Technology has paved the way for a wide range of strategies and tactics that small business owners can use to promote their products or services. Aside from the traditional ways of attracting customers, keeping up with these digital trends and marketing methods enable entrepreneurs to reach a broader target audience and make marketing and selling more efficient. One of these online strategies is email marketing.
Email marketing is as simple as it sounds; it refers to the act of sending commercial messages to other people via their email. Many professionals prefer email marketing over other online strategies because it’s easy to do, cost-effective, and reaches a larger target audience, making it a valuable tool for small businesses. What’s great about email marketing is that you can get measurable results and generate leads for your business.
In fact, one survey found that, on average, you can have an ROI (Return on Investment) of $38 for every $1 spent on email marketing. With these benefits, it’s one of the more popular online marketing strategies used by many professionals and business owners – and it shows no signs of stopping. Based on the 2016 Email Statistics report by market research firm Radicati, three billion people will use email by 2020.
It may be easy to send messages to your target marketing through email, but there are several ways to get the most out of it for your small business. Here are some email marketing tips to consider:
Keep your subject line brief, concise, and engaging
How many emails do you think people get regularly? Chances are, they browse through their inbox and open only those emails from people they know or with subject lines that pique their interest. There are so many small businesses out there, promoting products or services through email, and the last thing that you want to happen is for your email to be left unopened and moved to the trash bin.
To keep this from happening, make sure that your subject line is powerful enough to attract their attention. Write something straightforward, short, and interesting. An email subject line can typically fit 30 to 50 characters, including spaces. You can customize it by using the first name of the recipient or use questions to entice their interest. It is your first step into promoting your small business. You surely don’t want to waste that opportunity by writing a subject line that’s generic or too long.
Load your email signature with a CTA
Here is a dilemma a lot of email marketers face while planning their campaigns. For your campaigns to be successful, you need to pack your content up with lots of value. But as you may often come to realize, selling your wares and providing value cannot always come together.
For this reason, a lot of marketers tend to sequence their messages in such a way that they add a lot of value before making a sales pitch. This way, you earn the trust of the recipient before making a pitch.
But another, more efficient way to do this, is to end your emails with a CTA. Invest in a professional email signature that establishes your credentials, your social proof, and follow it up with a sales-driven CTA that drives your recipients to click and check out. This way, your newsletters continue to be value-driven while you can make your sales as well.
Use the recipient’s first name in the email greeting
When it comes to reaching out to your target market, customization is vital. You want potential customers to feel that you put some effort into sending messages to them, and you can do so by steering away from generic salutations. Personalization is also important to avoid your email being perceived as spam, which can be a big no-no from a legal perspective for small businesses.
Many small business owners make the mistake of sending commercial emails with generic greetings such as “Dear subscriber” or “Dear Sir/Madam”. Personalize your salutation by using the first name of the recipient. It may sound time-consuming but thanks to email marketing platforms, there’s no need to personalize each email greeting manually there are plenty of apps that can fill that in for you.
Offer a discount, prize, or freebie
When creating marketing materials, digital or otherwise, it’s essential to have a call to action, telling people what you want them to do. The same holds true for email marketing, but the target market would say, “What’s in it for me?” To improve the open rate, use incentives, whether its a discount or any free item or service. Offering incentives will attract people’s attention and they will more likely to open your emails to get the prize or the discount.
But keep in mind that for this strategy to be successful, make sure you only promise what you can deliver. Also, offer an incentive that is related to your small business. This is one way of introducing your products or services to the public. It enables you to increase the contacts in your mailing list and eventually, generate more sales.
Avoid using the “no-reply” function
According to the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, email recipients have the right to opt out at any time if they no longer want to receive emails from a specific sender. Adhere to these regulations by avoiding email addresses that use the “no-reply” function. Always give your recipients the option to unsubscribe or be removed from your mailing list. Otherwise, you may be asked to pay a fine that can reach $16,000.
Keep your mailing list updated
While it’s great to have thousands of contacts, it pays to prioritize the quality of your leads over the quantity. To ensure that you only send emails to those who are likely to be customers of your small business, keep your mailing list up-to-date. This means removing contacts that wish to unsubscribe or be removed from your list. You may also want to delete those that do not respond to your messages. Doing this will help decrease your bounce rate and you can focus on potential customers.
New and more modern online marketing strategies may emerge, but email marketing seems like it’s here to stay. As many rely on their emails to stay connected, gather information, and manage transactions, small businesses can get the most out of email by sending customized commercial messages. Keep these email marketing tips in mind so you can have a solid strategy that is not only easy to implement but also effective in reaching a wider audience and generating sales.
Author bio: Emily is the Content Marketing Specialist at CoverWallet, a tech company that makes it easy for businesses to understand, buy and manage commercial insurance online.
