Email marketing has been with us it seems forever. Most small businesses use email in one way or another to grow their businesses, but many are struggling to grow their list or make money from it.
The reason is that many are not as intentional about email as they should be because there are not clear and specific as they need to be.
Do you know why someone joined your email list? Do you have specific sales funnels that aid in solving their specific problem, meet a specific need or fulfill a specific desire?
Or are you just leaving it to chance someone will buy?
Learn today how clarity and specificity in email marketing will ultimately lead to list growth and increased sales.
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Email Marketing is One of Your Most Powerful Tools When Used Right
It seems like email marketing has been with us forever?
So much so that you can go out on the Internet right now and you can find tens of thousands of articles on email marketing for your business.
You can learn about how to get subscribers on your list, how to create specific marketing and sales funnels and automate your messages to them, how to create call-to-action words, and even email frequency.
While all fantastic and true, they are incomplete.
Why?
Because as I’ll share throughout this article, you have to be clear about what business you’re “really” in. Clarity and specificity of the specific problems you solve and who you solve them for is critical to knowing how to create a powerful email marketing program. I hope you’ll trust me when I say that few are as clear as they think they are.
Now on to the good stuff, I want to talk about one specific strategy that you can use to increase sales by using email marketing.
Are you using email intentionally?
Do you have specific email marketing funnels set up?
Having a specific email marketing funnel that is automated ought to be the standard for every small business.
How do they work?
Here is one example; if a person inquires or fills out a form on your website about product “A” or problem “A”, they are put in a specific email list (i.e. a funnel) that addresses what they inquired about. Over a period of days or weeks, they will get an email based on a flow chart and their reactions. (see flow chart to the right)
(Notice why clarity and specificity at this point is already extremely important.)
Agito Internet Marketing created the flowchart below as an example of an email autoresponder follow-up campaign:
Notice the process…
Your prospect is on your website. He or she fills out a form.
They are immediately put into a specific email list and they are ready for the email marketing campaigns to start.
Immediately, there is an auto responder that emails to thank them for filling out the form with the information or download they requested when they filled the form out.
The next step is to send them another auto follow-up in a few days. Don’t wait too long. Thank them again for filling out the form and share a common and specific problem that people have as it relates to why they joined your list and offer them something for free.
Repeat the process for about six cycles until they either do something or they buy something. In either case, it ought to trigger another set of emails.
The key is to be clear and specific in your email marketing content as it pertains to why they joined your list.
Each email you send out ought to introduce a new problem, meet a new need or fulfill a new desire but the context is always around the original reason they joined your email.
For example, if someone joined your email to learn about email; don’t send them emails about video.
Amazon Does Email Marketing Exceptionally Well
Are you sophisticated enough in your email system to move your prospects into a sales funnel and cross promote or cross-sell other products and services?
If not, you need to be.
There are some companies that do this really well.
For example, if you’re an Amazon user, you probably know Amazon is fantastic at this. I don’t know how they do it sometimes.
When you think about how sophisticated that platform must be for their email it’s kind of mind-blowing… they know exactly what I looked at and they know what else I might want or need to buy to go with what I either looked at or purchased.
This last February we bought at a Subaru Outback. We started looking online at accessories for it because we are outdoor people and we like to travel as well. I went on Amazon and I was looking at roof carriers. I searched a very specific term, “Subaru Outback Roof Carrier.”
Notice, I didn’t just say roof carrier. I specified what kind of roof carrier. In this case it’s for a Subaru Outback. I don’t want one that won’t work for my car.
Within a few days I started getting emails from Amazon asking me if I had thought about carrier A or carrier B for my Subaru Outback. I wish I wouldn’t have deleted those emails now so I could show them to you… lol. However, you get the point.
They sent these emails because I opted into their email subscription and I love that they do that!
Why Do Most People Not Subscribe or Unsubscribe Quickly From Your Email Marketing List
Do you struggle with adding people to your list, keeping them on your list, open rates or you’re not getting any sales?
