Beyond regular communication how do you use email for your business?
I’ve put together these email marketing tips to help you earn more income from your email database.
Over the years you have probably collected a long list of client contact names and email addresses. Some of those will be current clients, others past clients and the rest are the people who never ended up doing business with you but were interested in your services. However, there’s a good chance that you aren’t leveraging this list as effectively as you could be.
Email marketing is the cheapest, most personal and often most effective marketing option that you have available to you so putting some time into developing a good strategy around how to use email will pay off.
Yes, sending emails to people for marketing purposes can be a bit intimidating because selling ourselves can feel uncomfortable. We often worry about annoying people.
If you consistently send useful, relevant information; written with the needs of your audience in mind, then it’s unlikely that your ideal clients will hit the unsubscribe link.
Let’s give some context to the email marketing tips I’m giving you here. When I talking about email marketing this is the mantra I uphold.
The Essential Email Marketing Tips:
- The FROM field in your email should be easily recognised by the recipient as having come from your business.
- The SUBJECT line should create intrigue and make recipient want to read more. Depending on your email service provider you may be able to customise the subject line with the recipient’s name. This makes it feel much more personal.
- Visuals are great in emails but text is king. Many email providers will require the recipient to download images so any key information is better conveyed in text. Use text size and formatting to emphasise the important bits. Still use images but consider including downloads or website links will be more useful to both the recipient and you.
- In terms of privacy, it’s important that your emails always give the option for people to unsubscribe from the list. You’ll need to do this manually if you are just using a list in your day to day email set up but bulk email service providers include it on every email as standard.
Email Marketing Strategy:
- You’ll get better results if you segment your list. As a minimum I suggest segmenting into current clients, old clients. Your email marketing strategy will look different for each segment meaning that you won’t send them all the same emails all the time.
- Every email you send should have a goal. Write knowing what action you want people to take as a result.
- Don’t get bogged down with the idea of ‘annoying’ people. Provided that your overarching purpose is ALWAYS to add value then making email marketing decisions based on your personal preferences is not ideal.
- Start out with a clear idea about what the purpose of your email is. You shouldn’t be ‘selling’ something every time you email. Use your email marketing efforts to provide value and build authority.
- In terms of length, it’s important to respect people’s time. Recognise that it’s more valuable (both to your business and your audience) to present one, clear idea and call to action in each email.
- Last but not least, always remember to be conversational in your tone. Write with clear language in a way that is easy to understand. Avoid using industry ‘jargon’ or, when you do, use it as an opportunity to educate.
What are the next steps to implement these email marketing tips in your business?
- Decide on frequency
- Set yourself up with an email provider that enables you to do much more than your regular outlook will provide. We use and recommend ActiveCampaign as a great starting point. We offer packages for email marketing set up and management.
- Brainstorm some topics
- Start writing and sending
Do you need a hand getting set up, developing your strategy and implementing these email marketing tips? We can definitely help you.
It’s the quickest way to get started, we’ll do the heavy lifting for you so you don’t get overwhelmed by any technical learning curve, send us an email and start a conversation about how we can help.
