Is Email Marketing Dead?
Email marketing is not dead, and neither is Email Marketing going away anytime soon. Emails are one of the few marketing methods that allow us to form authentic connections with our customers.
Customers don’t usually give their information away carelessly, they do so where they know they will get value.
If you have an online business, Email should be your best marketing friend. You should use emails to strengthen your relationship with your subscribers by sending them relevant, valuable information that will help them reach their goals. Remember it is not about you or your brand, It’s all about your client.
If you follow these few guidelines, your subscribers will not only read your emails, but they will look forward to hearing from you every time.
Should you use Email Marketing?
There’s only one answer to this question. If you have not started email marketing, there’s no better time to start.
What you send to your email subscribers is entirely up to you. However, many brands use email marketing to:
• Increase brand awareness: Keep your brand and services in front of your clients’ minds
• Promote your content: Send your prospects interesting and valuable blog posts or resources
Benefits of Email Marketing
There are 3.8 billion email users on the planet, so if you’re searching for a way to reach out to your consumers, email is the best place to start. Unlike Social Media Followers or YouTube Subscribers, an email list belongs to you and you only and no one can influence how, when, or why you communicate with your subscribers. Even if your page or channel was to be terminated, you’ll still have your email list.
Why you should use Email Marketing
• Email earns an average of $38 for every $1 spent, a 3,800%t return on investment.
• Two-thirds of customers have purchased anything as a result of receiving an email marketing message.
• Only 20% of leads submitted directly to sales are qualified, which means they must be nurtured through email and quality content.
• Email is 40 times more effective in acquiring customers than Facebook and Twitter combined.
Getting Started with Email Merketing
Make an email marketing plan.
Let’s break down a few crucial aspects to consider before getting started with email marketing. These steps can be thought of as the steps to creating an effective email marketing strategy. Every day, each of your subscribers receives 121 emails. That implies that if you don’t take the time to plan ahead, your emails will get lost in congested inboxes or, worse, end up in the spam folder. Here are a few points to keep in mind
- Identify Your Audience
A relevant email is an effective email. You can have a great article about dog training, but if you send it to the wrong audience, you won’t see any results. Start with your buyer persona, learn what they want, and design your email campaign to meet their demands, just like anything else in marketing - Make it easy for people to register.
Want to build an email list? An email list is a set of people who have given you permission to send them relevant material (we’ll cover how to establish your email list in the following section). You’ll need multiple ways for customers to opt in to your email list.
If you only have a few people on your list to start with, don’t be discouraged. It may take some time to grow an email list. Instead, treat each and every subscriber that you have as if they were gold, and your email list will naturally increase. - Decide on the type of email campaign you want to send.
It can be difficult to choose what to send to your subscribers. Do you have a weekly newsletter that you send out? Is it necessary for you to send out fresh product announcements? Which blog articles should you share?
Every marketer is challenged by these questions. The solution is a personal one. You can begin by studying about the many sorts of email campaigns available, then choose which is most appropriate for your target demographic audience. Customers should be able to sign up for only the emails that are relevant to them by creating multiple lists for different types of communications. - Make a schedule
Decide how frequently you’ll contact your list, let your audience know what to expect up front, and keep to a consistent schedule to create trust and ensure that they don’t forget about you. - Track Your Progress
As marketers, everything we do should me tracked to know which of our campaigns are working and which one are not. Being keen about each major statistic will allow you to make little changes to your emails that have a big impact. The Top Email Marketing Service Providers allow you to track how many people open and click on your emails so you can get a clear view of when and who to send your emails to.
How to Build Your Email List
Now comes the fun part: building an email list of potential customers who are looking forward to hearing from you.
There are a lot of inventive ways to grow your email list (buying emails isn’t one of them haha).
Here’s how to begin creating and expanding your email list.
STEP 1: Use lead magnets as the first step.