IBM did a study last fall and in their study they discovered that 80% of people feel that businesses are in no way relevant to their problems, needs, wants or desires.
In the video below, one of the things that a young lady said is; “I would love to get an email from the company that I love to buy from that gives me updates or ideas on things that I needed based on what I’ve already purchased.”
How cool would that be if you could have a sales funnel set up to do that?
Would that be relevant to your subscribers?
Email marketing should be a very strong part of your marketing campaigns and what you’re doing to build your business.
I’m the first one to admit I’m still growing and evolving in this area.
For a long time I was very dismissive about email marketing as I felt it was an intrusive form of communication.
But as I’ve accepted email marketing by other companies into my own life, based on how I use it, I’ve learned that people really do want to hear from our businesses through email. That’s why they subscribe.
I’ve learned just by sending out one email, with a current podcast or blog, that people want to know what I’m writing about.
They want to know what I’m talking about.
They want to know how I’m making a difference for their business.
I have earned a significant amount of money just because I sent an email to my subscribers about my most current podcast or blog article, they read it and then they did what I asked them to do.
Clarity and Specificity Answers Your Subscribes “Why” and Compels Them to Action
There are a lot of different ways to use email marketing.
The key question is; do you have a strategy to use it to increase your sales?
In many ways, email is the same as your website.
I recently shared in an article how you can use your website to increase your sales that the number one thing that an audience responds to is specificity and clarity.
Specificity and clarity get to the heart of one person’s problem, need or desire. It opens the door to relevancy and allows the person to feel like you understand him or her personally.
You relate to them at a personal level and you get to their “why”; which is the reason they will take action because you asked them to.
You have to be really, really clear and you have to be really, really specific about what you’re saying and who you’re saying it to.
Not everyone will open your email and nor should they!
What you want is for the right people for whom the title says “OMG, how do they know…?”
How do they know that is what I need?
How do they know that’s I wasn’t thinking about?
Or they say to themselves; “That’s a cool idea.”
… and they click through and open the email, read it and do what you ask him to do.
The Reason Businesses Struggle with Email is Because They Don’t Tell Their Subscribers to Do Anything
One of the biggest problems that people have with email marketing is the same problem they have with content marketing or their blog.
They don’t have a really clear call-to-action telling their readers to do something specific.
If you take the time to create a great email… then take the time to tell them to do something.
If you want to increase sales through your email you must be very specific.
It starts with a great title that’s very specific.
In the email solve one problem, meet one need, or fulfill one desire.
Offer a solution and then ask them to do something.
It’s that simple.
If you do that, your email will succeed no matter how big your list is because it’s not about having a huge list.
It’s about having the specific content for the right person, at the right time, when they open that email.
Many will take action because you asked them to.
That’s what it’s all about!
You can do it with the small list.
You can do it with a medium-sized list.
You can do it with a massive list.
It doesn’t matter.
The key increasing your sales through email is become really specific and clear about what business you are “really” in.
Conclusion – Email Marketing is More Than Just Sending Out an Email
I have met a lot of people over the last two years who think they are clear until they realize that they are not as clear and specific as they thought.
The result is that their email marketing, social media marketing, website, and content marketing are not working.
If you get really specific by creating email marketing campaigns that are highly targeted and focused, and are for one person, with one problem, need, want, or desire and give it to them; you can have a highly profitable email marketing program
If you know that you’re not clear or specific in your email marketing and if you realize this is a problem area for you, I encourage you to take me up on free one-on-one, no obligation, consultation.
If you’re ready to talk just click here or on the image below.
If you’re not ready or you don’t want to talk, I want to offer you my free eBook titled “The Shift, Making the Fast Paced Transition from Mass Marketing to Context Marketing.” In it, I will share how you can get specific and a case study of a start-up company who went through the process.
Do you have a thought, idea or question you would like to ask? Please share in the comments below and let’s discuss.
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