Email Marketing Tips for Small Business

Whether you’re just getting started with email marketing or you’ve ventured into this technique and need help, small businesses can greatly benefit from this marketing method. We’ll help you get started with some of the top tips when you’re still unsure of how the process should go. Keep reading to learn more.

 

Tip #1: Build the right email list

As a marketer, it’s discouraging to see the list of people who “unsubscribe” from your email list every day. After all, you worked hard to get them on that list in the first place. Yet, email marketing databases degrade by about 22.5 percent each year. Email addresses change, and customers opt out of communication with companies. This is inevitable.

Building the right email list not only takes time, but it’s also a constant item on your “to-do” list. If you’re starting from scratch, never fear! The first step is understanding your audience. Who does your company or brand target? This is who you’ll want on your email list. After you know this, you can then begin to understand how to reach them.

For example, when targeting Millennials, a lot of companies will turn to social media. They may post on their Facebook or Instagram accounts with an appealing product or resource offer that requires an email. Additionally, all companies should have a website with a form for their email list as well. Whether you hook your customers with another tantalizing off (15% off!) or just see how a prominently featured pop-up does, these can be key elements to initially build that email list.

 

Tip #2: Understand the type of emails to send

Okay, so you have an email list to work with, but where do you begin? What type of emails should you actually be sending? Here’s a list to get you started.

1. Welcome emails: These are exactly what they sound like. They’re the initial contact with your potential customers whom you hope to do business with. They’ll help you start a business partnership and boost your metrics because they have high open rates.
2. Email newsletters: These weekly or monthly emails help you to stay at the top of your customer’s minds. You can use it to inform them about company news and events, product announcements, and feedback requests.
3. Dedicated emails: These types of emails contain information about only one offer. They’re typically easy to create and fast to measure in terms of metrics.
4. Sponsorship emails: This usually occurs when you pay to include your copy in another vendor’s newsletter. It’s highly targeted and has an exact ROI.
5. Re-engagement emails: These are typically sent when you want to reach back out to a subscribed client who has been inactive. It can be beneficial for brands who are able to regain that inactive subscriber (5 times cheaper than acquiring a brand-new customer!).

Tip #3: Design the content of your email

While emails are widely considered the most effective type of marketing, it doesn’t negate the fact that your customers are busy people. Thus, if the content of your email isn’t designed correctly, then your email campaign won’t be high performing.

Here are the main questions you should be asking for the design.

• What should your emails look like?
• What should be the look and feel of your email?
• What content, message, and offer should you include?

Unfortunately, there’s no uniform answer. The truth is that this will depend on the type of email you’re sending out. You’ll want to tailor your content to whether you’re a welcome email or a re-engagement email because that’s what will grab the customer. The most important elements to remember though are brevity, relevance, and branding.

Your customer is more than likely skimming the email, which means you’ll want to make the content short and sweet. If there’s extraneous information, they won’t take the time to read it. You also want to make sure all the content ties back to your brand so that it hits home with your customers and makes them want to engage with you by purchasing your product or service.

 

Tip #4: Learn from email data

Achieving success with email marketing often comes down to looking at the data you collect. If you don’t pay attention to this, then you probably won’t have an idea about whether or not your efforts have been effective with your customers. Don’t be afraid to test different methods based on what seems most effective based on the data or remove practices that aren’t as effective.

As yourself, “What does the email reporting show?” Learning from this information and data can help enhance your marketing techniques and direct your steps to the most effective email marketing campaign.

 

Final thoughts

Email marketing as a small business can be highly effective when done correctly. Use these 4 tips and remember to continue to cultivate your email list, keep your emails brief and relevant, and learn from your email data. You’ve got this!

Are you looking to create a deeper connection with your audience? At BlueDot Email, we provide our customers with an all-in-one email marketing platform to help take your business to the next level. Want to find out more? Get in touch today!

Here is another great article: Email Marketing Services for Small Business!