How to Use Email Marketing to Benefit Your Business
Email marketing to benefit your business
When done correctly, email marketing can provide lots of benefits for your business, including increased sales, improved customer loyalty, and greater brand awareness.
Today I'm going to cover how to use email marketing to benefit your business, including:
- the basics of email marketing
- some tips on what you can put in your emails
- some common mistakes to avoid
- the basics of measuring your email success.
Let's start with:
What is email marketing and how does it work
Email marketing is a form of direct marketing that uses email to promote commercial messages. Direct marketing means you're liaising directly with your clients and customers and not through a third party like a retailer.
Email marketing can be used to build relationships with potential and existing customers, as well as to encourage customer loyalty and repeat business.
It's an effective way to reach out to your target audience and stay top of mind.
When done correctly, email marketing can help you to increase brand awareness and create a positive impression of your business. In addition, email marketing can be an effective way to drive traffic to your website or blog, and increase sales.
Types of email marketing content
Here are some different types of email content you can use to benefit your small business:
- Newsletters: A newsletter is a great way to keep customers updated on what's new with your business. Include information about new products or services, recent news, and upcoming events. Don't forget to include a call-to-action so customers know how to take advantage of your offerings.
- Promotions: Everyone loves a good sale, so promote your products or services with email. Include a code to encourage customers to take action. And if you make that code exclusive to your email you'll be able to measure the success of your offer.
- Announcements: Use email to announce changes or updates to your business, such as new team members, a website launch, relocation, or expansion.
- Customer stories: Share customer stories and testimonials via email to show potential customers what your business can do for them.
- Tips and advice: Position yourself as an expert in your industry by sharing tips and advice via email. This type of content will not only engage customers but also help build trust and loyalty.
- Invitations: Email is a great way to invite customers and clients to events, such as webinars, trade shows, or store openings.
Tips for avoiding common mistakes made with email marketing
As with anything marketing, some common mistakes that can trip you up.
So, here are a few tips for avoiding email marketing pitfalls:
- Don't overdo it. It's important to strike a balance with your email frequency. If you email too often, you run the risk of becoming a nuisance. But if you email too infrequently, people may forget about you. Try to find a happy medium that works for your business and your customers. A great way to find out how often you should be emailing is to do a poll with your existing subscribers and ask them what their preferences are.
- Don't be spammy. This should go without saying, but it's important to make sure your email content is relevant and useful to your recipients. No one wants to be bombarded with irrelevant or promotional messages, so make sure your email content is something that people will actually want to read. This is where the benefit of being able to segment your database and personalise your emails comes in. It's something most email platforms offer and is definitely worthwhile.
- Make your emails mobile-friendly. With more and more people reading email on their phones, it's important to make sure your message looks good on a small screen. Keep your email content concise and easy to scan, and use large, easy-to-click buttons for any calls to action. Choose an email platform that offers mobile-friendly setup.
- Not having an unsubscribe option: One of the most common email marketing mistakes is not having an unsubscribe option. If you're sending emails to people who have no way to opt out, you're running the risk of being marked as spam. In addition, in Australia at least, it's a legal requirement. Find out more here, https://www.acma.gov.au/avoid-sending-spam.
- Leading on from not having an unsubscribe button – not using an email marketing platform: If you're serious about email marketing, you need to be using an email marketing platform. Not only will this make sure your emails look professional, but it will also give you access to email automation, reporting and analysis, and a whole host of other features that will make email marketing easier and more effective. And most email marketing platforms have an in-built unsubscribe function.
By following these tips, you can avoid some of the most common email marketing mistakes and make sure your messages are effective and well-received.
Emailing can be a great way to connect with customers and promote your business! Just make sure to do it right.
What to email marketing metrics to measure
Measuring the success of your email marketing efforts can be tricky, but it's important to do so you know whether or not your email marketing is effective.
These three metrics are a good starting point.
- Open rate: This measures how many people open the email that you send. A high open rate means that people are interested in the email that you're sending. And it means your subject line was awesome!!!
- Click-through rate: This metric measures how many people click on the links in your email. A high click-through rate means that people are finding your email content relevant and useful. And that's always a good thing – provided your email list is full of clients and ideal clients.
- Unsubscribe rate: This tells you how many people unsubscribe from your email list after receiving an email. If you have a low unsubscribe rate that means your subscribers are happy with the emails that you're sending.
If you're not seeing the results that you want from your email marketing campaign, don't be discouraged! It takes time and effort to create a successful email marketing campaign.
Keep trying different things and measuring your results until you find what works best for your business.
At the end of the day
Email marketing can be a great way to benefit your small business if done correctly.
Keep your email content relevant, personalised, and easy to read on mobile devices, and make sure you have an unsubscribe button! Lastly, don't forget to measure your email marketing so you know what's working and what isn't.
With a little time and effort, email marketing can be a great asset to your small business!
If you need help with your email marketing, get in touch. I'd love to help.
