Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to market your products and services. It has been around for a long time and continues to gain popularity.
One of the things I love about email marketing is that it allows you to connect with potential leads, nurture them and eventually convert them into customers.
In this guide, I will take you through everything you need to know about email marketing after starting your blog. I have broken down the topics to help you understand email marketing better.
I will start by defining precisely what email marketing entails.
What Is Email Marketing?
Email marketing is a marketing strategy that involves sending out emails to prospects.
By doing that, you can convert the new prospects into customers and existing customers into loyal ones.
In simpler terms, through email marketing, you will be in a position to take the customer through the entire buying process, from when they become aware of your business to when they consider buying it up to when they buy the product and become repeat customers.
Just like any marketing strategy, email marketing requires continuous learning and improvement.
When you execute this strategy well, you will reap many benefits, as I will discuss later in this article.
Types Of Emails You Can Send
There are different types of emails that you can send, including;
i) Welcome emails
These are meant to welcome a prospect into your organization and give them a good impression. You should give them details about your expertise in your business.
ii) Newsletters
Newsletters are meant to keep in touch with prospects and existing customers.
You can educate and inform them about a new product, how your organization works, or any achievement you have made.
iii) Dedicated emails
Dedicated emails usually contain information about an offer. It could be an event you are inviting them to or a launch of a new project.
iv) Lead nurturing emails
These types of emails are meant to convert prospects into customers. Therefore, you should include a lot of information that is beneficial to the customers.
You can tell them about how your product works and the benefits they will get by using it.
Free gifts such as eBooks and discounts work in convincing potential customers to buy from you.
v) Sponsorship emails
To do sponsorship emails, you will have to pay for them to reach a wider audience and bring in more leads.
You will create your email copy and then partner with a marketer to market the email copy for you in their newsletters.
vi) Transactional emails
These are emails you send out to your leads so that they can complete a specific action.
For instance, if they sign up for your course, you will send them a welcome message indicating the login details to access the course.
vii) Re-engagement emails
If you have a list of prospects that have subscribed to your newsletters and notice that they have not been active, you send re-engagement emails.
They are meant to follow up on the prospects, collect feedback and remind them about your business.
Benefits Of Email Marketing
Email marketing has several benefits that you cannot find in other types of digital marketing.
This is the reason why I have continued to use email marketing to reach my prospects and customers.
When you use email marketing, you set up yourself for growth through the following benefits;
1) Low-cost marketing strategy
Email marketing is not expensive; you do not need to have lots of money to implement this strategy.
All you need is an email list and an email service like GetResponse to launch and analyze your campaigns.
I use GetResponse, and it makes my work easier and my email campaigns effective.
GetResponse is a software that helps you create professional email templates, automate your emails and send out the emails to your list.
With only $15 per month, you can send out lots of emails to 1000 subscribers. I love this software because it does almost all the work for me.
2) You are in full control of your list
In most marketing platforms like Facebook, you do not have full control of your business and customers.
Your account could be deleted or suspended, and you would have to start building your customer base from scratch.
This is different from email marketing. You are in full control of your email list. No one can delete the emails of your subscribers or take the leads from you.
3) Emails are preferred methods of communication
According to this study, many people like to receive information through emails.
Emails are non-intrusive as the recipient can open and read them when they want. They can also unsubscribe easily if they do not wish to receive the emails anymore.
You can be assured that if your email marketing campaigns are effective, your subscribers will continue to look forward to the emails and read them.
4) Email marketing has an ROI of 3800%
The Return on investment using email marketing is huge. For every $1 spent, you make $38.
How cool is that? This is why I encourage you to consider email marketing.
Now that I have enlightened you on some of the benefits of email marketing let us look at how you can start email marketing as a beginner.
How To Start Email Marketing For Beginners
In my experience, email marketing is very easy to understand. As a beginner, all you need to do is understand the concept and then build an effective strategy with time.
Follow the steps below to get started.
1) Create and grow your list
The most important thing you need to run an email marketing strategy is to have a list first.
Remember, you need to have the email addresses of the people that you will send out the emails to.
People will not just give you their email addresses; you need to give them a reason to sign up to your email list.
Below are some of the tactics I have used over the years to create and grow my email list.
i) Lead magnets
A lead magnet is something you give for free to a prospect in exchange for an email address.
