Email marketing has long been touted as the most effective form of online marketing. (A simple Google search will provide many results proving this point.)
It all starts with the opt-in. As we discussed in last week’s post, creating valuable content will bring prospects to your website organically. They will opt-in to receive further information… Then what?
The next step is to nurture your list of leads further by providing even more value. What this looks like really depends on your business.
Here at DemGen, we always have a number of campaigns on the go. To date, it appears our biggest ‘win’ has been our Daily Motivational Business Quotes. We’re always getting awesome feedback about them. (One prospective client even mentioned printing them off and pasting them around his desk.)
We also send out a quarterly newsletter, The Entrepreneur’s Vision, to keep prospects aware of what we have on the go.
Such communications are only the starting point. Prospects that have opted-in to receive your information are warm leads. They’re interested in your business and want to know more.
There tends to be a long tail for marketing initiatives and utilizing email marketing to nurture and educate your prospects is essential.
Unfortunately, it’s impossible for me to make specific recommendations that would suit every business via this blog post. I’m hoping you understand your prospects and ideal clients well enough that you will be inspired to nurture them accordingly. (If you’re at a loss for ideas, give us a call and we can help.)
The bottom line is to make your email communications personal and always provide value. Text only emails tend to get better open and click through rates. Write like you would to a friend.
Once you have campaigns in mind, the next consideration is timing. We’re all busy. Your ROI will be very dependent on when you send.
This awesome infographic from GetResponse provides a great visual reference based on typical stats.
There are a plethora of programs that can help you manage, schedule and automate your email marketing. We recently made the switch to Infusionsoft. Though it costs more, the automation and CRM capabilities save enough time that it pretty much pays for itself.
I leave you with this scene from Flight of the Conchords to remind you of all the spam you receive. Be cognizant of your audience and make an impact with valuable information that’s worthy of their time.
