Email Marketing - So Much More Than Newsletters
Newsletters are a powerful marketing tool, but any savvy marketer will tell you that your email marketing efforts don’t have to be limited merely to your newsletter. If this idea surprises or confuses you, don’t worry — plenty of people out there associate email marketing and newsletters so closely that they don’t realize you can send other kinds of emails. In fact, you can send other kinds of emails and you should be sending them.
Before we talk about the other types of emails you could be sending, let’s take a minute to go over why email marketing is such a powerful tool.
Three reasons to focus on email marketing:
Cost-effectiveness: Email marketing is a cost-effective tool compared with other forms of marketing. Sure, you have to make the initial subscription to your email platform, such as Mail Chimp or Wild Apricot, but beyond that, you’re really looking at only the investment of the time that it takes to put an email together. And because you spend so much time day in and day out working on emails, sending out a mass email to your customer base shouldn’t feel overwhelming.
Interest level: You know that the people who are getting your emails are interested in your business. After all, they signed up to hear from you. That doesn’t mean that they’re going to have a chance to open every email or that every message you send it going to apply to them, you do have a better chance of appealing to them than you do to thousands of people on social media who may or may not be as engaged.
Analytics that are easy to track: Your email platform will likely offer some method of tracking your analytics, so you know which emails are most effective. Take a close look at the ones that get plenty of opens or send traffic to your site. Is it because of the time you sent the email? The catchy subject line? The great offer you included? Do long-form emails tend to do better than short-form emails? Thanks to analytics, you can start to develop future emails to match the ones that are the most successful.
Growing Your Email List
Also, it’s worth noting that you shouldn’t fall for the trap of buying an email list. Instead, let yourself collect the email addresses of people who are opting in to receive emails from you. When you buy an email list, you’re likely going to see low open rates. Plus the people who are receiving your emails unsolicited will be irritated, and that’s damaging to your brand image. Finally, in a worst-case scenario, you could be hit with a fine from a privacy protection agency for sending out spammy emails to the email addresses of people who don’t want them.
Email Marketing Ideas
If you’re ready to expand your email marketing efforts beyond your monthly newsletter (or quarterly newsletter, or however often you send it), here are some ideas:
Exclusive offers and coupons
Send out an email with a coupon code for an exclusive offer. Not only will this give your recipients incentive to make a purchase, but when word gets out that your email list receives exclusive discounts, you could see a lot more signups.
Free downloads
People love free stuff, and if you can offer them the option of downloading a free PDF or other digital asset, then your brand will continue to hold a prominent place in their minds. Free guides, step-by-step tutorials, or webinars are great digital assets you can put together and offer to your subscribers.
Do a customer satisfaction check-in
If your customer recently made a purchase or hired you for a service, send them an email and ask for their feedback. Not only will this demonstrate to your customer that you value their satisfaction (which is great for repeat business) but also it gives you a chance to use any negativity to improve.
Happy birthday message
Finally, it never hurts to send a message to your customers on their birthday, anniversary, or other special occasion. It shows them that you care, and as with other emails, it provides them more exposure to your brand so they remember you when the time comes to make a purchase.
Don’t forget to offer value!
The final thing to keep in mind is that each email has to offer something that the recipient wants. You won’t please everyone with every email, but you still want to please somebody. Emails without a clear point to them or that come across as overly promotional are a quick way to disengage your newsletter subscribers. Make the point of your email clear in the subject line so that you improve your chances of getting subscribers to open the email.