And it does not have to cost you lots of money; anything that can benefit a prospect can be used as a lead magnet.
Some of the best lead magnets to use include;
- eBooks
- Webinars
- Templates
- Free consultations
- Self-assessments or quizzes
- Free trials and samples
- How-to videos
As you can see, these are offers you can easily create.
A good lead magnet should be relevant, easily accessible, actionable, and provide certain benefits to the target audience.
ii) Opt-in forms
Now that you have created a lead magnet, the next thing to do is complete an optin form.
An optin form is a form that you install on your website to allow the prospects to sign up. As they do so, they will provide their names and email addresses and any other information you need to collect.
There are different ways that you can present the optin forms; they can be embedded, pop-up forms, click forms, etc.
You should create the optin forms so that the prospects are convinced that they should signup.
Besides their names and email addresses, you can ask them to fill out other details such as their date of birth, website URL, where they heard about you, etc.…
I advise that you make it easy for the prospects to sign up and access the lead magnets. Asking them too many questions might make some of them not sign up.
Only ask for precise and relevant information depending on your marketing campaign objectives. The form should be very simple to encourage more sign-ups.
To ensure that your optin form converts use an enticing headline, attractive visuals, and a compelling subscribe button.
iii) Landing pages
Landing pages are also excellent for creating and growing an email list.
A landing page is a web page designed for marketing and advertising to capture leads from other sources like social media ads and sponsored emails.
Just like the name suggests, it is where visitors land to learn more about your business or offer.
Unlike other web pages, a landing page is optimized to capture leads and convert email subscribers into customers.
Therefore, a landing page should have a signup form and information that will convince a visitor to sign up.
To create a highly converting landing page, create a headline that captures attention and precisely explains the benefit of the lead.
iv) Paid ads
Paid ads also work effectively to grow your email list.
You can run the ads on Facebook, Google, and LinkedIn, which will lead the visitor to your landing page and make them sign up.
Paid ads have been beneficial to my business as they make the process of capturing leads faster.
2) Get an email service provider
So far, you have learned what email marketing entails, its benefit, and how you can grow your email list.
Let us now look at the other step, which is getting an email service provider.
You will agree that sending 1000 emails to different subscribers for different purposes and responding to each of them can be difficult when done manually.
This is the reason why you will need an email service provider. Most providers will do this work for you and help you have an excellent ROI with email marketing.
I use GetResponse, as I mentioned earlier.
GetResponse is easy to use, and it automates the emails and sends them out for you. What I love most is that through the professional email templates GetResponse provides, my ROI has increased over the years.
Additionally, you can set autoresponders. Autoresponders are emails that are automatically sent to subscribers when they take a specific action, such as joining your list.
You can sign up here for free and enjoy more open clicks and sales using this email service software.
Other email service providers you can look at include Aweber, ConvertKit, and MailChimp.
3) Segment your email list
Like I mentioned earlier in this article, there are different types of emails that you can send. Some are meant for new prospects and others for existing customers.
This is why you should segment your email list so that the information you send out is relevant to the recipient.
For instance, it would not be effective to send a re-engagement email to a new prospect. A new prospect needs an email to welcome them and introduce them to your company.
Segmentation, therefore, involves dividing the customers who share common characteristics into specific groups. Subscribers are likely to take action if the information you send is relevant to them.
There are various ways to segment your email list based on these factors;
- Age
- Gender
- Income level
- Location
- Page visits
- Email opens, and link clicks
- Buying behavior
4) Increase email open rates
Email marketing can only be effective if the subscribers open the emails, read them and take the required action. Otherwise, you will be wasting your resources.
This is why you need to increase the email open rates, and there are so many ways to get people to read the emails as I have outlined below;
i) Avoid spam filters
If your emails go to the subscribers’ spam folder, then they will not get to read. To avoid such scenarios, ensure that the subscriber already opted to sign up for your newsletter.
Also, ensure to use verified domains, give the subscriber an easy way to unsubscribe from receiving your emails, and do not use deceptive baits.
ii) Keep your list fresh
Over time subscribers in your list can become inactive, or they might have changed their email addresses.
It is good to check your list and remove any contacts that have not engaged with your content in over six months.
Otherwise, you will be wasting your efforts sending emails that are not read.
iii) Use a catchy headline
Remember, your subscribers probably have a lot of emails to go through. Make yours stand out by using a headline that entices their curiosity.
