Why should you consider email marketing?

Firstly you will no doubt have a client base. It’s also very possible that you provide more than one product or service, thirdly it’s highly likely your clients (at some stage) will need those additional products or services from you. Your client base are active and warm and more receptive to receiving information from you.

BUT if they do not know you offer different products, or you are not in their mind when they are ready to purchase because you have not made contact for 4 months, then it's highly possible they will look elsewhere. Or they may not understand the need they may have for another service you provide – unless you find a way to inform and educate them at a more regular interval.

Email marketing is a tool and one that can help you stay at the forefront of your clients minds – even when they need to make a referral to a friend!

 

What to consider for email marketing for your business:

There is a myth that email marketing is dead, largely due to the surgence of social media. Yet this is not actually the case. Email marketing is up to 40 times more effective than social media, according to a study done by McKinsey & Company. The same study also shows that the buying process happens 3 times faster than in social media.

 

What they need to know

However, those who share the opinion that email marketing is no longer effective, forget that when this strategy does not work it is often because the content of the email does not meet the interests of the recipients. The key is understanding your clients, how they differ and so how their needs differ. Then you need to identify what your business does to help provide a solution to each of these needs.

 

Not too much, not too little

Another consideration for poor engagement is if you send too many, or not enough emails. So sending 2 or 3 emails a week is only going to annoy someone, but reversely, sending an email one every 3 months is not going to be recognised and picked up amongst the hundreds being received. Set the pace and be consistent so people start to become aware of what you are doing and sub consciously be more willing to recognise your email.

 

The advantages of email marketing

Email marketing has many advantages associated with it. When used properly, it can leverage sales, generate new customers and help in their retention. While social networks first need to engage people so that they can become customers.

Email is a communication tool, a way of keeping in touch with contacts and prospects, a method of education people about your business and the value you add and solutions you provide.

Email marketing also allows you to build and grow a database of quality contacts, which in turn can become a business asset. By create a database of contacts who respond to and engage with your emails you are creating a business commitment and a warm client who is very open to future services and products.

 

A renewed growth?

Statistically, there are indicators that show the growing potential of email marketing. Based on surveys conducted by the Channel Preferences Survey, these indicate that 91% of people access their email at least once a day. Moreover, it is also said that they prefer to receive business information via email.

Among its advantages are the possibility of communicating through a more personal and personalized approach and the fact of allowing and facilitating the analysis of data, which in turn helps to understand if the company’s objectives are in accordance with the results obtained.

Email marketing has few associated costs, an account in Mailchimp, for example, allows you to send up to 12,000 emails per month to a list of up to 2,000 contacts for free. Paid plans are not that expensive.

 

So if you have a database of clients and don’t email them already, consider ways of gaining their permissions (vital for GDPR) to market to them. Add functionality to your website that gives people the option to sign up to emails from you, and then start communicating.