If you have not jumped on board yet, email marketing is easily one of the top ways to increase leads and improve sales. Everyone checks emails and everyone is looking for useful products and services.
This is why email is a fantastic tool to reach new potential customers and connect with past customers.
But before you start blasting a series of self-promotional emails, take a moment and read over these five tips that will bring you better email marketing success.
1. Start with automated software that makes the job easy
Now this is a self promotional step on our part, but hey, we offer a simple email marketing service that has all the features you need and want to get the job done. But, if you would like to shop around, look for a service that will offer you the ability to customize professional looking templates for your needs, as well as socially share your newsletter. Keep in mind budget as well. For example, SimplyCast has an epic free plan that lets you send 30,000 emails to 2,000 contacts every month at no cost.
2. Segment your lists for further targeting
If you have different types of customers (gender, buying habits, location, type of marketing they consume etc.), you need to have a different marketing message for each group. There is no more catch all message if you truly want to find your market and don't skimp just because it will take longer. We promise, if you put in the time, you will see the results. Segment your contact list based on where a customer is categorized so you can deliver a more effective and more targeted message.
3. Make it very, very, very easy for someone to sign up
You should have an email subscription form on your blog and website to make it extremely simple for people to sign up and get your emails. This is the only way you are going to get an engaged and more importantly, clean list of subscribers. You can also give them incentive to sign up, by offering a special report or coupon code for signing up. People like to think they are getting someone of value when they turn over their information, so this tip is always a good one.
4. Deliver some kind of value
Our email marketing experts always recommend sending one company newsletter and one promotion email each month. You can certainly do more depending on the nature of your business, but we highly recommend you don't do less. By sticking to a few per month, you don't bombard subscribers with sale emails and turn off their interest. Don't always be selling. If you present your products and services properly, they should sell themselves. Instead, focus on providing useful content in the newsletter. Look to your company blog for inspiration. For example, we send out a monthly newsletter that is almost all comprised of tips, industry news and valuable information for our clients. You need to send enough to stay in the mind of your readers, but not too much so they get annoyed.
5. Consider when you send email campaigns
Learning the habits of your readers is key to raising the level of engagement. If you know your customers read their emails in the evening after work, schedule your emails to go live then. If they are more centered around business, you would be best to send during office hours. It is also important to set expectations and stick to them. If you send every third Tuesday of the month, stay on course as readers will be looking for your newsletter. If you sent stock quotes, send them at the exact same time every day. I think you get the idea. People are more likely to open an email that arrives at a time they are either not busy or in need of the information you are sending. If you are sending globally, you should also consider time zones and using scheduling features.
There are numerous tips to improve email marketing success and these are just five. But by following each one, you are almost guaranteeing better results and better business without spending a whole lot of money. Which is what every business wants right?
Remember, you can sign up for your free email marketing account here.