Your lead magnet is exactly what it sounds like: something that entices people to sign up for your email list, usually in the form of a freebie. The offer might come in a variety of forms, but it must be beneficial to your prospects and be given away for free in exchange for an email address.
There’s just one issue: people have gotten overly concerned with the privacy of their personal data. You can’t expect to get an email address without first trading something important for it.
You should choose a lead magnet that is both relevant and valuable, as well as one that makes your prospects’ lives easier.
You could make the following types of lead magnets:
• Free Course • Free Tool • Ebook • Template and many others
How to Make an Effective Lead Magnet
It’s important to keep in mind that your lead magnet should be useful to your subscribers. Here are some pointers to help you make a valuable lead magnet:
A good Lead Magnet should:
1. Provide useful knowledge that solves an issue and outlines a viable path to achieving the goal
2. Make sure the Lead Magnet is simple to use.
Lead magnets should be given remotely. Make it simple for your new subscriber to get and consume your content, whether it’s a PDF, a webpage, a video, or any other type of lead magnet that you choose.
3. Make your offer with the intention of adding more content in the future.
Nothing is more frustrating than signing up for a wonderful deal only to be let down by the content that follows. If your offer does not fit with the value you will give during your email marketing campaigns, you risk destroying trust.
4.Use your lead magnet as a stepping stone to a more expensive option.
Your email list’s purpose is to eventually lead subscribers to a paid offer. You give away free information to show how valuable your brand is. Therefore, those freebies should eventually lead to your product or service.
5. Make offers that are relevant to the buyer’s journey at each level. Every new lead will be at a different stage of the buyer’s journey, and it’s up to you to figure out which one they are. For example, a welcome email is only sent to new subscribers. Segment your list in order to send relevant content to your email list without getting people to unsubscribe because the content is not relevant to the
STEP 2: Design a compelling opt-in form.
Your opt-in form is where you collect information from subscribers in order to add them to your mailing list. Today’s Email Service Providers allow embedding a signup form on your website so whenever a new subscriber enters their email on your website’s subscription form, they are automatically added to your email list
Here are some pointers on how to make an appealing opt-in form:
- Create a visually appealing and attention-getting header. Your sign-up form should be branded, stand out from the rest of the page, and persuade your readers to fill it out.
- Make the opt-in form relevant to the offer. It is not your intention to trick individuals into entering their information. Any information you include on your form should accurately reflect the offer.
- Keep the form as simple as possible. This could be one of your prospect’s first contact with you. Don’t put them off by sending them a long-form with multiple fields. Only request the most basic information: first name and email address are a good place to start. Only request the most basic information: first name and email address are a good place to start.
Before you go live, walk yourself through the user experience. Check that the form works as it should, that the thank you page is active, and that your offer delivers as promised. This is one of your new lead’s first impressions; make it a professional and positive one.
How to Send Marketing Emails?
Unless you want to end up in a spam folder or, worse, a blocked list, you can’t start emailing just yet. Before you start emailing the valuable list that you worked so hard to build, there are a few things you should keep in mind. We will discuss them one by one:
- Choose a reputable email marketing service.
- Use marketing tips
- Use email segmentation to your advantage.
- Make your email marketing more personalised.
- Make email marketing automation a part of your strategy.
- Take advantage of email marketing templates.
1. Select an email marketing service
There are many services available for email marketing, but it is recommended to chose one that has all the marketing features in one place and has a good reputation so that your emails don’t land in spam.
Any Email service provider that you chose should allow you to quickly generate, personalize, and optimize marketing emails that feel and look professional. They should also include features such as tracking, automation, and autoresponders in order to assist you in creating the best email marketing campaigns and achieving all of your email marketing goals.
Their Features include:
In my own email marketing experience, GetResponse is the of them all when it comes to email marketing, not just because it has all the email marketing features like automation and autoresponders, but because I believe it is the most powerful and most reliable marketing service provider out there. GetResponse has been around for more than 2 decades (started in 1998) and still maintains its reputation when it comes to email delivery. What’s the best part? They give you 30 days free trial with no credit card just to test their features and see if they are the best choice for you.
