4 Reasons to Discover the Value of Email Marketing
Whether you sell a product or service, work from a home office or a corporate one, starting an email campaign can be incredibly beneficial.
Sending consistent newsletters to your followers gives you the ability to develop a “Know, Like and Trust” relationship with them that will dramatically increase your brand visibility and market reach.
Yet many business owners and entrepreneurs pass up this golden opportunity to build relationships and increase sales. Are you one of them?
In this week’s blog, I’m going to share some reasons why your small business should create an email marketing campaign and offer some tips to help you increase open rates.
What is the Value of Email Marketing?
Let’s start with 4 reasons why your small business should send out a newsletter.
- It reminds people that you’re there. As much as you’d like it to happen, your customers aren’t sitting at their computer daydreaming about your brand. Sending them relevant content can keep you top-of-mind among your target audience.
Canadian fashion retailer Aritzia reminded people that while their boutiques were closed due to COVID-19, everything was still easily accessible online. - You can get truly personal. For example, greeting someone by their first name, or even using data on their past purchases to suggest complementary products or services can be hugely beneficial. In fact, open rates for personalized emails average 18.8% compared to 13.1% without personalization.
- It boosts your website traffic. Links within your newsletter drive traffic to your website and social media platforms, which means increased brand awareness, leads and sales.
- It’s cost-effective advertising. By using a service like Constant Contact to create newsletters, you can quite easily design a newsletter to send to thousands of people. From segmenting your audience to managing unlimited marketing campaigns and lists, you can do a lot within a platform like Constant Contact.
See our recommended newsletter providers for more info. And remember while it may be tempting to use a newsletter template, hiring a professional web designer to create a unique one that reflects your brand is better for your customers.
READ: How to Target Your Ideal Clients with Digital Newsletters
Regardless of the size of your business, eNewsletters are an efficient way to reach current and potential clients and to easily measure the results of your efforts.
But before you send out newsletters for digital marketing purposes, you need to make sure you’re targeting the right people with the right messages. Here are 5 ways to get started.
4 Email Basics to Increase Open Rates
Your open rate is the percentage of the total number of subscribers who opened your newsletter.
While open rates vary by industry, stats show the average is about 17.80%. So if you want to get that number even higher, here are 4 things you need to do when you create an email marketing campaign:
1. Determine your goals.
Like any page on your website, your newsletter needs to serve a purpose. Here are a few common goals for Digital Newsletters:
- To drive traffic to your website
- To increase brand awareness
- To build your authority in your industry
- To increase leads and/or sales
- To promote a product, service or event
Like I mentioned in my last blog, you need a compelling CTA. What do you want your visitors to do on a particular page? Each page on your site should have a call to action that encourages your potential customers to do something.
2. Craft a compelling subject line.
The subject line is the first thing anyone sees, and it’s what encourages people to open your eNewsletter. It should be short and attention-grabbing, telling your audience what to expect when they open the email.
Obviously, you can’t cover every topic within your newsletter in the subject line. Focus on the meatiest, most important message you want your target audience to receive.
We tell our readers exactly what they’ll get in the subject line.
3. Give people a reason to sign up.
With so many messages flooding your customers’ inboxes, it’s hard to cut through the noise. Instead of just saying “sign up for my newsletter,” offer your website visitors a discount, free content download or something else enticing.
It’s also essential to remember the purpose of sending your eNewsletter is to inform, engage and entertain your audience. It’s NOT a place to drive a pushy sell. If you do that, expect to see your newsletter subscribers drop off.
Organic Canadian grocer Spud recently offered their followers $10 towards a future purchase.
4. Learn from your data.
It’s not enough to just send out email newsletters with the content that you think your target audience wants to see. To ensure the value of email marketing, you need to measure your efforts.
You need to look at your eNewsletter metrics to see:
- Who’s opening your emails
- What links people are clicking on
- Who’s unsubscribing
Once you have some numbers around your emails, you can tailor them better to meet your audience’s needs.
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You can’t argue with the value of email marketing! Sending out consistent newsletters is one of the most effective marketing tools for your business and can grow your brand visibility and sales big time.
If you don’t feel like starting an email campaign is the best use of your time or energy, find a professional marketing team like us who can handle the writing, marketing, and technical components. It’s the ideal way to increase open rates, leads and sales even more!
To your business success,
Susan Friesen
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About the Author, Susan Friesen
Located in the lower mainland of B.C., Susan Friesen is a visionary brand strategist, entrepreneur, and founder of British Columbia’s premiere boutique web development and digital marketing agency, eVision Media.
With over 20 years of experience in the industry, she is an expert in helping businesses establish their online presence and create a strong brand identity.
Her passion for empowering entrepreneurs and small business owners to succeed in the digital world has earned her a reputation as a leading authority in the branding and marketing industry.
Visit www.BrandIdentitySteps.com and download your FREE guide: "Unlocking Customer Trust and Business Growth: Your 7-Step Guide to Defining a Compelling Brand Identity that Appeals to Your Perfect Clients".
