Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to reach potential customers and stay connected with existing customers. Its ability to not only make connections with people but also increase sales makes it an essential tool for any small business owner. If you aren’t using email marketing yet in your business, these tips will help you see the value of email marketing and learn to use its power to grow your small business.
How can email grow your business?
Each time you send an email, your subscribers see your name in their inbox. Sending high-quality emails on a regular basis builds trust with your clients and reminds them that you exist and are available to solve their problem. That relationship and visibility is valuable.
According to Litmus, for every $1 you spend on email marketing, you can expect an average of $36 dollars in return.
Privy says that the actual value for one email address is a minimum of $15 in revenue. That means, if you have around 1,000 subscribers, you can expect around $15,000 in revenue.
Our clients have seen even better results. One client got $100,000 in revenue from just one email to 1,300 customers. Another has been sending monthly emails for 8 months and has an average ROI of $54 for every $1 they spend!
Email marketing, my friends, is far from dead. In fact, when done well, it is arguably the most effective marketing tool.
What are the Benefits of Email Marketing?
There are several reasons why email marketing is so effective. Not only are emails personable and easy to create, they are also more effective than other marketing channels. Here’s why:
Email is Reliable
Almost everyone has an email address. In fact, around half of the world’s population uses email. (That is 3.9 billion people!)
While social media profiles come and go, email addresses are a pretty stable contact method. Once we create an email, most of us are reluctant to change it. Just like our bank account or physical address, we use email in so many places it is a hassle to update.
In fact, more than half of email users have had the same email address for ten years or more. That means, once your business prospects turn into email subscribers, you’ve got direct access to them for years to come.
Email Builds Relationships
Once you have an email address for new clients or existing customers, you can use email marketing campaigns to keep customers informed and explain your services to new customers. You can also better serve your target customers by providing valuable information that solves their most common pain points. You can even create automated messages and targeted marketing campaigns that are specific to your client’s needs.
Email marketing is a very low-cost way to increase customer engagement, which ultimately leads to customer loyalty. Regular contact with your customers gives you the opportunity to work with them again and again.
Email Helps You Retain Clients
Many business owners worry that sending emails will annoy their customers. In reality, as long as you send useful, well-written emails, the opposite occurs. If your emails provide value to your clients they will appreciate your messages, maybe even look forward to them.
Harvard Business Review says it is 5-25% times cheaper to retain an existing client than gain a new one. Email allows you to serve your clients well by staying in contact, continually providing value, and building a long-term relationship with them.
Even if subscribers aren’t opening all of your emails, seeing your name in their inbox helps your business stay fresh in their minds. When they are struggling with the problem you solve, they will think of you first and know exactly how to contact you.
Email Marketing is More Effective Than Social Media Marketing
According to Wordstream, “Having a loyal customer base is your one true asset during a recession.” (I’d venture to say it is your one true business asset all the time.)
However, they aren’t talking about your followers on social media. Your loyal customers should be on your email list for a few important reasons:
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- People check email before social media.
- Customers are more prone to click buy from their email inbox than social media.
- Email gives you direct access to your clients. (You can’t control who sees your social media posts. Yet, every time you send an email, it goes into your client’s inbox.)
- You own your email list. (No social media downtime, algorithm, or hacker can take it from you.)
Not only does email marketing give you more direct access to your clients, it is also more effective than social media. According to Agency Analytics, the average open rate for an email is 15–25%. The click-through rate is around 2.5%. The click-through rate for Facebook, on the other hand, is only .07%.
When we are scrolling social media, we want to have fun and waste time. When we are in our email inboxes, on the other hand, we are generally focused on getting things done.
If you’ve got a small budget, email marketing is a great place to focus your efforts. Good email marketing strategy can stretch your marketing budget and give you a greater return on your investment than other channels or techniques.
Emails Don’t Have to Be Complicated or Boring
We’ve all opened a long, boring email full of company updates that left us wondering why we bothered to open the email in the first place.
That is not effective email marketing.
Send the type of email you want to read. Write about your customer, their problem, your solution, and the transformation you’ve helped other customers achieve. Emails that focus on your customer, not your business, and provide value are the ones that get opened and lead to business growth.
How to Write Effective Emails
To write an effective email, you have to start with a catchy, clear subject line.
(Although the average email open rate is around 25%, emails Guide MKTG writes for clients have around a 40% open rate because we spend just as long agonizing over great subject lines as we do crafting the email itself. And, of course, we write incredibly valuable emails that customers actually enjoy reading.)
Inside the email, you want to provide your subscriber value. Lots of value.
Each email should be:
- Short (100-300 words)
- Clear
- Incredibly valuable
- Focused on your client
The more valuable your emails are to your recipients, the higher the open rate.
At the end of your email, you should include a clear call to action that tells your prospective client exactly what to do next.
That’s it! You are now ready to harness the value of email marketing.
How to Start Using Email Marketing for your Business
If you want to take advantage of the value of email marketing to grow your business, here are two easy ways to get started:
- Open an account with an email service provider and start sending emails. Near the bottom of our Resources Page are some email marketing tools we recommend.
- Schedule a call with Guide MKTG to talk about how we can generate highly effective email campaigns for you.
Email marketing is an incredibly effective way to reach your customers. It’s personal, more effective than social media, and it helps you build loyal customers who generate future sales.
If you’re not currently using email marketing, or if you’re looking for ways to improve your current strategy, we can help. Schedule a call with our team today so we can show you how email marketing can help increase your bottom line.