2. Use of email marketing tips
While you may not give much thought to the formatting or subject line of an email you send to a colleague, email marketing requires much more thought. Everything counts, from the moment you send your email to the devices on which it ma be read.
Because the purpose of every email is to generate more leads, writing a marketing email is a more involved process than writing other emails.
Elements of a good marketing email:
Your email’s call-to-action should lead to a relevant offer and stand out from the rest.
Send out your emails at the right time. According to a study that looked at the response rates of 20 million emails, the ideal day and hour to send your email are Tuesday at 11 a.m.
Mobile responsiveness: 55% of emails are opened on mobile devices. As a result, your email should be optimized for this as well as all other devices.
Personalization: Write each email as if it were to one person. Don’t let your reader feel like it is just another broadcast email sent to thousands of people.
Use clear, actionable, compelling wording in the subject line that is personalized and connected with the email’s body.
3. Use email segmentation to your advantage.
Segmentation is the process of breaking down your large email list into subcategories based on the unique qualities, interests, and preferences of your subscribers.
After all, our subscribers are people, and we should treat them with respect. This means you shouldn’t send out generic email blasts.
Why should your email list be segmented?
Each person who joins up to receive your emails is at a distinct stage of conversion readiness (which is the ultimate goal of all this).
You’ll undoubtedly lose subscribers if you provide a discount code for your product to those who don’t even know how to evaluate their problem. That’s because you’re bypassing the stage where you nurture the relationship and build trust.
Every email you send should regard your subscribers as individuals with whom you want to connect, rather than a herd of leads to be herded into a one-size-fits-all box.
The more you divide your list, the more trust you’ll earn from your leads, making it easier to convert them later.
Research shows that segmented emails account for 58% of all income.
How Do You Segment Your Email Lists?
Create distinct lead magnets and opt-in forms for each stage of the buyer’s journey as the first step in segmentation. Your contacts will be automatically divided into distinct lists. GetResponse allows you to segment your email list based on contact information and behaviour, allowing you to send the appropriate emails to the appropriate people.
4. Make your email marketing more personalised.
It will be much easier to send emails with personalized touches now that you know who you’re emailing and what’s important to them.
Your leads don’t need to know that you’re speaking to 100+ people at once.
When compared to other emails, personalized emails have a 26 percent higher open rate and a 14 percent higher click-through rate.
Here are a few methods to make your emails more personalized:
• Include a field for first names in your subject line and/or greeting.
• When possible, include facts related to a particular region.
• Include relevant and/or personal events, such as regional holidays or birthdays, in your email
• Include a personal signature from a real person at the end of your emails (not your company)
• Include a meaningful call-to-action to a valuable offer for the reader.
5. Make email marketing automation a part of your strategy.
Automation is the implementation of your list segmentation. You can send highly targeted automated emails after you’ve formed particular subgroups. There are a few options for accomplishing this.
Autoresponders
An autoresponder is a series of emails that are sent out automatically at once prompted by a specific action, such as when someone downloads your ebook.
To ensure that your emails are informative and engaging to your readers, you’ll use the same criteria for writing them that we discussed previously. You should pick how often you want to send emails, such as every few days, weeks, or even months.
Autoresponders have the advantage of being able to be set and forgotten. Each email that you add to the series will be sent to every user who is subscribed to your autoresponder. GetReesponse makes it so much easier to create autoresponders in just a matter of clicks.
Workflows
Workflows go a step farther than autoresponders. Workflows are similar to a flow tree with yes/no branches that perform activities based on the criteria you provide.
Workflows are made up of two main elements:
1. The action that qualifies a user for the workflow, or triggers
2. The goal, or the action that will remove a user from the workflow.
Workflow tools are clever enough to recognize when a person opens an email or downloads an offer, and they will trigger a series of actions in response. That is, based on what a user performs, it can send an email series or even shift a prospect’s lifecycle stage.
