The Key to email marketing is being able to drive people to take action, and the very best way to do that is by creating a need for your products or services. If you can create a need in someone\’s mind quickly enough, they\’ll think of you, when the time comes they have an interest in buying what you have.
The email marketing key term here is \”interest.\” You want the email recipient to be interested in whatever it is your email is about. That interest will turn into wanting more information on something they don\’t understand at all yet- then they\’ll come looking for you. So how do you create that initial interest?
Here are some email marketing tips.
Focus on one goal for email marketing
Be sure to keep email marketing focused on one main point for each email. Don\’t try to sell something in the same email you send out weekly newsletters, it\’s too much. Make people interested in general information about your product or service area, and then have a separate email for sales.
Focus on email lead generation
One of the best ways to do this is by sharing useful content with your email list, such as ebooks or whitepapers that are relevant to your industry but not directly related to your business itself. This could be white papers from a different company that just happens to have similar products and services to yours- if they\’re reputable, you can share their work without being seen as plagiarizing. If people see the email is about a product or service they\’re interested in, they may click through to read more.
Free email marketing
Another email lead generation tactic is to give away some information for free that you\’d normally sell. An example of this could be a phone consultation on an industry-related topic that customers will have to pay for if they want it, but by signing up for your email list, you\’ll offer it at no cost initially. That way people will know your email list is worth having because you share real and helpful content with them on a regular basis. It also gets them used to receiving messages from you which will make them more likely to open future emails.
Focus on email lists
Email lists are the backbone of email marketing because you can segment email lists and send email campaigns to people according to their interests. For example, you could have an email list for customers who bought a specific product and another email list for people interested in learning about your products and services but haven\’t yet made a purchase.
When someone signs up for your email list, ask them what they\’re interested in knowing more about so that you can serve them better down the line by sending emails that match their needs or wants. There\’s no point in having email subscribers if they\’re not getting anything out of it- your job is to make sure you\’re providing real value with email communication, not spamming people with sales pitches every chance you get.
Add social sharing buttons
Another type of email lead generation is letting people know that they\’re welcome to share your content with their own audience- if a particular email has a message in it that many people might be interested in, make it easy enough for existing email list subscribers to share it on Facebook or Twitter themselves by adding social sharing buttons. If someone sees something useful on your website and knows others who may also benefit from reading what you have to say, they\’ll certainly appreciate having the option of helping spread the word without feeling like they \’re annoying their email contacts.
Don\’t email too often
Email communication is a great way to build trust and loyalty with your email list subscribers, but it\’s important not to overdo it if you want them to stay subscribed and read all of your email updates in the future. There\’s no real email marketing best practice in terms of how often people should email each other- some companies email their email lists daily while others send out monthly newsletters. It ultimately comes down to what feels right for both parties so that they can maintain a solid relationship through email communication.
Do not SPAM
Remember, nobody likes email spam, so email marketers should always strive to provide email list subscribers with real value in their email updates. Once email leads have been turned into email list subscribers and customers, you\’ll have a much easier time building relationships with your audience because they\’ll start to see you as somebody who\’s looking out for their best interests.
In this respect, email marketing can help build brand loyalty which will benefit everybody involved- email marketers get more email leads and potential customers while email list subscribers and customers receive information that helps them solve problems or meet their needs.
You may not know what type of content or products and services will be most appealing to your audience until you start reaching out to them through email communication, but once people begin recognizing the benefits of email marketing, they\’ll be quick to let you know what they want.
Now, email marketers shouldn\’t feel compelled to send out fresh emails every single day once they\’ve begun building relationships- instead, they should email their email lists as often as feels right. This can be a tough thing to determine at first, but email subscriber loyalty will grow if email marketers provide valuable email updates and opt out buttons so email list subscribers can choose what types of emails they\’d like to receive in the future.
As shown above, email marketing provides plenty of benefits for email marketers and email list subscribers alike- it builds relationships by turning leads into subscribers who enjoy receiving fresh email updates from time to time, and it\’s easy enough that anybody can use it whether they\’re just starting a new business or have been running one for years.