More than 20 years old, email is one of the oldest forms of digital marketing, yet remains one of the most effective. Consider that there are 4 billion daily email users and this number is expected to climb to 4.6 billion by 2025. Even more telling is that 64% of small businesses use email marketing to reach their target audience and customers and 37% of brands are increasing their email marketing budget.
The fact is that there is no better way to engage with your existing and potential clients than by implementing a solid email marketing strategy for your brand. It provides an opportunity to open—and keep open—the lines of communication between your business and your audience with consistent and timely communication. It builds credibility, trust, and a long-term relationship.
But can it convert directly to sales?
Yes! Email can be a powerful tool for nurturing sales opportunities when used consistently and strategically. Here are some tips to help create a powerful and effective email marketing campaign:
✔️ Use targeted messaging
Your emails should speak directly to your audience’s pain points and needs. Use language that resonates with them and offer solutions that can help address their specific challenges. Effective email marketing is based on the principle of sharing, not selling.
By delivering timely, relevant, and valuable information directly to the inbox of your most loyal customers, you can drive up your direct sales. Simply sending an email and hoping for the best, however, is not going to drive up your conversions.
✔️ Provide value
Offer something of value to your audience in each email, such as a helpful tip, a free resource, or a special offer. This will keep them engaged and interested in hearing from you.
An effective email campaign should not just be promotional, but rather educational and informational, and include a variety of message types that seek to:
- Educate your customer on what you want them to know;
- Add value with your content;
- Build a long-term relationship.
✔️ Segment your audience
Segment your email list based on different factors, such as industry or job title, so you can send targeted messages to each group. This will help ensure that your emails are relevant and valuable to your audience.
An ongoing—or “drip”— email marketing campaign can deliver specific content and messages to your potential customers depending on where they are in the buyers’ journey. The campaign may include a newsletter format that provides a broad range of information about your business or industry, a thought leadership piece that builds credibility for your business within your industry, and then follow up with more targeted information, offer, or call to action that is compelling for your subscribers.
✔️ Use automation
Use automation tools to schedule and send your emails at the right time, based on your audience’s behavior and preferences. This can help you reach your audience when they’re most likely to engage with your content.
By analyzing which customers engaged with which piece of content in your email, you can develop a profile that allows you to target them with specific information or offers based on their interests. Creating these tailored customer journeys within your campaign can have powerful results.
Optimizing your campaigns to nurture your sales opportunities, however, is not only about improving open rates and click rates but about what happens after people leave your email.
- Are you driving them to high-quality landing pages and content?
- Re-targeting more direct emails to them based on their engagement?
- Affirming your email marketing message throughout all of your marketing, including social media, digital ads, and website content?
A strategic email marketing campaign can help you convert those sales. Contact MJ2 Marketing today to learn how to create a high-conversion email marketing campaign for your business.
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