A recent study showed that the number of email users in 2023 grew to over 4 billion and is predicted to grow to 4.6 billion by 2025. Therefore, it makes total sense to start email marketing as soon as possible for all kinds of businesses!
Email marketing is a cost-effective marketing strategy and is an effective method of converting people into clients or simply retaining current clients!
You may be surprised, but nowadays, email marketing technology allows you to send professional emails with options to track how many emails got opened, the number of times people clicked on links in the email, and times when emails were marked as "spam".
This post will walk you through practical and successful email marketing from scratch.
1. How to create an email database
1. Ask your customers to sign up for an email list when they visit your website.
This is the most effective yet free option for developing an email database. People subscribed to an email list will likely be interested in your services since they visited your website/social media page in the first place. This is perfect for cleaning service-based professionals, photographers, freelancers, nail technicians, handymen, nannies, and more!
2. Offer a promo code or discount in exchange for the email
Customers often look for promo codes and discounts, so offering to send promo codes upon email subscription is an effective tactic in maximizing sales and expanding the network while building your email list for further email marketing.
3. Offer a chance to win a free gift for customers who sign up the email list
Try offering a chance to win a free gift to people. Promote this on your Facebook page or any local Facebook group. Make sure to run the lottery and send the gift certificate to the winner. Live video streaming and the use of a random number generator online would help to avoid trust issues and help to build a business reputation as a reliable service provider.
4. Offer useful tips & tricks from your industry
Another nice goodie you can offer is a PDF guide with useful tips&tricks from your industry. For example, if you are offering a cleaning service - create a guide on quickly replacing certain chemical supplies with home DIY cleaning products and present it on your landing page or social media in exchange for an email.
5. Finally - buy email lists online
Yes, you can buy email lists online for a somewhat high price for a small business. While we don't recommend going this route since you will spend a lot of money on non-reliable data with low conversion rates, we wanted to mention it here since it's one of the options available. Also, messages sent to purchased emails are often marked as SPAM, which means that your email will not be opened by the customer. You will probably spend a lot of money and be disappointed at the click-through rate statistics. But the choice is yours.
2. Choose an email marketing service provider
If you want to send nice-looking emails and appear professional, you have to find an email marketing service provider. If you have a website, look at some options website building software offers, for example, www.wix.com offers a few free & paid options for email marketing. Email marketing providers will allow you to deliver emails to large groups, manage email lists, and finally leverage the statistics of your email marketing campaign.
3. Plan your emails roadmap
Once you have your emails collected - take a moment and outline at least a sequence of 10 -15 emails.
These are the questions that will help you while drafting and outlining emails:
1. What value do I provide in each email? Think about your welcoming email. What message do you want to deliver right up front?
2. How can I make my emails appear personalized?
3. What major events will be happening in the next 6 months that can help me promote my business? Special occasions such as holidays can help you increase traffic once offering prior to or during the holiday.
4. Who are my clients, and how often should I remind them of my services? Once every 1-2 weeks is a great start, but you may want to sit down and think more specifically.
4. Write Valuable Emails for Both: You and Your Customer
Tip: Think twice about each of your email subject lines. This is one of the most crucial parts of your email.
Let's be honest, it takes time to write content for each email, so you may want to hire a professional freelancer who can do it for you. Find local experienced email writers on the iProWide app!
Offer valuable things to your customer while promoting your business to maximize sales.
Once the email is designed, you may want to schedule them via MailChimp, Zoho campaigns, Drip, and/or maybe some other software that seems more convenient for you!
Tip: The ratio of promotional/sales to general tips/advice emails should be 20 to 80 to keep the customers engaged.
5. Know your email marketing stats and adjust as needed
It will probably take time for you to find the most effective strategy and align tactics for your business's most successful email marketing campaigns. So, try different options and be ready to adjust based on the statistics and feedback from your network.
Good luck with your business, and don’t forget to utilize technology wisely. 2023 is full of opportunities for growth and success!
Cheers,
iProWide team
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