6. Take advantage of email marketing templates.
Email marketing templates, such as those from GetResponse are another excellent resource for email marketing.
Unless you’re a designer and developer in addition to a talented marketer, templates will save you a lot of time because they eliminate the design, coding, and UX design work from email creation.
Choose email templates that have been proved to be effective when making your choices. The best templates come from the most recognized Email Service Providers who have compared them against thousands of other options. So, if you want to be safe, go with the pros.
Regulations Regarding Email
While it comes to things like excellent work and a good reputation, there are a few email rules to keep in mind when writing emails and planning your marketing strategy.
Customers need to know how and why their information is used. If there’s one thing we care about, it’s giving our customers—or potential customers—what they want.
Compliance with the Can-Spam Act (CAN-SPAM)
The law, which was passed in 2003, covers all commercial emails sent for business purposes.
In practice, it’s a way of safeguarding your subscribers’ right to get only the emails they’ve requested.
Here are several approaches to guarantee that your emails comply with the CAN-SPAM Act:
• In every email, include your company’s name and address.
• Include clear unsubscribe links in your emails.
• Fill in the “From” and “Reply to” fields with actual email addresses.
• Create subject lines that describe the email’s content.
How to Avoid SPAM Folder
You can prevent being labeled as spam by doing the following:
Getting on a whitelist.
A whitelist is the exact opposite of a blacklist, and it is a list of approved senders who are permitted to enter the inbox of the subscriber. Having your new subscriber add your email address to their address book is the simplest way to do this. Include instructions in your welcome email on how to do so.
Keep an eye on your copy.
Avoid utilizing all caps and multiple exclamation marks, as well as spam trigger words like “opt-in,” “click below,” and “order,” which are easily identified by ISPs and marked down (ISPs).
Using an email service provider with a good reputation.
The reputation of your email service provider has an impact on your deliverability, therefore stay with well-known companies. My favourite email service provider is GetResponse with whom I’m sure my emails will land in the primary section of my subscribers’ email’
Using a two-step opt-in process.
After someone joins your email list, send them an email asking them to confirm their subscription. This ensures that your new subscriber is truly interested in receiving your emails and will be more engaged as a result.
Last but not least, you must track the results of your email marketing campaigns on a regular basis. When it comes to email marketing analytics for your company, you have a few alternatives.
Analysis of Email Marketing
You’ll be able to make better decisions that will favorably impact your business’s bottom line, resonate with your subscribers, readers, and consumers, and justify your work to the rest of your company by diving into your email marketing analytics.
Here are the most effective strategies to assess the success of your email marketing initiatives.
Run a split test on your marketing emails.
Not every email list is the same. Some people enjoy personalization, while others consider it spammy. Bright, eye-catching CTA buttons will appeal to some audiences, while others will prefer a more discreet call-to-action.
Until you test the variables, you’ll never know what kind of people make up your email list. A/B testing comes in handy in this situation.
Split testing, often known as A/B testing, is a method of determining which sort of email performs best with your audience by comparing the outcomes of email A to email B.
The following is a step-by-step guide to A/B testing your emails:
• Focus on one variable at a time, such as the subject line, CTA, or graphics.
• Make two versions of the email: one with the variable and one without.
• Set a timer for your emails to be sent out at the same time.
• Analyze your findings and keep only the best version.
• Repeat the process with a new variable.
A/B testing is included in most email service providers‘ software, making it simple to compare email outcomes without a lot of human effort.
Conclusion
The most crucial thing to remember when writing a marketing email is to treat your subscribers like humans.
If you keep this golden rule in mind in every autoresponder, lead magnet, and subject line, you can achieve all of your email marketing goals.
Also, keep in mind that your subscribers want to hear from you and relate to you. Be a true resource, and they’ll anxiously await receiving an email from you, just as they would from a friend.
World’s Most Powerful Email Marketing Software: GET 30 DAYS FREE TRIAL(No Credit Card Required)