Email marketing can seem like a thing from the past, but what many businesses don’t realize is how effective it is, even today.
Alongside the other available marketing practices, email marketing is an effective way to generate leads, convert consumers, and communicate with your clients and prospects.
Sending emails may seem simple. Still, there is a lot that should go into creating the perfect email marketing campaign for your business.
In this blog, you’ll learn some of the best email marketing practices to use for your business, along with some tools that can help along the way.
Why Email Marketing?
Email marketing is essential for small businesses as it is a way for you to reach a large number of people. All you need is their email.
With emails, you can keep your customers informed. Many companies have recently taken advantage of this as they have started to send out emails regarding the coronavirus crisis.
Data have proven that people subscribe to email both store and product emails to save money. This is so because many businesses send coupons or limited-time offers through email for in-store and online use.
You can fully customize your email to be a simple message or more complex, based on the point you are trying to get across and the purpose of your business.
As a business owner, you might be wondering how to utilize email marketing to the best of your ability.
Best Email Marketing Practices
Before you send out an email to your clients, be sure to follow the best practices below.
- Personalize the emails
- Make the sender name memorable
- Avoid the noreply@address
- Test your email subject lines
- Create a lead magnet
PERSONALIZE THE EMAILS
Personalizing an email can be incredibly valuable when connecting with your clients.
Adding the client’s first name to the subject line or in the introduction of the email can be all you need to show the client that you care.
Take into consideration the information you have and try to incorporate it in the emails—for instance – the client’s name or birthday for special offers.
MAKE THE SENDER NAME MEMORABLE
The first impression is essential, even in email marketing, as it can be the first and last one that you make on the recipient.
If you can’t build your subscribers’ trust or make your business stand out, your emails might not get opened.
Start with the sender’s name. It’s like your business brand name.
The sender’s name should be recognizable yet memorable. It must offer value.
AVOID THE NOREPLY@ADDRESS
There are a lot of businesses that tend to use noreply@address emails and say that they are always there for their customers.
However, this sends the wrong message.
You want your subscribers and clients to know that you are available to help them when needed, that you care about customer feedback, no matter if it is positive or negative.
TEST YOUR EMAIL SUBJECT LINES
If you don’t have a good subject line for your email, there is a high chance that the recipient won’t open your email.
Most people see the following when they receive an email:
- The sender’s name
- The subject line
- The preheader
Make time for A/B testing for your subject lines to see what works and what doesn’t.
All in all, be personal and creative with your email subject lines to draw attention.
CREATE A LEAD MAGNET
Building a strong email list isn’t as easy as it was, but it is not impossible.
Having someone give you their email can be tricky, which is why you, as a business, have to make your client want to provide you with their email.
You can do this by creating a lead magnet.
A lead magnet is an incentive for existing and potential clients.
Most businesses will create digital and downloadable content that they will give to the client once they receive their email.
This can include checklists, calendars, guides, eBooks, videos, webinars, and more.
You can test them to see which one gets the most conversion from your audience.
Tools for Email Marketing
Using email marketing tools can help your business automate its marketing workflow, track the statistics, build stronger relationships with your clients, and of course, send better and more frequent emails.
Here are some tools that we recommend:
CONSTANT CONTACT
This is an ideal option for small business owners as it is simple to use and offers more than just email marketing.
There are two plans available, priced based on the number of contacts you have.
The Email Plan and the Email Plus Plan
With Constant Contact, you will have access to event management tools, innovative social media tools for coupon creation and downloadables, niche-specific templates, and more.
SENDINBLUE
SendInBlue is an affordable option, and they also offer a free option, though it is limited.
The plans available are based on the number of emails sent, not the number of contacts.
Features include campaign reporting, management, as well as email layout optimization.
Plans include the Limited Free Plan, Lite Plan, Essential Plan, and the Premium Plan.
GET RESPONSE
Get Response offers more than just email marketing. They also have options for you to add landing pages and create webinar solutions.
There are advanced features that are vital to mastering email marketing. For instance, Get Response offers A/B testing, list segmentation, software integration, and autoresponders.
Besides, they have features that can help you predict the perfect time to send your emails.
The plans include Basic, Plus, Professional, and Enterprise.
MAILCHIMP
Another essential email marketing tool for businesses is MailChimp, as they also have a free plan available.
Special features include template selection, social media integration, time-zone based sending, A/B testing, and more.
It’s an easy tool to use with advanced features.
Plans offered by MailChimp include Free, Essentials, Standard, and Premium.
Final Thoughts
Most of the email marketing tools available for businesses offer similar services. However, choosing the right one can help you further develop your email marketing tactics.
Sending emails to clients is essential for keeping them in the loop with what is going with your business, in times of crisis, promotion, orders, issues, and more.
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