The Basics of Email Marketing
Building your email list is essential for capturing sales leads. A profitable business revolves around relationship building, and email marketing allows personal interaction with potential customers who have demonstrated intent to purchase. Once you have your audience’s attention, email communication keeps your messaging in front of them and on their minds. But what exactly is email marketing, and how do you do it? Here are the basics:
Lead Capture
Someone signs up for your email list either from a landing page or directly from your website. You might have plenty of followers on your social media platforms, but what happens if your favorite platform closes tomorrow? You would lose all your followers because you don’t own those leads. However, when you build your own list of devoted followers, you will have more control over those email addresses and the relationships they represent. When someone subscribes to your list (in email marketing jargon, this is officially called an “opt-in”), they grant permission for you to show up in their inbox. To grow your list, provide a reason to sign up by offering a freebie such as a special deal, product, or training course.
Lead Management
Software platforms like Constant Contact, MailChimp, and others work seamlessly with your website — they automatically capture list subscribers’ contact information and email addresses. You could go the old-fashioned route of providing a lead form, entering emails into a spreadsheet, and directly emailing each subscriber on your list. However, as you grow your business and gain influence online, managing leads manually will rob you of precious time. Taking advantage of a smartly engineered email marketing platform develops a lead capture system that can scale with your business.
Email Marketing Campaigns
Capitalize on sales leads while they are still fresh. Email campaigns are a series of emails that you send to specific people on your list. New subscribers might get a 7-day series of emails as a welcome campaign, or you might offer them an introductory mini-course. Regular subscribers on your list might opt-in to a separate freebie or course campaign to segment their email addresses into a targeted list based on unique interests. To complement targeted campaigns aimed at audience segments or for specific promotions, we also recommend maintaining an ongoing campaign for all subscribers in your master list.
The Newsletter Campaign
An ongoing email campaign is necessary for building rapport and brand recognition. A relevant newsletter sent at regular intervals is an excellent relationship-building strategy. Simplify your life by following a branded outline or template with new content each time. A newsletter is a perfect opportunity to give your audience a behind-the-scenes glimpse into your company. When your subscribers need someone for the service you provide, guess who they are going to call? YOU: the one they “know”!
Value and Content
There is more to standing out and being noticed than just sending multiple emails. It is a significant privilege to be invited into a person’s email inbox. However, you must remember you are not the only one. Your subscribers likely receive several emails from the brands they follow, and many of them get deleted every day. Whether they open your seventh email or your thirtieth, if your content is valuable, they can trust it won’t be a waste of their time. Always provide value to your audience by knowing their pain points and addressing them in your campaigns and newsletter content.
Consistency
The worst thing you can do is capture leads and then not have a consistent campaign. It is not a good representation if you only reach out occasionally when you want to promote something. People don’t appreciate being an afterthought or being solicited for sales without having a relationship with you first. Your email content must consistently and regularly provide value to your subscribers to build rapport, trust, and relevancy. Whether you choose weekly, biweekly, monthly, or another frequency, have a schedule and stick to it.
Engagement/Relationship
Our world spends substantial time on social media platforms. The keyword is “social”. When it comes to social media, landing your ideal clients has everything to do with expressing your brand personality. As a foundation, you should first build your brand to suit your target audience, then execute an audience-focused engagement strategy. Invite subscribers to follow your social media accounts and reply to your email messages with questions. When they accept your invitation to interact via email, social media comments, or direct messages, respond quickly and intentionally.
We hope this article helped you understand why email marketing is a foundational sales-building tool while outlining the essential elements that can bring it all together for your business. A well-executed email strategy is an invitation to strengthen your rapport with existing customers and influence buying decisions for the prospects you are eager to serve!