Email marketing is probably the oldest of all digital marketing strategies. It’s based on creating and sending emails to build and develop relationships with prospects and customers. An effective email marketing strategy will convert website visitors into first-time customers and then turn them into repeat customers. Email marketing is flexible, cost-effective, measurable, and time-saving.
But the biggest question is…
Is email marketing still worth it in 2021?
There are a lot of technological advancements – chatbots, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, among others. It may seem like email has been buried 10 feet under.
And so it seems…
But you’re wrong.
According to research, email marketing is still the most effective way to deepen customer relationships for B2B businesses. Over half of the research respondents said that brands should contact them through email.
Are you still wondering why email is still alive and kicking?
I bet because email is still perceived as a private platform. People receive emails from someone they know or from brands they opted in. Hence, it’s somewhat private.
Based on 2019 data, a whopping 90.3% of adult internet users in the United States are using emails. This means that you can use email marketing to whatever age group you’re targeting. Statistics also show that the email open rate is 22.86% versus social media’s engagement rate of only 0.6%.
Email marketing can also give you a high return on investment (ROI) at an average of $38 for every dollar spent.
That’s why building a successful marketing strategy is a must for every business owner. But most people don’t know how to start.
Today, you’ll learn the basics of how to create an email marketing campaign.
Step 1: Lure them to opt-in
How can you send your emails if you don’t have any email addresses?
Ask their permission first so you can send them an email.
As our first step, let’s talk about building your email list.
There are a lot of ways to build your email list. You can give or offer a free something. Whatever it is, be sure that it’s as valuable as your audience’s email address.
For example, web and app developer company MPH International gives simple newsletters in exchange for an email address.
You should think of an incentive for your audience since they are giving you one important piece of information about them – their email address.
Now, here’s where good strong copywriting skills should take place. (I won’t dive into copywriting since I’m not an expert on that.)
Keep in mind that your incentive should lure them to opt-in.
Step 2: Make good on your promise
Email marketing is about staying true to your words.
They gave you their email address, then what?
Promise them something. Lay your cards on the table. Tell them the truth.
For example, in your welcome email, you said you will send newsletters every week. Instead, you bombard them with daily emails. Your audience will be upset.
Moreover, if you said you’d give daily updates but ended up sending updates monthly, then, your audience will also be upset.
So, just deliver. Okay?
The welcome email is the key. It might be long and boring but make sure you set your audience’s expectations straight. Say – ehm, write – everything your audience needs to know. Be as detailed as you can. Don’t leave a question unanswered.
From here, just make sure you live up to what you said and make good on your promise.
But…
When do I pitch for a sale?
We all know that you’re not sending emails just because, right? In “we” I mean you, I, and your audience. Yes, your audience included.
When they are first opt-in, they get something they need from you for free (the incentive). So, they also know that somewhere along the way you will ask them to buy or pay for something.
But transitioning from a friendly update with a lot of free stuff into a sales-y email can be tricky.
To help you out, plan.
Think about how you will pitch for the sale even before building your email list. Then, put this on your welcome email. So, your audience knows.
You can put a CTA button on every email you send. You can send sales emails in a planned frequency – like once a month. All up to you.
Just make sure you pitch your sale.
Don’t go around sending shady or blind offers. Be direct.
Now that you understand the basics of building a successful email marketing campaign, you can level up by learning segmentation and analytics (which I won’t discuss here due to lack of time. charot!).
So, just to give you an overview let me define segmentation and analytics.
Segmentation is dividing your email list into targeted groups. For example, you can group your email list by who opened and who did not. Then, you can send a different email for each group. There can be different ways of communicating with your audience. For example, you give daily updates and weekly newsletters with discounts. Some of your audience would love the daily and weekly communication but some will favor one over the other. You can also group them by segmentation.
Analytics, on the other hand, will help you measure your email marketing campaign’s success. For me, the two most important are open rate and click-through rate. Open rate will tell you if you built a good relationship or not. Click-through rate or CTR will tell you how many clicks your CTA (or other links) got.
To wrap up…
Is your email marketing always pushed aside? Maybe it’s time to reevaluate.
More so today, email marketing promises good results and high returns.
Start now. Start today.
It doesn’t have to be complicated. It’s not rocket science.
It is work – yes.
Remember, doing it right will separate you from the rest who just do it for the sake of.
