Email Marketing can be a vital component to a business’s marketing strategy. And it can be the most cost effective way to market your products and services. In fact it is estimated that every dollar spent on email marketing returns $44 in revenue!
With that kind of return small business especially cannot afford to ignore the possibilities of email marketing.
So how does a small business get started in email marketing?
My Not So Great Experiences
I have personal experience with a couple local businesses that I feel are missing the boat on email marketing. One is a car repair facility that does excellent work. I’ve been using them for a few years now.
Even though I’ve been a loyal customer I’ve never been contacted via email from the facility. In fact I’ve never even been asked to provide an email address, which I would gladly do since we have a good relationship.
How difficult would it be for that business to collect email addresses from their loyal customers? Once they have a list it opens all kinds of opportunities. They could ask for referrals (and maybe provide a thank you discount.) They could produce a simple blog or newsletter outlining good car care, or even provide maintenance reminders.
The good news is that this problem is also an opportunity. More on that below.
You Need a Strategy
As a first step even a small business needs an email marketing strategy. The strategy is what you are trying to accomplish. Here are some examples:
- Increase awareness of your business
- Get people to visit your website
- Increase sales to current customers
- Get new customers
- Establish credibility and authority
- Increase loyalty of current customers.
You may have multiple goals and that is OK. Maybe you have a separate campaign for each goal and tailor your emails toward that goal.
You Need a List
It all starts with a mailing list. A mailing list is like money in the bank for a small business. And it is so easy to collect email addresses from customers that already know and trust you. Let’s be clear we are not talking spam here. The people on the list know why you are collecting their email address and approve. You might even want to provide a small trinket or discount as a thank you.
You Need an Automated Provider
There are multiple online software tools that greatly simplify your email marketing efforts. Some of the most popular are:
- Mailchimp
- ConvertKit
- Constant Contact
- Hubspot
- And Others
In the near future I’ll provide a post that outlines the pros and cons of each.
Any of these tools can help you build your list, conduct email campaigns, personalize emails, and measure your results.
You Need to Measure Your Results
Of course the only way to know if your email campaign is working is to measure results.
Luckily any of the mentioned tools will assist in that effort.
A Real Opportunity
I started this article talking about my less than great experience with some local businesses. I’m guessing that my experience is not unique.
The good news is that these businesses have a real opportunity to improve their results.
If we can help at Morse Digital Labs give us a shout! And the best of luck with your efforts!
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