Use a language and tone that they would appreciate.
iv) Write relevant, engaging, and informative content
Segmenting your email lists will help you create relevant content for different buyer personas.
Your content should be engaging as well. Over the years that I have been doing email marketing, I have found that educative content increases email open rates.
Often, I use some humor, and more subscribers buy my products.
Aim at creating a personal connection with the subscribers.
v) Optimize for mobile
Today, most people access emails and any type of online information using their mobile phones, and you need to consider these when writing your emails.
Mobile phones have smaller screens, and it is wise to ensure that subject lines are not too long. Also, use large call to action buttons.
Break down the information into small paragraphs and ensure that the media can be quickly loaded through a mobile phone.
5) Setting Up Your First Email Campaign
So far, I have taught you so much about email marketing, and that information will help you get started.
Now, let me take you through setting up your first email campaign.
i) Define your objectives and goals
Just like with any type of marketing, you need to define your objectives. What exactly do you want to achieve through your email marketing campaigns?
Your goals can be short-term or long-term, but essentially your objectives can be to increase your subscriber list by a certain percentage, learn about your target audience, and increase the return on investment.
It is wise to set realistic goals depending on the kind of business and the people you are targeting.
ii) Select your target audience
I often advise that you cannot sell to everybody; some people need your product while others do not. Marketing to the latter can be a waste of your resources.
In defining your target audience, look at factors such as their age, gender, income level, location, buying behaviors, and preferences.
You must know the needs of your target audience so that you can address them in your email marketing campaigns.
While doing your campaign, segment your email list and send relevant information to specific groups.
iii) Determine the resources you need
Determine what you need to make the email campaign happen. You might need email marketers, graphic designers, and copywriters.
You also need tools like GetResponse to automate email marketing for you and project management tools.
Knowing what you will need helps you to come up with an effective plan.
- Outline the KPIs and metrics you will be measuring
You need to know the key performance indicators and metrics that you will be looking at to determine the performance of your campaign.
Without this data, it will be difficult for you to scale your marketing efforts.
Some of the things to look at include;
- Email list size
The more the number of subscribers you have, the better the results. But like I said earlier, it is always essential to keep your list fresh.
- Email open rate
How subscribers engage with your emails matters. But there will be some who open but do not read the email.
You can get to determine the effectiveness of how you deliver emails. If you notice a low open rate, it could mean that your headlines are not catchy, people are not interested in that content, or the emails usually go to the spam folder.
- Click-through rate
Opening emails is one thing, and taking action is another. Your goal should be to ensure that more subscribers click on any link you have provided in the email.
To encourage more click-through rates, I usually make the call to action more prominent than the rest of the content.
If you notice low click-through rates, it could be that your content is not engaging enough.
- Click to open rate
The click-to-open rate is a comparison between the unique opens and unique clicks. If it is high, it means that the subscribers found the emails interesting.
The low click-to-open rate indicates that the emails are not interesting, and subscribers were not convinced enough to click on the links.
- Conversion
Conversion is the action that the customer finally takes; it could be purchasing a product or a service.
More conversions indicate that your email marketing campaign was successful, and low conversions indicate the opposite.
iv) Come up with an email template
Having understood your email marketing goals, target audience, and the different metrics to measure, it is now time to create an email template.
Luckily you do not need to be an expert in designing to create a perfect email template that generates results.
Email marketing tools like GetResponse come with ready-made email templates. All you need to do is customize them. This aspect saves me a lot of time.
v) Schedule your emails
After you have created the emails that you want to send out, you can schedule them to reach the target audience at a particular time.
Consider the time zones of the subscribers so that the emails reach them at the right time.
vi) Analyze your results
Look at the metrics that I mentioned to know the effectiveness of your email marketing campaign.
You can do so after 24 hours as you give your target audience time to engage with your emails and take action.
Besides the email list size, open rates, click-through rates, and click-to-open rates, look at other factors such as your offer and target audience that could affect your conversions.
Conclusion
There you have it!
You have learned what email marketing is, how to do it and how you can scale your marketing efforts.
As you can see, this is not a hard thing to do- you do not need to be an expert. Just have your customers' needs in mind, get a good email marketing software like GetResponse, and grow your business through email marketing.