Email Campaigns? Really? Can They Help?

Yes, really. Even though some people (some very wrong people) like to say that email marketing is dead, it still offers plenty of opportunities to market your business, attract new customers and make a few sales along the way – if you know what you’re doing.

Are You on the List?

The first and, perhaps, most relevant perk of email marketing is one of the most obvious: Almost everyone has an email account. That makes it, when utilized properly, a convenient way for you to get your brand in front of people and build awareness. It’s the same strategy we often use for social media. You can really capitalize, then, by building email lists

Building it Right

You can grow your email list – at its core, just a list of people who are interested in or, at the very least, familiar with your business – in much the same way you grow your following on social media. That is to say, make like Whole Foods and do it organically. You should never, eeeeeeeever buy leads for it.

The Perils of Paid-for Lists

The whole goal of an email campaign is to give your customer valuable information that will, in turn, generate leads and forge valuable relationships with your brand. Fake followers aren’t going to be any help there. Furthermore, if you’re buying email lists, you could find your messages marked as spam or even, in extreme cases, see your brand blacklisted. And I think we can all agree those things are bad.

Create Value

On the one hand, email is also a great way to get your name in front of your customer if they’re not out in public as often – say, because of a pandemic. On the other hand, there’s an entire sector of scammers lurking in the shadows with the promise of low prices and unbelievable discounts. So how can you ever hope to establish a sense of trust online?

What Else Do You Have to Offer?

Give your customers valuable content. Among your promotions and deals, find a way to mix in an educational blog or set of tips as a takeaway for your recipients. This gives your customers a reason to stick around on the email list while also growing your brand’s recognition.

A Big, Hairy Example

Let’s say you own a full-service dog grooming and training facility. You absolutely want customers to bring in their furry friends, of course, but you also want clients to see some sort of value from being on your email list. So when you send out a training schedule, you might also include a list of training exercises you can do with your dog at home. The added value of these exercises helps to further establish a relationship between the recipients and your business, and make them feel more comfortable and confident when signing up for classes.

Increase Brand Awareness

Emails are super easy to brand! You can integrate your logo, brand colors, catch phrases or other aspects of your identity to familiarize your customer with your business. Just resist the urge to go overboard with it.

Timing Is Everything

91% of people check their email every day, but odds are, you’ve got a lot of competition in the average inbox. It behooves you, then, to get your email in front of the audience’s faces at the right time. Part of the science here is understanding the frequency with which your customers need your product or service.

An Appealing Example

Let’s say you run a sandwich shop. Sending out weekly deals and promotions or scheduling email blasts for 11:00 may be more effective as people plan their grocery shopping and lunch plans. If you offer a seasonal service, you don’t need to bombard your recipients with messages in the off-season. Once you gauge the frequency and timing that works for your product or service, you can more effectively communicate with your customers and get in front of them when they need you.

Great for Small Businesses

Email campaigns offer small business owners a budget-friendly, yet effective, way to grab customers’ attention. As a small business owner, you may not have all the time in the world to dedicate to in-depth marketing efforts. You may just be able to push out a few social media posts a week, and that may work just fine for you! In these cases, email marketing proves its worth in efficiency.

Convenient Customization

To start, there are thousands upon thousands of templates to choose from, and you can further customize them to match your brand – no designer assistance needed. All you have to do from there is change your messaging and content to fit whatever you are promoting that week. You can even automate your campaigns ahead of time and track your results. This all means that you spend less time fiddling around with marketing details and free up time to run your business.

Track Your Results

Many email marketing platforms have reporting capabilities that show you how your customers interacted with your email. You can look at how many people opened the email, analyze your click-through rate and, with some, even see which button your customer clicked. What’s more, you can usually find a way to track conversions from email campaigns. This all shows how your email performed while giving you insight on how to improve your performance on the next go-round.

Get It Started

There are a lot of upsides to email campaigns, and they’re generally user-friendly to boot. But if you could use a hand getting started or managing your campaigns, ForeFront Web is here to help. Shoot us a message or give us a call today!   About the author: Zoe Compton is a member of the content marketing team at ForeFront Web. She didn’t have any say in the content of her bio because it was written while she was on vacation.