Why Email Marketing for My Small Business?

April 3, 2017

Why Email Marketing for My Small Business?
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Should I Do Email Marketing?

Email is the marketing category generating the highest return on investment (ROI) for marketers. For every $1 spent, email marketing generates $44 in ROI. But some businesses are still reluctant to take the leap.  Some key indicators I look for when diagnosing a need to engage in email marketing are blogging, promotions, slipping sales numbers and desired growth.  Here’s why.

Do you blog?

Blogging and email marketing are like peanut butter and jelly.  The perfect compliment to each other, salty and sweet, inexpensive treats.  My mouth is watering just thinking about email marketing and blogging!  Blogging feeds the website with new content which is great for generating organic traffic and boosting organic search rankings.  It helps you bring in traffic to the site.  But once you’ve got people there then what?  What if they really love what you have to say?  What if they want to hear more, can’t wait to hear more and want to like be just like you when they grow up?  That’s where email marketing steps in.  See, unless your content is Justin Bieber stalk worthy people won’t be just stopping by your website on a daily basis, holding their breath while you churn out more goodness.  You have to remind them to come back.  86% of consumers would like to receive promotional emails from companies they do business with at least monthly, and 15% would like to get them daily. (Statista, 2015) Subscribers just need a little nudge, with a link and a reminder saying, I know we’re friends but well, we haven’t spoken in a while so why don’t you come over and have some coffee and we’ll tell stories.  Without the email your blog post is more like you’re just thinking about inviting your friend over for coffee but don’t.  And your friend is sad and thinks you don’t like them.  Don’t make people sad.  Email them about your blog posts.

Do you offer regular promotions or specials or announcements?

There was a time, a real long time ago, in 1988 when it was $0.25 to mail a letter.  Remember that?  And we’d mail the heck out of stuff.  It’s still fun getting mail.  In fact, MarketingSherpa reports 72% of people prefer to receive promotional content through email, compared to 17% who prefer social media. Let’s do some quick math.  Say your email marketing software costs $25 a month and you can have a list of 2,000 people.  Even if you only send one email to your 2,000 subscribers per month each email costs you about a penny. For $25, back in 1988, you could could reach 100 people (that you, by the way, actually have to print which is not factored into this math problem). That’s not so bad, you might even get a call back, in 1988.  Now, 2017, you can send like 51 letters for $25.  Sending out specials and coupons on a regular basis can a big expensive pain in the neck.  Plus it hurts less when people throw away the email that cost me a penny to sent instead of my not so fancy yet super pricey $0.49 letter.

Working to improve your close-ratio?

Two words for you: segmenting  personalization.  What?  Never heard of those two words together?  That’s because they’re actually separate. Segmenting is when you break your list into groups of subscribers with like interests, values or buying history.  Personalization is when you call people by name and make them feel special.  These are tricks you can use to improve your email marketing.   Utilizing email marketing is good.  But putting it to work is magic.  Here’s two more words for you: drip campaign.  Those two actually do go together.  And when you use marketing automation, like drip campaigns, paired with segmentation and personalization you’re not only crafting a personalized message you don’t even need to hit send.  You can nurture your leads via email, then pick up the phone when the time is right to close the deal. Even blog alert emails can be automated. As of 2013 25% of Fortune 500 B2B companies had adopted some form of marketing automation (ClickZ).  Now Over 75% of email revenue is generated by triggered campaigns, rather than one-size-fits-all campaigns. Automated email campaigns account for 21% of email marketing revenue (DMA).   So even without hitting send you can educate your prospects and start developing a relationship before they even hear your voice.

Are you trying to grow your business?

Was that a rhetorical question?  I know, I’ve heard it, you don’t want to send emails to get new business because you think you’re going to annoy people.  Here’s what’s crazy.  We all know people are emailing us to ask us to buy things.  And we just keep opening the emails anyway.  For 89 percent of marketers, email serves as the primary channel for lead generation, (EduBirdie) and email is 40 times more likely to acquire new customers than Facebook or Twitter (McKinsey). What’s great about email is I can’t hang up on you.  I can trash your email, yes.  And then, while I’m sleeping, you can email me again.  You can see all the data, if I opened the email, if I click. Armed with that information you can make an educated decision about whether I’m interested in your services or not.  And I don’t even have to roll my eyes as my assistant answers the phone and coolly lies to you about my being in a meeting.  So maybe prospecting via email is just keeping it honest.

Email is currency.

Even if you don’t think you want to market via email right now, gather email addresses from your clients and prospects in an organized way.  Email is the currency of the web. Think about it! When you sign up for something online, what’s one of the first things you have to fill out in the form? Your email address. When you sign up for social media, including Facebook and Twitter, what do you absolutely have to have? An email address. Even social media platforms send you emails whenever you’re tagged in a post. Each email you gather from prospects and clients, even if you don’t use it today, can be an asset to tap into tomorrow for a quick, cost effective contact.

Who Manifested This Madness?

Monica Maye Pitts

This fabulous human, that's who.

Monica Maye Pitts

Monica is the creative force and founder of MayeCreate. She has a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture with an emphasis in Economics, Education and Plant Science from the University of Missouri. Monica possesses a rare combination of design savvy and technological know-how. Her clients know this quite well. Her passion for making friends and helping businesses grow gives her the skills she needs to make sure that each client, or friend, gets the attention and service he or she deserves.

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