If you’re a beginner in the small business world, email marketing campaigns can effectively help reach your target audience and foster a strong relationship between your customer base and yourself. Email marketing is more effective than social media ads, with 60% of people preferring to receive an email marketing campaign over a targeted ad on social media. Plus, everyone’s got an email account—that’s a lot of potential customers to reach.
But here lies the issue: email marketing can sound complicated and technical for a small business. There are complex email lists, campaigns with multiple moving parts, and email jargon you don’t quite have a hold on. All these tools and technicalities can quickly turn people away; where do you start?
Though email marketing can often feel like rocket science, getting started isn’t as overwhelming as it sounds. In fact, it’s easier than you might think, and we’re here to tell you why.
What Is Email Marketing?
Email marketing is exactly that: marketing efforts conducted over email.
Diving deeper, however, you’ll quickly find that a successful email marketing strategy is about building relationships with your customer base rather than ending up in their spam folder.
You don’t want to create a campaign with clickbait content and annoying popups. These emails alienate customers and will quickly get them to click that unsubscribe link. Becoming an expert in email marketing campaigns means going beyond crafting the perfect subject line (though this is a valuable tool).
Successful email marketing campaigns get the customer involved with your brand, allowing them to get to know you over personalized emails that cater to their wants and needs. Blasting your email subscribers’ inboxes with a slew of unimportant and uninspired emails does not make for long-term success. You must constantly analyze your email performance data while creating email campaigns that communicate and respond well to your audiences. You want them headed to your landing page, not your competitor’s door.
We’ve gathered 4 of our favorite tips and tricks to show you how easy it is to start your email marketing journey. Our recommendations may sound tongue-in-cheek, but they are rooted in a tried and true reality.
Here are 4 easy email marketing tips and tricks to uncomplicated email marketing and make your next email campaigns the best ones yet:
Tip #1: Choose an email marketing platform specifically for small businesses.
A simple and easy-to-use email marketing platform is the first step to starting your email marketing journey. Creating manual emails is time-consuming and can cost you money in the long term. Your email service provider’s features limit you. There’s no way to track data or customer behavior, which can be crucial to your next email marketing campaign.
You need an email marketing platform like MailerLite, ConvertKit, or ActiveCampaign. These platforms will give you better access to different campaign strategies, and soon the email world will be your oyster.
Thanks to your new innovative email marketing software, you’ll be able to track customer behavior, allowing you to send out personalized emails that match your customer’s purchasing profile. For example, you can alert recurring customers that a product they like is on sale or send special discounts to your most supportive consumer base. You’ll also be able to create an email marketing schedule, making your campaigns easier to create and send out to customers.
You can start for free with some platforms, and others will have a low monthly cost. After signing up and going through the set-up process, you can start writing within a few minutes. Sending an email is as simple as entering a subject line, typing your content, and hitting “Send” or “Schedule.”
Tip #2: Use sign-up forms to build an audience.
Your audience is typically built from pre-existing customers, who will form the initial basis of your audience. Most email marketing platforms let you import customers who have purchased in the last year or two. Make sure you check before importing. Aside from this, you should have at least one opt-in on your website for people to subscribe to your mailing list.
You can only send emails to people who have consented to receive them, meaning creating an appealing sign-up form is the only way you will be able to expand your email list and reach a larger target audience. Start by embedding an email form on your website as an on-page feature or pop-up—this allows people who visit your website to keep up with your business and start receiving emails from you. Make sure this pop-up works on both desktop and mobile devices!
Greet these new subscribers with a welcome email, which is the prime chance to set high expectations for newcomers as soon as they read your subject lines. Welcome emails are typically the highest-ranking campaigns, so ensure they are a well-crafted section of your email marketing strategy. From then on, you can send updates about your brand and keep your target audience interested with email marketing, such as monthly newsletters or targeted.
Using social media to advertise your sign-up form is also a very effective way to connect your customers to multiple forms of content. Your email list won’t appear out of thin air, so ensure growth by making your form as accessible as possible through multiple marketing channels. Add a signup form to your social media accounts and your web page to help solidify your customer relationship.
Tip #3: Build well-crafted emails from your computer.
Your computer is your home base. Whether you work from a desktop or laptop computer, this is all you need to write your email. Reply to a prospective customer or send your supplier an electronic shaking fist. You’re good to go as long as you can input your ideas onto the screen.
Building the perfect email is mastering the art of understanding your customer base. No matter your marketing strategies, a successful email marketing campaign requires knowledge and understanding of your current audience, which your email marketing service can help you discover.
Using data you’ve collected from monitoring your customers’ activity on your website, you can build emails that contain enticing subject lines, consistent and responsive design, targeted content, and a compelling call to action.
Here are the 6 elements of a well-crafted marketing email:
- A short & focused subject line.
- Enticing preheader text.
- Greeting the customer by name.
- Simple & exciting body text.
- Optimized buttons & links.
- A compelling call to action.
The types of emails you send will also depend on this collected data. Set up a campaign monitor during your first round of welcome emails to track the next set of emails each customer should receive.
Tip #4: Market your unique brand with creative & original content.
There’s nothing more effective than your brain. It contains the magical ingredient and, most importantly, a unique idea tailored to your creative brand identity. From your subject line to your end statement, you need an idea that differentiates you from other brands and makes you stand out.
Begin your campaign by considering what you want to share with your audience. What do you want them to understand about your brand? What action do you want them to take after receiving and reading your email?
Sit down and write everything that pops into your head. Don’t worry if it seems terrible at first; refinement comes later. Don’t succumb to perfection paralysis; building successful marketing strategies takes trial and error. Rely on the previous campaign and website data to improve your emails’ content and develop campaigns centered around what your audience wants to receive, not what they’re accustomed to.
Personalized stories are one of our favorite marketing strategies we encourage people to implement in their content. People love stories they can relate to, especially when they’re used to seeing cold and sterilized ad campaigns that don’t use personal emotions. Use stories from your own experiences or customer experiences to connect and build a better relationship with your readers.
Social media is an excellent source of original content for emails you want to reference. Your content on both platforms is the bright neon sign flashing, “come on in!” So, sending email campaigns that complement your social media campaigns is a great way to increase your email list and followers.
For example: If you are a small café specializing in unique coffee, create an Instagram or blog post detailing the coffee-making process. Creating content that excites your customers about your business will keep them returning and reading your emails.
Summary
We hope you can implement these marketing tips into your next email campaign. Whether you’re trying to expand your audience, develop new marketing strategies, or build your next great subject line, successful email marketing will always involve staying true to your brand and the needs of your customer base.
If you need help getting started, schedule a free clarity call to learn more about our branding packages. For more email marketing tips, subscribe to our email list. You won’t want to miss out!
