A frequent question that I get from clients is What is Email Marketing and why should I use it in my business?

In this post I want to explain what email marketing is and share some best practices to help you understand how to use it in your business.

What is Email Marketing?

Email marketing is electronic direct mail that let’s you communicate directly with your customers in a very personal manner.  It’s provides a direct line of communication with your customers and it’s fantastic at building relationships that convert to sales.    Businesses can use email marketing to promote products and services, educate customers about new products or to simply build relationships and stay top of mind with your tribe.  When used consistently, it assists you in getting new customers, increasing sales, and improving brand awareness.

Is Email Marketing Spam?

Absolutely not.  Email marketing is permission based meaning that the people you send emails to have requested to receive information.  This is the secret sauce to understanding why email is such a powerful marketing channel.  Since you already have some kind of relationship with the people on your email list, they are predisposed to purchase your products or support your cause.  Make sure that you adhere to CANSPAM laws by only sending email to people you have done business with or to who have asked for information and always provide a way for people to opt-out of receiving future emails.

I’m on Social Media, Why do I need Email Marketing?

People unfamiliar with email marketing often wonder what all the fuss is about. Didn’t spam kill email as a marketing vehicle? And if spam didn’t kill it, what about blogs, Twitter and all the other clever ways we can communicate online? Isn’t email outmoded?

Email marketing and social media work hand in hand.  Your visibility on social media is limited to the number of followers that you have and to how many of those followers are online when you make your posts.  Email marketing interacts with your followers right in their inbox.  I recommend that you use Social Media to grow your email subscriber base making it much more likely that a customer will purchase your products or services.

Truth is that email is an important part of our day to day communication and there is no sign that it will stop any time soon. Today, communication begins in the inbox and mobile phones have made it easier than ever to stay connected with your inbox. Smart marketers understand this. The 2015 Direct Marketing Association State of Email Marketing report tells us that 90% of successful businesses use email marketing.   This makes sense when you realize that email marketing returns, on average, $44.00 for every $1.00 spent.

Why do I need a Special Software?

While it’s possible to send email messages from your regular email account, specialized software such as Constant Contact provide valuable business insights that you can’t get any other way.  A good email marketing software offers valuable business insight that helps you measure the results of your marketing.  It will tell you which customers opened your messages, what links that they clicked on, what emails bounced back and most importantly it helps you easily comply with CANSPAM laws by automatically including a link that let’s subscribers opt out.

I have a saying that “If you’re not measuring you’re not marketing.”  A good email marketing software, measure results and gives you critical information that will help you grow your business and increase profits.

Email marketing is popular because it’s affordable and much cheaper than other forms of marketing. It lets you deliver your message directly to the people who have expressed interest in your product or service and, when done right it’s proven to be highly effective at generating sales. Use it to communicate and build relationships with your existing and prospective customers and to help increase new and repeat sales.

What Kind of Messages do I Send?

Email is generally comprised of company information, newly launched products, promotional offers and other information. If Email Marketing is utilized in an adequate way, email can help create a profitable content marketing campaign. You can also achieve quality inbound leads with an ongoing email marketing campaign good returns.

Email Marketing is more than just typing a few words into your mail program and hitting send. Like anything with marketing before starting with email marketing it’s important to get clear on what you’re trying to achieve.

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