Email Marketing For Small Business Owners

The big questions circulating today, in our digitally-laced business world are, “Will email marketing really help our businesses?” and “Are these digital pigeon holes going to become more and more beneficial for businesses in the future?” My first question is “are you already using email marketing ? and if not why not?”

Emailing is a twenty first century phenomenon, an email can be sent from one computer to another computer, one phone to another phone or tablet to another tablet, right across the world, without any form of transport other than digitally, through the intricacies of mass servers until it reaches its final destination. Your inbox. It is almost instantaneous, unless it hits the junk folder and is never seen!

With regard to the efficiency of the email methods, that is something we can look into a little further later.

What makes email marketing better than traditional marketing?

On the one hand, a handwritten letter delivered directly onto your desk may seem a very thoughtful idea, but is it really convenient and is it seen quite in the same way today? After all, a tangible piece of paper can easily be tossed into the bin, and maybe someone else will open it and the intended recipient may not even see it, especially in businesses that have Secretaries, PA’s or receptionists. Yes an email can be sent to the bin too but it’s more likely to be opened by the right person. Or your letter can become swamped under piles of other work on the desk.

Maybe you will want to rethink your budget and put a little more effort into email marketing rather than your other traditional methods? It is likely that email marketing is going to actually be a huge benefit to your company because of the simple accessibility and its efficiency. There is no mail man getting it lost, or any prospect of others picking up your mail. It’s instant gratification and it’s easy to digest…to a large extent but only if you do it well.

What Makes Emails So Attractive To A Reader?

Email marketing itself is a brilliant way to promote your digital presence and to communicate on a universal level. This makes it favourable over other forms of communication. There are many ways to send multiple emails out to disclosed or undisclosed recipients easily with certain apps and programs which means that your email database is not going to waste; after all it is one of the most precious things that your business owns.

You do have an email list don’t you? If not then read my post to find an email autoresponder that suits you.

Your contacts are probably stored in databases and everyone can receive the email marketing content at the same time although not everyone will have access to the databases. Email marketing however tends to be very communal and easy to manage and keep track of especially with the right programs. It’s time to learn more about email marketing. Almost everyone in the world has access to, or owns a smartphone so when you send your marketing information to someone, they can receive it on a train, in a car, at the bar, or at home, instead of just at their office desk. Emails also, are free – to all intents and purposes. Of course, you pay your internet provider and your autoresponder, but the cost is minimal or even free if you choose. In terms of how many emails you want to send, well it is limitless. With traditional mail and sending your pamphlets out to people via mail, you have to pay for packages and postage which can cost a hefty fee.

But what if the person’s email goes into spam? Good question; however by using certain tricks and elements to help get your email marketing up and running, you don’t have to worry about this. By personalising any email content it may help it reach your recipients a lot more effectively. It also greatly increases the chances of your recipients opening and reading the email. Taking a little extra time to write the person’s name will be vital, as well as any other information and a great display! That’s key too.

There are plenty of courses available to give you the skills you need to write effective emails that get opened and read.

Running campaigns

You will certainly not be alone if you choose to start email marketing. There are possibly millions of companies who are doing the exact same thing worldwide and when working out your business plans, you should certainly be looking at the design. Using a graphic designer and a good team to start your email campaigns is vital because they have the tools and know how to make something look great! There are a plethora of successful businesses who are nailing their campaigns and generating better sales and leads from it. It does depend on how you execute it and the type of content that you’re circulating. If it is undesirable and doesn’t hold your attention, then people are not going to click through on it and look deeper into what you have sent. It really boils down to finding the x factor within your email marketing. Look for what makes you stand out as a business, what makes you different …and better! You probably have a lot of competition in your industry, what are they doing and how can you improve on that?

With impeccable style and consistency, create templates that reflect your brand’s colours and logos to keep it all looking neat and stylish. Use eye catching fonts, styles, imagery and colour that pops, or perhaps graphics holds integrity to your brand without cheapening anything. Do you want to use photographs to pull people in or video, as people respond well to visuals and it can drive traffic to your website if something looks good. There are already plenty of benefits within Social Media too, such as Pinterest and Instagram becoming the world’s leading platforms for digital marketing but you can also draw inspiration from here. Linking your brands social pages could prove important and can be included in your emails; anything that is helping to push your brand forward is going to be vital.

The inception of these campaigns is also quite easy with the right programs as most of them are easy to set up but be aware of your brand’s message. The traditional marketing methods of dropping off leaflets can still be beneficial but when you put it into perspective of the amount of people you reach from emails and the amount that you reach from local advertising or traditional mail, it doesn’t balance out. You can still find some great leads.

Are You Still Unsure About Email Marketing?

Collating all the above information and trying to make sense of it isn’t easy because there are so many ways to boost your business and email marketing may seem like something that just doesn’t hold your attention. It does however have a huge benefit for your company and when done right, it will not appear spammy or cheap. Of course it may depend upon the type of business you have, especially if you are local based and do not travel out of a twenty mile radius, then perhaps email marketing could only be a sideline, but it is still worth having email marketing to use, to ensure that people are seeing your company for what it is and being able to get access to news and any offers that you have. It’s never a bad idea.

If you are very focused on growing organic growth digitally, then Email Marketing may be exactly what you’re looking for because it will not take too much time or staff energy to get things into motion. Gathering information and running your own market research is vital before you start marketing because you need to make sure you’re sure of what your audience likes. It’s also important to know what their expectations are and what type of communication they prefer, such as email, paper, phone or text. Running small questionnaires can make prospective buyers/clients feel included in your decisions for your marketing and can have a positive impact on it so be sure to look into all areas of market research before making big decisions but on the whole, email marketing is going to be a huge boon.

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Final Thoughts

If you do not yet use email marketing then I think it is time you did. If you already have an email list then make sure to build upon it and use it to your businesses best advantage by communicating what you can help them with.

If you have found this post useful then please do me a favour and give it a share on your favourite social media platform. Sharing is Caring.

As ever if you have any questions or want to share your own thoughts or experiences, please leave a comment below and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

With Grace and Gratitude

Karen

Please be aware that this post may contain affiliate links which means that if you click on one and then make a purchase, I will earn a commission but it will not cost you any more.

I hope that you have found this article helpful, and will use this advice to make sure that your business has everything it needs to succeed.