Grow Your Business With Email Marketing

Many business owners understand the importance of capturing emails but what are they doing with it? Email marketing is a very effective form of advertising and it is a very inexpensive medium to be present on. The best part of email marketing is that you’re emailing people who have already expressed interest in your brand. These are people who are more likely to take action if you send them an offer or promotion.

According to a recent study by Constant Contact, smartphones or other mobile devices account for more than half of emails opened by consumers who may be potential customers.  The most successful number of “email opens” come from emails sent to Comcast, Verizon Wireless, and Cox email addresses.  However, very few emails are set up for complete mobile optimization, meaning people may not see their email until they sit in front of their desktop computer.  Of course, if a mobile device cannot open an email message, it is highly possible that the message will go unread.

How can an email marketing campaign benefit your business?

Preparing a typical marketing campaign does not come easy or cheap.  Time needs to be spent designing the advertising materials.  Then the items need to be sent to the printer to be printed, cut, and possibly stuffed into envelopes.  Of course, time and money need to be factored into delivering the materials to be distributed by the Post Office.  When all is said and done, you could be taking a substantial amount of time and money, with no guarantee that your potential customer will even see your message.

Switching to an email marketing campaign can save your business time and money.  In less than two hours, you can have your marketing campaign ready to go, as you are cutting out the time spent needing your materials to be printed, cut, and stuffed into envelopes.  Recurring email templates make it possible to make changes to copy and graphics quickly.  This is perfect for businesses looking to reach their customers will special same-day promotions.  Just a few hours of designing your special message, then simply hit send, and customers will likely be able to access your promotion that day on any given mobile device, granted the message is optimized for mobile usage.

Email marketing campaigns can be used to track sales and get to know your potential customers better.  Unlike any postal marketing message you may send, email campaigns can be segmented using personal customer information.  You can target potential customers by their gender, location, interest, and more.  This will allow you to identify special groups that may be particularly interested in your products or services.

Your business can successfully use email marketing campaigns by keeping these simple steps in mind:

1. Provide value–lose the sell: Give your customers valuable news and information and they will come to rely on you to provide them with what they need
2. Make mobile devices a priority: Optimize all your emails for mobile devices
3. Segment and personalize all your communications sent to potential customers
4. Keep your subject lines short and snappy: Ensure that your email will be opened
5. Do not be afraid to get creative with the images you include in sending your email marketing campaigns
6. Create an email capturing campaign: It is important to always be building your list
7. Keep your mailings set to a regular schedule and try not to deviate from it
8. Test your subject lines against each other
9. Track your links in your emails with UTM codes