You’ve Got Mail: Grow Your Sales with Email Marketing

November 13, 2020

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To: Small Business Owners
From: 1SEO Digital Agency

Are You Ready to Grow Your Business with Email Marketing? Getting Started is Easy!

As a small business owner, you have to be very meticulous about where you choose to invest your marketing dollars. You may dream of having your business featured in a SuperBowl ad, but realistically, it takes a lot of creativity to get the word out about your business without overspending.

No matter! There are tons of online marketing tools available to help you grow and engage with your customer base at little to not cost to you. We’ve already covered social media and live chat. Now, it’s time to dive into email marketing!

The Stats

Before you invest any time and money into another marketing tactic, you probably want to know whether this will be worth your time. Totally understandable! Here are some of the most recent statistics regarding email marketing success.

Email marketing delivers a $42 ROI for every $1 spent.

Emails have higher conversion rates than social media.

Segmented campaigns can generate a 760% revenue increase.

Emails are used to share content marketing by 91% of B2B marketers.

A third of consumers purchase from brands they are subscribed to.

The Steps

Choose an email marketing platform: You may be tempted to open your personal or work email, compose a quick message, send it off to the short list of customers you’re connected with, and call it a day. Don’t.

It’s extremely difficult to create branded content on personal or work emails, and it’s virtually impossible to track metrics and pinpoint areas of improvement. Not to mention, emails from unauthenticated domains (the address that comes after the @ sign) end up going to spam. Most importantly, you could even break the law if your email does not comply with email marketing regulations.

Save yourself the headache by signing up with a trusted email marketing platform up front. Constant Contact, Mailchimp, and iContact are some of our favorites! These platforms can help you build professional-looking emails, create audience segments for targeted campaigns, track open and click-through rates, send emails in bulk, build automated campaigns, and so much more! Plus, they make sure everything you send out is compliant with email marketing regulations.

Upload your email audience list: Do you have an existing email list? Great! Just upload this onto your email marketing platform, and you’re ready to move on the next step. Start with a “general interest” list and create segments based on special interests. Audience segmentation is necessary for targeted campaigns, which bring in the best results.

If you don’t have an email list handy, don’t worry! It’s never too late to build one. Create a sign-up form on your website and put the word out on social media to get started.

Design a reusable email template: Almost all email marketing platforms have a set of templates to choose from — all you have to do is customize your favorite! This is the best part for those who have an eye for design. You can also create different templates for different types of emails, like coupons vs blog updates, for example.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind:
- Make sure your brand is front and center, and directs readers back to your website.
- Add icons that link to your active social media pages.
- Include your company’s contact information in the footer.
- Make sure the design looks clean and professional.

Write the perfect subject line: Nowadays, people have shorter attention spans than a goldfish. As a marketing guru, this means you have to nail the subject line or risk losing a sale.

Writing the perfect subject line is an artform. You want to get people’s attention without being too aggressive. You want to keep it personal… for hundreds, if not thousands of people.

The best subject lines are short, sweet, and to the point. They describe why the email is worth reading in just a few words. It may be helpful to perform an A/B test — this feature is available in many email marketing platforms — by sending out the same newsletter with two different subject lines. This will give you an idea of what subject lines work best with your audience.

Don’t be afraid to get a little graphic: “A picture is worth one thousand words.” This quote is truer than true for email marketing campaigns.

Visual elements, such as images and gifs, can grab the reader’s attention and pique their interest. They also break up the text and add an element of fun to an otherwise monotonous email. In fact, relevant graphics should be the centerpiece of your email campaign.

Keep the content short and sweet: Keep in mind that this is an email, not a novel. In this case, less is more so explain how your business will help the reader without rambling. Studies show that shorter emails (under 200 words) have better click-through rates.

Add a Call-to-Action (CTA) button: This is obvious, right?

Put on the finishing touches and preview: You’re almost done! But before you send out your masterpiece, preview it by sending yourself a test email. This feature gives you the opportunity to view the email through the eyes of a customer. Look for misspelled words, broken links, and other embarrassing or costly mistakes.

Click send and give yourself a pat on the back: Congratulations! You’re now ready to send out your email. How does it feel to be an email marketing pro?

The Success

If you’re a small business owner looking to expand, email marketing is a safe bet. You can try it for free, tweak it to fit your marketing needs, and watch the sales roll in. There’s no risk involved, making it perfect for small business owners who have to spend their marketing dollars wisely.

We’re also happy to guide you through the email marketing roadmap if you trip up trying to navigate email marketing platforms, metrics, and design. 1SEO is a leader in all digital marketing and small businesses like yours hold a special place in our hearts.

About the Author:

Kejsi Prifti is a Senior Content Creator at 1SEO by day and a rom-com junkie by night. She can often be found singing off-key in her car, baking just about edible desserts, spending time with her cats, and generally marching to the beat of her own drum.

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