Building a small business is a little like growing a garden. You plant the seeds of your ideas, water them with funds, and bathe them in the sunlight of hard work and dedication. But for your garden to grow to unprecedented heights, you need the proper plant food. And in the world of small business, that means loyal customers.
One way to grow a solid client base? Email marketing.
Many businesses now understand the importance of an email marketing campaign and how it effectively raises brand awareness. You can start with understanding the anatomy of an email if you want, but most are beginning to look for firms offering reliable email marketing services.
To better understand why email is important to developing customer relationships, take a look below at the abundance of benefits it can provide.
When a customer visits your website, it’s because they already have an interest in the product or service you offer. Perhaps they were searching for a new summer wardrobe and stumbled upon your clothing brand. Or maybe they Googled Vegan Bakeries Near Me and discovered your cow-approved cakes.
Regardless of what led them to your site, your goal as a small business owner is to keep them from clicking away. To accomplish this, you can encourage new customers to join your mailing list by offering a special discount. Many use email testing tools to ensure success in this campaign.
You’ve probably encountered this strategy for yourself when a visit to a new website triggers a pop-up window that allows you to input your email address.
Because the customer has already shown interest in your product, they’re more likely to sign up for a mailing list that promises a discount in return. Even if they don’t use the discount right away, they now have an incentive to visit your site in the future.
Plus, now that they’re on your mailing list, they’ll be the first to learn about new products, sales, and special events that can draw them back to your site.
Once customers have joined your mailing list, you can further build your relationship with them by personalizing their emails. With email marketing strategies, you can segment your customers and target audience into categories based on factors such as:
Personalizing an email increases the likelihood that a customer will open it, read through it, and click the intended CTA. In fact, marketers who use segmented campaigns to categorize customers have seen increases in revenue of up to 760%.1
When you know what your customer wants, you can deliver it straight to their mailbox.
You can even further the personal touch by sending emails that address your customer by name. By addressing your customers by name, you’re not demanding they purchase your product—you’re starting a conversation. This allows you to build a meaningful relationship.
And if you need more of an incentive to personalize your emails, consider this: Emails that include the recipient’s first name in the subject line have a higher click-through rate than those that don’t.2
Personalization isn’t the only reason why email marketing is responsible for generating over $30 billion in retail sales annually.3 Another key factor is accessibility.
Our mobile device allows us instant access to our emails no matter where we are. The convenience of mobile technology explains why 99% of consumers check their email every day.4 That means when you send a marketing email, you’re sending information about new products, services, and sales directly into your customer’s pocket.
Even if they weren’t thinking about buying a new cookware set, you’ve placed the idea into the palm of their hands, with a shiny product image and a discounted rate.
Now that they think about it, their skillet is pretty scratched.
While the goal of any marketing strategy is to help drive customers to your business, costly marketing strategies can prevent you from turning a profit. Direct mail marketing, for instance, requires you to pay for printing, specialty papers, colored inks, and postage. And if you’re mailing hundreds of flyers, these costs can quickly add up.
With email marketing, you can connect with your customers, notify them of new products, and offer special promotions without the added expenses that come with direct mail. Plus, if you need to change or update any specific information, all you have to do is send a new email.
With the money you can save through email marketing, you can upgrade your business with new products, expand your storefront location, or even hire more employees. Depending on your circumstances, email marketing can be a cost-effective channel to leverage.
As a small business owner, time is a luxury not often afforded. Between operating your store, connecting with clients, and balancing your accounts, the last thing you have time for is curating emails to customers. Through automation software and email marketers, you can create email campaigns that run autonomously.
To that end, not only can automated emails notify your customers of special events and promotions, but they can also reach out to customers who:
Email marketing strategies can also increase your business’s online visibility by boosting your search engine optimization (SEO). SEO refers to how your website ranks in a customer’s search engine results. The higher your rank, the more likely a user is to click on your website to find what they’re searching for.
How can email marketing improve your SEO?
We’re glad you asked. One of the most influential factors driving SEO is direct website traffic. This refers to users who visit your website without a referral from another website. An effective marketing email that promotes your business’ exciting new products or exclusive sale prices will call on customers to click an embedded link to be taken directly to your site.
When this happens, Google notices and marks your website as a valuable source of information to present to future users. To determine the effectiveness of your email and understand where to make changes, you can collect email marketing metrics, such as:
In addition to personalizing your emails to better suit your customers, you can also personalize your emails to develop your brand. Decide how you want your email to look, sound, and feel. Since email is your way of communicating with your customers on a regular basis, you want the tone and voice to be a reflection of your business.
Ask yourself: What is my brand’s voice? If you’re not sure, consider some of these ideas:
You can further develop your brand by embellishing your email with features such as photos, gifs, links to weekly blog posts, and customer feedback surveys.
Feedback surveys can do more than reflect your brand. They can also help your customers feel valued. You’ve probably heard the phrase, “The customer is always right.” And while we don’t want to give anyone too much of an ego boost, it’s not entirely without merit.
Without your customers, your business can’t grow.
By taking their thoughts and opinions into consideration and giving them a voice in how your business operates, you help your customers trust you as a loyal business owner. And when you’re loyal to your customers, they’re loyal to you.
To maintain a regular presence in your customer’s lives (and their inboxes), choose an email marketing strategy.
Even if your email is simply to say hello, or give thanks for continued support, frequent communication through this platform can foster stronger relationships between you and your customers. Not only can this help ensure repeat business, but it can also help define your company as a genuine brand that values its clients.
Source: https://powerdigitalmarketing.com/blog/how-to-start-affiliate-marketing/
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