Email Marketing is one of the most powerful and profitable forms of marketing. Done correctly, companies can see returns of over 400% on their investment. Let’s see how you can do Email Marketing too.
1. Build A List, Don’t Buy One
The general rule is to not buy a list. The people on that list did not give you permission to email them. You are just spamming them.
Also, If someone did actually have a good list why would they sell it to you instead of just using it for themselves?
I know that if I had a good list I wouldn’t give it away before I squeezed out every last drop!
Let’s look at some of the strategies to building a good list:
a) Popups – One of the easiest ways to gather email addresses on a website is by using popups.
The popup can trigger based on time spent on site, scroll reach, or exit intent.
Your popup can be something as simple as “Would you like us to notify you when we have a sale?”.
People love sales and would gladly give their email to be notified of it.
b) Free giveaway – Who doesn’t love getting something for free?! In exchange for an email address, many people would be happy to receive something for free.
Create something your target market would find of value. Offer it for free on your site in exchange for an email. Sit back and watch your list grow!
For example, if you sell nursing scrubs you can create a list of top then things nurses need to know about X and give the information for free.
You’ll get tons of nurses signing up with their email address and now you’ve got a highly qualified list.
You know they are all nurses, they’ve given you permission to email them. Plus you have already given them value which plays into the concept of reciprocity.
“Did you know” Reciprocity is a psychological term meaning people give back the kind of treatment they have received from another.
Studies have shown that people buying a car were more likely to close the deal if the salesman offered a drink first. Many salespeople know this concept and use it successfully.
c) Write a blog – Write on a topic that your target market would be interested in. The better quality the content, the bigger audience you will have.
Make sure to get their email address by offering to notify them when a new article if posted to the blog.
If your content is good enough there will be many people that will want to be notified.
2. Create a Campaign
Don’t expect your list to just magically work. After building a list you can’t just send 1 email and think that the person will buy.
You need to nurture your audience. There is a 7 step email campaign that I usually like to follow. The amount of days you wait between each email varies from industry to industry.
a) Thank you – the first email they get from you must be a thank you for signing up email. A nice simple email that just makes them feel ever so slightly better about subscribing to your list.
b) Personal Intro – Introduce yourself (or the company brand) to this person. Tell them what you do and why you do it. Let them know you are available.
c) Product/service intro – Introduce your product/service. Once the person has “met” you now you can show them what you offer.
d) Product/service highlight – Speak about a specific aspect of the product that people love. You can also include a testimonial for social proof.
e) Promotion – offer a discount. Give a small percentage off. People love a discount.
f) Time-sensitive offer – Give a bigger discount and put a time limit on it. For the next 2 days take 50% off.
g) Feedback – if none of that worked then kindly ask the person why they did not buy. Very often you will gain amazing insight into your business and sometimes you may even get the sale at this point.
3. Split test
So many things can be tested and improved in email marketing. Time of day, day of week, subject line, from name, the actual body of the email.
You need to constantly be testing everything so that you can determine which one is the best.
To create a split test you need to separate your audience into 2 groups and send the emails to them differently. Depending on what you are testing at the moment whether it be times, subject, etc.
The email that performed better is the winner and now you can split test something else.
You don’t want to be testing more than 1 thing at a time because then you won’t know which change was the cause of better performance.
So there you have it. Follow these 3 steps and you too can get +400% returns on your investment.
