If you have a small or medium-sized enterprise, you might be wondering whether email marketing is of any use to you at all. For those of you, here is a quick fact — unlike other forms of marketing such as content marketing, email marketing has the highest ROI at $42 for every dollar spent.
This stat alone may remove all doubts regarding the effectiveness of email marketing for small businesses. Still, according to a recent study, 99.9% of all businesses are small. And, most of them are actively leveraging email marketing. So, assuming that email marketing is only for the big players is absolutely wrong and counter-productive to your business development.
Now that you know that email marketing is the most promising form of digital marketing, let’s see how you can launch a campaign for your small business.
Generate your Lead List
If you are new to the concept of email marketing, you must be scratching your head hearing the term ‘lead.’ Well, do not worry. Digital marketing sounds complex, but it is quite straightforward. Lead refers to any contact that you can successfully convert into sales. In B2C, a lead is usually a person, and in B2B — a company. Still, it means someone potentially interested in buying from you — possibly even, considering it already.
On the other hand, you might have to deal with prospects who are completely unaware of your product. You have to first educate them on the product you are trying to sell, and only then can you persuade them into spending money.
You can generate a meaningful email list by placing simple opt-in forms on your website’s landing page. Along with the design of your landing page, the content on it is also important. Do not add vague words on your opt-in forms. Always add words that are relevant to the product that you are trying to sell.
When generating leads in the B2B sphere, a contact form is not always enough, though. However, you can browse company directories to get valid email addresses of key decision-makers.
Use Beautiful Email Templates
Many email marketing software tools can offer you free and beautiful templates. When you have the template, all you have to do is add your unique content. Remember, when it comes to text, people have a very low attention span.
No matter how informative your emails are, no one will read them if you rumble on for pages after pages. It is advised that you keep your emails succinct and to the point. Do not beat around the bush and get to your point as soon as you can. Put the important details and information in bold or use colors.
However, as you are a small business, make sure you do not create an email template that is too flashy. Also, do not spend long hours playing with the tools that different email marketing software give you. The key here is to pick something classy yet eye-catchy.
Craft an Engaging Email Strategy
When you have a large enough email list, it is time to start crafting emails. The type of email you will be sending depends solely on the type of business you run. The safest option is to have a monthly email newsletter for all your prospects. Do include any irrelevant information in your emails. Rather, try to add content that will bring real value to the readers.
Along with the monthly newsletters, you can also send emails containing details about special offers and discounts. Do not roll out discounts too often because it can undermine your reputation, along with ROI. After all, why would anyone bother to pay the full price if you run discounts every month? Instead, try to understand your customers’ needs. Try to anticipate the exact time when they will be looking for discounts — a holiday, a free subscription running out, etc.
There is one other way you can engage with your customers by writing emails, and that is by introducing loyalty programs. The goal of loyalty programs is to reward those customers who buy from you frequently. If you do not make them feel special, they might not stay loyal for long.
Craft Meaningful CTA Buttons
Another important part of every email is the CTA (Call to Action). A CTA button refers to the small digital button which contains a link to another web page. As soon as your site visitors click on that CTA, it will redirect them to your desired link.
You should use beautiful CTA buttons to persuade your site visitors to perform a certain task. You can place a CTA that asks your site visitors to make a purchase or sign-up for your email newsletter — whatever aligns with the goals of this particular email campaign.
The key to crafting an engaging CTA button is to use appropriate labels. Use a label that perfectly communicates your message to the reader and leaves no space for misunderstanding. Keep the CTA label small and to the point.
Email Subject and Preview
One decisive factor that can make the difference between an unopened email and a conversion is the email subject. An email subject is a small intro that your recipients will see when your email hits their inbox.
According to research conducted by Mailchimp, an American Marketing Automation Platform, small and succinct subject lines work best for emails. If you think about it, even if you tried your best, you cannot come up with a subject line that is too long.
Most emails you will be sending your clients will be to notify them about new feature upgrades or any notifications on their account. The subject line for these emails should not be too lengthy.
Add a Twist of Humor
One aspect of marketing messages that often goes unnoticed is humor. A user who checks his email regularly is bombarded with emails every day. It is your job to stand out from the crowd. Unless you give your recipients a reason to open your emails, your emails will find their way into the trash folder.
If you conduct an A/B test yourself, you will find that emails with a funny and humorous subject line have a higher chance of being opened. It can be a joke or a witty remark. According to a report, adding humorous subject and preview lines is the new trend in digital marketing.
Before humorous subject lines, shocking email subjects were a big thing in email marketing. Now, those are more of an anti-trend, so do not try to lure recipients into clicking on ‘breaking news’ when there is no real news to break.
Takeaway
