Debbie Harris — August 23, 2017 — August 23, 2017
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Email is so important to increase revenue.
Email is very important for increasing revenue and, in turn, return on investment. Whichever email service provider you use, it is so important that you incorporate email marketing into your overall marketing. As I have said many times, social media is not an option but it will not stand on its own to garner you new business. It isn’t social magic. How many emails do you get each day? Remember when Gmail went to the four different tabs; Primary, Social, Promotions and Updates? There seemed to be chaos for a lot of us until we realized that now all those pesky promotional emails would go into a separate place and we could ignore them. Here’s the thing though – we don’t ignore our emails. We actually want to receive emails from the businesses we patronize.
According to 2015 research conducted by Litmus; Direct Marketing Association; Pew Research Center and others, 91% of people check their emails daily – 88% regularly check them on their cell phones. Emails have a high conversion rate and that is what you want, conversion for your product or service. None of these statistics should surprise you because you are looking at your emails. Have you taken a step back and realized that your Customers/Clients are doing the same?
Here’s a few pointers for those getting started:
- Use an email service provider. There are several. We have used Constant Contact, AWeber, ReachMail, MailChimp and others. An email service provider will ensure that you meet all legal requirements for Permission, Opting Out, etc. You will not run the risk of your work email being marked as Spam and/or blacklisted.
- Do you have email addresses for your clients? If so, get them into an excel spreadsheet so they can be uploaded into the email program. Maybe you can download them from your CRM and then upload. You will want to encourage people to give you their email. Have a Capture Form on your website and give something of value so people get something in return. Maybe a coupon, a white paper, a few tips…
- Set up your template. Use your logo. Keep it short and to the point. No more than three images and keep your text to 20 words or less. People will be reading it on their phones. It must be Mobile Responsive. Constant Contact emails are mobile responsive. That means that people can click their phones and do what they need to do, i.e. call your phone number. In other words, convert!
- How often will you email? Depends on the type of business you are. People will be much more accepting of their favorite restaurant sending weekly or sometimes even daily emails than they will from their doctor, CPA or attorney. Professionals should think about once per month. You blog will be a part of this email. Your email should be 80% value and 20% promotion. Don’t over sell.
- Be Personal and Transparent. People want to see behind the proverbial curtain. There is so much coming at us everyday and so much of it is not personalized. We tend to zone out. Let people know about your staff, birthdays, anniversaries, etc. New products or services are great too. Use polls, survey, autoresponders, etc.
- Proofread, Proofread, Proofread Spelling and Grammar matter. Have someone else look at it.
There’s so much more I could write about email marketing. This is just a starter article to get you thinking about adding this to your business development. It’s a vital piece. You are right, social media cannot be ignored but neither can email marketing.
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