DIY Small Business Email Marketing
Email marketing sometimes gets a bad reputation because of misuse. If you’re building a customer list just to spam them with promotions, you might as well spend those efforts somewhere else. With over 200 billion emails sent everyday, how can your small business compete? The answer is personalization and optimization.
>> Related: Unsure Where to Start? Book a Personalized Strategy Session <<
What is the Purpose of Email Marketing?
For many small businesses, email marketing can be the best form of lead generation.
First, let’s talk about he WHY your business needs email marketing. In my opinion, there are 3 main purposes to email marketing.
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Using Email to sell products or services.
This is probably the most common reason why email marketing exists, otherwise why are you spending time without a financial ROI? But, this is also the area that most marketers get caught up in, and quickly build a spamming list rather than a customer nurturing list. Email marketing should be a two way street, where you are providing valuable information in exchange for their attention. At Creative DSM, we offer free downloads and tutorials, like our on-site library.
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Using email to encourage users to visit your website.
As an SEO agency, this is obviously a huge push that we make with our clients. Every visit you get to a website is a chance to then re-market the customers later through Google Ads. Remember, it takes seven touches to close a client, so you want them to get acquainted with you. In fact, these days with the disruptive marketing happening all around us, there are studies that are suggesting the traditional seven touches may be increasing. Make sure your site is mobile friendly and informative to leave a great impression. And yes, we’re certified Google Ads specialists.
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Using Email Marketing to Learn About Your Customers.
This point is tied closely to point 2 because the more visitors that you can get to your website, the more chances you get to learn about how your website performs. In Google Analytics, you can analyze what pages are working, what flows are being made, and where the drop off is happening. Visit our tutorial on what reports are most crucial for Google Analytics. But more than just your website, you can A/B test messaging to see what people are actually clicking on in your email content. Use this as a guide for future content generation.
How to Generate and Customer Email List
Give something of value in exchange for engaged customers.
Would you walk up in a normal conversation trying to ask for money? No. Relationships need to be mutually beneficial to work, so before asking for that email address, offer something of value in exchange.
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Offer Lead Generating Quizzes
Quizzes are a perfect way to attract attention of your ideal clients. Not only do people like to learn about themselves, it also allows you to create content that readers care about. Lead Quizzes is a great source to create these quiz forms. Let us know if you’d like to be a part of our account!
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Host a Recorded Webinar
Webinars are another great medium for evaluating engaged users, and are a great way to position yourself as the expert in your field. One of the best ways to get ROI from a webinar is to host it live, but also leave a recorded version of the information for access at any time. Bonus points if you link it to your YouTube channel.
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Add Free Downloads for Lead Generation
Much like the other offers listed above, this method allows you to learn about your customers. Try to create multiple downloads that allow you to learn more about the individual that uses each download. For instance, a download for each service that you offer, in order to build a segmenting list that reaches the right audience. Free downloads are just another chance that you have as a business to position yourself as the expert in your field.
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Use an Exit Offer on Your Website
Let me add a disclaimer to this one, I do not think this approach works for every industry. Depending on your ideal client, an exit intent popup, like Hello Bar, could help you create an offer that engages users that were about to bounce. This should create urgency, and again, be an offer of value.
>> Related: Google Analytics Reports to Analyze Your Marketing <<
Remember to Optimize Your Email Marketing
In other words, try to stay out of your customer’s SPAM folder.
One phrase consistently comes up when I met with a new client:
“Email Marketing Just Doesn’t Work for my business”
While this can be a loaded issue, there are 3 main optimizing points to transform your email marketing campaigns from spam to success.
#1 Clean Your Email Address List.
AKA: What’s the point of talking in an empty room?
After a contact receives 4 emails that are left unopened, it’s time to clean them off your list. Send them a warning email that they are about to lose out, and move on. Un-open rates hurt your spam score.
#2 Keep Your Email Messages Short.
AKA: Leave them wanting more.
If you give it all away in the email, not only will you not get a click to your website, but mobile phone readers will surely delete. Keep in mind that over 50% of email opens are on mobile devices.
#3 Don’t Over Send Email Campaigns.
AKA: Stop spamming inboxes.
If you’re crowding inboxes, you’re most likely doing more harm than anything. If you have really engaged readers, you can segment that list for more communication, however most contacts are looking for monthly subscriptions.