fear factor, an age-old incentive.
Next on my list is a promise
How often do you receive a short introduction? An email that tells you the basics and then goes on to tell you that coming soon is something so fabulous that you would simply be mad to miss it.
When the next mail arrives you are on your toes with excitement and immediately rip it open to see if it really is fabulous.
Then they tell you but wait, there is more to come so they have you hooked into a new email as well.
But wait. In my next email, I shall disclose special pricing that is only for you, it can't be shared and is valid for a limited time.
The promise is associated with interest and excitement.
Product participation and association
For example, a customer of mine is a basic tyre reseller. Market cars and truck tyres from a few different sites.
This is pretty ho-hum stuff but Richard is taking it to another level.
His newsletter provides interesting articles on three levels.
- The latest news on top-level cars
- A story about a classic car
- generally a technological innovation.
This is aimed at the boys and petrol heads but they are the big spenders. Does it work?
They have three of the highest performing sites in the state.
However, a footnote here. Email is just one of many approaches they apply to keep customers loyal to the business. They follow the 7 touch principal.
They follow a reader interest pattern.
Email marketing for small businesses is all about participation
Doubt can be an incentive
At times we will be introduced to something that is too good to be true. You will be uncertain about the product or promise and simply want to be on the journey to see where it all goes.
Working on the internet I get all sorts of grand promotions that I absolutely must invest in and click on every email to see what it holds for me.
Sometimes there is that little bit of belief in the promise made and I need to go on the ride.
I rarely buy but that is the fault of the material in most cases.
You are enticed by fields of gold
The association of members
Everyone in your field is absolutely driven by the value we offer.
People just like you, looking for an easy money guarantee, are raking in thousands of dollars every week.
Take Jane Baxter, an unemployed single mother of two beautiful children that were about to be evicted from their accommodation and thus throwing the kids on the street.
Jane invested just $69 to join Wealthy Affiliate and is now living in a new apartment on her high earnings and the kids are now in private school.
Moreover, would you like to be like Jane?
Finally, we can show you how in five easy steps that a child could master.
No online experience is necessary.
Don't you want to be like Jane?
Greed is a basic instinct of us all
We all love a bargain, an opportunity, to win the deal so offering this tempts them in.
Flash Sale 40% off today only Content Samurai
OMG! Did you miss this, only seven slots left
Turn $2 into $50 in 15 minutes with this proven formula
These were taken from my mailing list today so they represent real examples of bargain hunting.
This is direct marketing that works for you.
Is Far more important than the subject in the
email?
I know I have gone on a bit too long on this but it is the most important issue you face.
People buy on the Know, like and trust system. This can be proven in your own reading and buying.
To make sure you establish your brand first, you must be read and this is the first step.
The subject line is next, make them click into the message, draw them in with intrigue and keep them dancing when they arrive.
The best email marketing has a great subject line
The body of the Email
The job of the email body is to get them to take some action. It is an advertisement that wants action.
The action may be to visit your webpage or race into a store, it will build on the need of a reader and get them to take the next step.
Use click buttons and links to transport them to a new destination (not Facebook).
Emails and newsletters are not designed to be a long-winded read. They are short and snappy and convey a simple message.
If they trust you they shall surely follow.
Not everyone will read your message.
We all have different agendas and timings. Today may be a leisure day and I will take note however tomorrow may be a crisis day and I have little care for trivial matters.
Don't be offended, take note of the average opening rates in your industry and target to do better.
Email marketing for small businesses makes you better because your target will certainly let you know
There will be those that opt-out
Again, this is not personal, it will have many reasons behind the scenes and is part of the process. It is good to get unsubscribes. It is no good preaching to the deaf so we save our energy for the interested ones.
Email marketing for small businesses is a game of retention but only by choice
Your carrier will have statistics on email
You will have access to every detail you can want. This provides a healthy view of your performance over the mail and who did what.
Learn from this what works and what does not and trial and error your activities. Make your changes based on results and work to improve them over time. No one is perfect but we can try to improve.
What's your return on the investment
Whilst we email for love, we also want a financial return because we are investing time and money into the process.
Address your return over the long run and not a one-off return.
I had a guy buy my service after 12 months of emailing. I just hit the right note on that day. As a life long customer, he will spend about $3000 with me. Happy to have two or three a month at that rate
Don't get boring, work for their attention and give them a reason to buy.
Conclusion
Email marketing would be the best return on the buck you could ever make. It is cheap, easy and fulfils many of the customer contacts touche needed.
I do it nearly every day as I test my base with new material and different offers. and know that the return is well worth it.
I often get customers commenting on the material that I send and potential customers relating to it as well.
You can get more training for free at Wealthy Affiliate that takes it a lot deeper.
In fact, I have a training course imbedded at WA which is included in with hundreds of other email topics. If you need an answer someone has posted it. This is a free entry and a great site.
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