Have you ever subscribed to a local business’s email list? If so, you’ve participated in small business email marketing.
It is a powerful digital marketing technique that you can use to reach new and existing customers through automated emails.
These emails typically include:
Newsletters
Company updates
Sales promotions
Exclusive deals
Customer surveys
While they may seem pesky to some, using marketing emails can help increase your visibility, customer outreach, loyalty, and much more.
What is Small Business Email Marketing?
Marketing your small business through email isn’t just about sending messages to your subscribers. There’s more to it than that.
The email marketing process involves sending carefully crafted emails that include advertising content and messages to your target audience.
To marketing your small business successfully, you need to create promotional emails by testing and maintaining them.
How Does it Work?
You can use small business email marketing to:
Increase sales
Build trust with your customers over time
Improve brand awareness and loyalty
Deliver important information
Keep your customers updated on your business in real-time
When used as a proper form of direct marketing, these emails can be effective for your business and efficient for your wallet.
You can also use email marketing for advertising emails.
What is Email Advertising?
Email advertising falls under the umbrella of email marketing. It involves sending advertisement emails to your customers once they give you their consent.
Advertising your small business through email works well when you give your customer the option to agree to see this content.
5 Ways to Do Email Advertising
When advertising your business with emails, you should:
Ask for customer email addresses
Keep email registration records
Give customers the option to opt-out
Display your privacy policy
Keep a secure email list
Many entrepreneurs agree that small business email marketing is essential and for good reason.
An increasing number of retailers in the U.S. think automated emails are one of their most effective digital marketing strategies.
What is Automation in Email Marketing?
Email automation involves sending timed or action-triggered marketing emails to your subscribers.
This may include sending specific messages to groups of people that fit your target audience or buyer behavior recorded by a CRM.
When you automate your email marketing, your opportunities to gain more leads, sales, and revenue increase.
Why Automate Marketing Emails?
Automating your marketing emails is useful for eliminating small, time-consuming tasks like:
Preparing email lists
Keeping track of existing clients individually
Sending generic messages
Sending emails to every lead
Manually scheduling events
Email marketing automation allows you and your sales team to work on bigger projects or deals more productively.
Why Choose Email Marketing Over Other Marketing Methods?
Over 90% of internet users use email, either for personal or business purposes, or both. Small business email marketing allows you to reach more internet users, regardless if they have a social media account or not.
Email marketing offers unique benefits like:
Easy tracking of opened emails and website clicks
Easy tracking of your ROI
Higher ROI due to correct audience outreach
Nurturing leads and turning them into customers
Customization of your marketing strategies
Another way marketing emails differ from other forms of marketing is that customers want to see your emails!
Any customer that signs up for your email list means they want more information about your small business, its products, goods, and services.
If you’re not already marketing your small business through email, it’s a successful strategy to consider.
Can Email Marketing Work with Other Forms of Marketing?
Yes! Email marketing for your small business works well with social media marketing.
When you pair marketing emails with platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn, you can also promote your business and its social media profiles.
You can also use your social media accounts to put together an email list to use in your email marketing campaigns.
You can do this by:
Holding a giveaway on social media that asks your followers to give their email addresses to enter.
Making posts asking your followers to subscribe to your business email list and provide a link, so they can sign up.
Using Facebook to set up a lead generation campaign for collecting emails to use for your email marketing.
Marketing through automated emails also works well for remarketing.
When visitors shop online with your website, they may add items to their cart and forget to complete their purchase. You can use email marketing to fix this.
It’s as simple as sending cart reminders to encourage your customers to complete their purchases without coming off as spammy.
What is the Role of Email Marketing in a Marketing Strategy?
Having a marketing email strategy keeps your subscribers and customers updated on the latest information about your business.
By marketing your company with emails, you can make sure that your marketing strategy remains adaptable, measurable, and action-orientated.
5 Ways to Do Email Marketing
When email marketing for your small business:
Set your goal first
Build a targeted email list
Know your audience and their pain points
Create convincing email content
Plan your follow-up emails
It’s also important to choose an email marketing service and provider who will understand your business and its goals.
How Do You Start A Marketing Email Campaign?
Email marketing is versatile and customizable. But you still need to start by setting your goals and knowing who your target audience is.
The first step in any small business email marketing campaign is to create an email list.
You should ask yourself questions before asking subscribers to provide you with their email addresses.
Consider questions like:
What will customers gain by giving you their email addresses?
Do you plan to send exclusive discounts?
How often will you send emails?
Would your emails interest you if you were a customer?
Are your emails both user and mobile-friendly?
Having an email marketing campaign that appeals to your customers and benefits them creates trust with those who sign up for your email list.
What Should the Email Content Include?
The content you include in your marketing emails should reflect your business.
When creating content, make sure it reflects your business brand colors, brand voice, and any other factors that set you apart from your competitors.
Examples of email marketing content can include:
Links to articles on your website
Customer reviews and testimonials
Subscriber loyalty rewards
Sales or new promotion information
New services or items announcements
When customers join your emailing list, send them a welcome email that sounds genuine and captures their attention.
Remember that every new person that signs up for your marketing emails is a potential customer. Just be careful not to make every email about selling something.
You can boost your marketing emails by providing content like:
Answers to FAQs
Snippets from blogs posts on your website
Surveys or polls
Interactive videos
GIFs
What About the Email Layout?
When it comes to your email layout, consistency is key.
Your emails should match your business’ website style, social media accounts, and ads for consistent branding.
Custom small business email marketing templates can keep your branding consistent and make sure you’re sending out mobile-friendly emails.
Are There Different Types of Email Marketing?
Yes! There are several categories that marketing your small business through email falls into.
The 3 main types of email marketing are:
Newsletter emails
Transactional emails
Behavioral emails
Many businesses use email newsletters to share important information about their promotions, news, and other communications.
Transactional emails are used to confirm payment transactions.
Behavioral emails help track customer actions and trigger emails based on their behaviors.
10 Best Practices for Successful Small Business Email Marketing
Now that you know what email marketing is and why it’s essential for your small business, it’s important to understand best practices.
10 top email marketing tips you should follow to help you beat your competition:
Don’t buy email lists EVER
Separate your email list
Provide an opt-out option
Personalize to your brand
Optimize for mobile
Guarantee email delivery
Choose an engaging email design
Organize and update your mailing list regularly
Test your email content
Use email automation
When it comes to email marketing campaigns, avoid routine. Business marketing is always evolving, and you should too.
Be on the lookout for the latest email marketing tips. They could end up being your secret weapon and help leverage your marketing emails to their full potential.
Where Can I Learn More About Small Business Email Marketing?
At The Mad Caddy! We are a team of digital marketing professionals who specialize in email marketing for small businesses no matter the industry.
Schedule your free consultation with us today!