Emails are handy tools for official correspondence, chatting, and even saving documents. But guess what? Emails are very useful tools for converting clients too. Today, we'll walk you through the basics of email marketing and even give you a few time- and energy-saving tools along the way. So, let's begin right away.
What Is Email Marketing?
Simply put, email marketing is the act of sending a commercial message, usually to a set of people, through email. In other words, it is the process of advertising your business to people via email. Email marketing is commonly used to build loyalty and trust between customers and businesses, encourage customers to make purchases and create brand awareness.
Why Use Email Marketing?
Email marketing is a very effective form of internet marketing. It helps BOOST revenue and ROI.
It is your lowest cost-per-acquisition channel: A major advantage of email marketing is its low Cost-per-acquisition compared to other internet marketing methods. All you need is to have a database of the emails of your traffic. Also, emails are much easier to customize for particular clients, and at what cost? At low fees. Then there's a higher probability of a user responding to an email than some other e-marketing techniques.
Automation: The ease with which one can automate messaging is another feature that contributes to the potency of email marketing. You can immediately engage with potential customers by sending automated emails when they show interest, and you can also sequence out regular emails to maintain that communication and nurture leads with minimal effort on your end.
Increase Brand Recognition. An email campaign is an excellent way to remind clients of your brand. The greater the frequency with which they receive relevant emails from your business, the more likely they are to choose your firm while searching for a product.
Keep traffic in the sales funnel: It can also be used to follow up with clients that do not respond favorably to other forms of advertising. For example, a user who doesn't click on a website advertisement can be persuaded to give their email address through a pop-up form. A customer is thus effectively returned to the marketing funnel through automated email marketing.
Reduce extended sales cycles. If you provide services or complex items, it takes your leads significantly more time to make a purchase decision. Email marketing comes into play here. You can provide clients with step-by-step guidance, useful checklists, and video instructions to assist them to see the value of your product.
How To Get Started
Basically, you only need a smartphone or PC and a functioning email to get started on your email campaign. But there are several email marketing tools to make things easier.
Before you can actually send emails to people, you need their email addresses. This can be obtained from a good Email Service Provider (ESP) [insert the link to your email marketing page], in addition to other email marketing services. Sending emails to people without their consent is known as cold emailing. The other (more effective) method is by getting them to give their addresses voluntarily (Opt-in mailing). We'll talk more about that in the following section.
Top Email Marketing Tips
With the 'email blast' most users experience daily, it's quite difficult to go through all emails. To send outstanding emails, there are some strategies that can effectively increase your chances of gaining new clients and retaining old ones. Let's check them out below:
1 - Improve your subject lines
Strong subject lines mean better conversion. Quoting Hiten Shah, “33% of email recipients open email based on the subject line alone.” The subject line is like a teaser or a movie thriller— it makes your recipients want to find out more.
Some of the ways in which you can improve your subjects include using your real name while addressing them, using power words, creating a curiosity gap by not divulging full information and using statistics to add credence.
2 - Keep It Brief
Overly long emails will likely be overlooked, that's why it's crucial to make your messages as concise as possible. Make sure it is short and straight to the point. Most importantly, make it skimmable. Divide your message into short paragraphs that can be digested at a glance.
3 - Don't forget to add CTAs
Call To Action (CTAs) contains the link from the email to your dedicated website. When users have gone through your writeup and they want to give your business a try, CTAs serve as the link between your business and your email customers. A good thing to remember is that CTAs are more effective when placed towards the top than the bottom, though you can be creative with your placement. It's good to be emphatic with your CTAs, but don't overdo it or potential clients could be easily put off.
4 - Offer value
In order to get email addresses voluntarily, you need a lead magnet, which is a gift that you exchange in return for their email address. The lead magnet can range from an eBook to a video. This method is much safer and guaranteed to yield better results.
5 - Adapt for mobile usage
Majority of users likely view emails from their mobile phones. So, your emails should be easy to view on mobile phones, without excessive graphics or animations. A good idea is to link text to the images, these texts will be seen even if the images fail to load so the user has an idea of what the picture is about.
P.S Send emails at the best times for most opens and clicks. This can be early morning like between 8AM and 1PM.
How Much Does Email Marketing Cost?
Email marketing prices can vary significantly based on the size of your email list, the number of emails you send, the level of assistance you require, and the technical specifications you seek.
Some email service providers offer free email marketing programs which can be enough capacity for some users. Omnisend offers free marketing services for up to 500 contacts, as well as paid ones for as low as $16 per month. While some ESPs can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars monthly.
Why can’t I use my regular mail for email marketing?
People ask questions like “why can't I send a marketing email with my regular mail provider?”
Yes, it's possible. However, you are likely to encounter issues with email bandwidth, design, and deliverability. Because internet service providers (ISPs) such as Gmail, Yahoo, etc. are created for personal use and not for broadcasting, Therefore, when you use your personal email, it might be easily recognized as spam and cause your account to be disabled.
Conclusion
Email marketing is very effective, but that's if you know how to use it. This article only touches on the basics but you can find out more. And when you're ready to start, check out more email marketing strategies at itsjustecommerce.com.
Want to improve your eCommerce conversion rates? Contact us today and see how we can help you make small changes that make a big impact.
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