You’ve probably heard it said somewhere that “email marketing is dead”. And when you’re first starting out - it can certainly feel that way. Yet, email marketing has been proven to produce an ROI (Return on Investment) of 3800% (a return of $38 for every $1 invested)!!
Not only that, but according to Bluecore, a leading decisioning platform for Commerce, between 62% - 73% of consumers across various markets and age groups, prefer brands to communicate with them via email.
This is good news for email marketing and as good an incentive as any to want to invest in email marketing. But we don’t just want to invest in it...we want to win at it.
No matter how old it gets, email marketing will still be relevant. - Paras Arora
Here’s how to win at email marketing:
1. It all starts with how you get your subscribers to opt-in.
You may be tempted to, but never ever buy an email list, for the simple fact that you have no idea how old the list is and for sure none of the subscribers signed up to receive information from you. A list that has not opted-in is a poor quality list that does not want what you have to offer. Your emails are therefore highly likely to be marked as spam.
There are many good ways to grow a healthy list of subscribers. You could run a contest or giveaway, have an opt-in form on your website, include a link in your email signatures etc.
One of the best ways to grow a healthy list is to offer your audience something of value for FREE when they opt-in (also known as a lead magnet).
2. Set expectations.
Let your audience know what they can expect from your emails from the get-go. Things like frequency of emails and type of content (deals, blog posts, coupons etc).
3. Deliver on what you promised and be consistent.
This is very important to build your subscribers' trust. If you promised a free report send it. If you promised to email weekly, don’t start emailing every hour or once every 6 months.
4. Be personable.
Use your emails to connect with your audience in a meaningful way and offer something more than just a product or service. Yes, it’s coming from a business but businesses are run by people and people open emails from people, right?
Try telling stories, offer helpful tips/advice, use conversational language (slang where appropriate), and make your subscribers feel like a part of your ‘tribe’.
5. Encourage action.
Of course, the whole point of email marketing is to build rapport with your subscribers and encourage them to take the desired action. Whether it’s to buy a product or service that will make their lives better in some way or use the advice you provide to improve an area of their lives or businesses.
Be sure to include a clear call to action in your emails and, you can even go a step further to make it time-sensitive (when necessary) to create a sense of urgency.
"People who buy products marketed through email spend 138% more than people that do not receive email offers." [Source: Convince & Convert]
Email marketing is definitely not dead, and it has been proven to produce results that you can take to the bank! If you want to succeed at email marketing for your business, follow these 5 steps and you’ll be on your way to building a long term relationship with your subscribers that is mutually beneficial.
