Email offers a cost-effective way to market any small business, and although email marketing is not a ‘dark art’, there are some tried and tested ways to get the most from your email list.
Here, 7 Mailchimp partners and email marketing experts share their top tips…
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Gather as much data and information as you can. The more data you have about your subscribers and customers, the more you are able to deliver highly targeted and relevant email campaigns. Which is the key to successful email marketing.
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Take some time to build a strategy for your email marketing plan. Analyze your audience, ask yourself how did they enter your list, what are their expectations, what’s the best timing for you to reach them by email. Focus on the best content you can provide by email: is it regular updates? A short series of educational emails regarding one topic you’re expert in? Do you have the time and resources to write on a weekly basis? You might not be able to sort it out by yourself, and in this case ask for the help of a good consultant who can help you to set up a viable and effective strategy.
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Be aware that most users will look at your email on mobile devices. Make it easy to read, not too long and use images that matches your brand. Are your coding your own template, be 100% sure it’s compatible and looks great on all devices. Ensure that there are great Call To Actions in your email (I use at least 3) at several points in your email. Happy selling!
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Collect customer emails at every touchpoint your business has with them. And, this is the key part I see businesses missing, welcome them quickly to your program and communicate with them consistently from then on.
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Three words: Know. Your. Audience. If you’re a small business owner or entrepreneur, you’re likely super excited about what you do and want to tell the world about. This kind of energy and enthusiasm is fantastic. But it’s really important that you know what your audience is looking to hear about, not just what you want to say. Listen to their questions, examine their needs, evaluate their pain points. Make sure that when you bother to write an email, you’re writing about something they want to read about.
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Worried about email delivery? Authenticate your domain with your platform and add DKIM, DMARC, and SPF records to your email server. DKIM, DMARC and SPF tell the readers inbox that the email address the email has been sent from is legitimate and has not been forged. By completing this additional step you’ll pretty much guarantee your emails will land in the inbox every time.
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Test, test, test. The only way to know what works for your subscribers is to test it out. By A/B testing your subject lines, send times, from name and even content, you can gather so much valuable information that will help your emails convert better. We try to A/B test every email campaign we send. (It’s also so fascinating to look at the results!)
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