Email is a popular form of communication, particularly for business and professional reasons. With billions of people using email and hundreds of billions of emails sent daily. Did you know there are 306.4 billion emails sent every day in 2020?
Yes, and this number is on a constant upward trend. Between usage popularity and high return on investments (ROI), email marketing is a staple for businesses. The reason why email marketing is becoming popular is that 44% of people made at least one purchase last year based on a promotional email.
This means that email is not only popular but it also has the ability to influence buying decisions. Creating a marketing strategy is part of owning a business and email marketing should be an important part of this marketing strategy.
As a business owner, it makes sense to enter the email marketing space, particularly for small business owners. The email marketing space is vast and ranges from identifying an email signature generator to promoting loyalty programs and beyond.
If you are a small business owner and interested in adopting email marketing, here are 5 email marketing ideas for small businesses.
Create valuable newsletters
A newsletter is a great way to create a value proposition for your brand. Creating a valuable newsletter will ensure that your readers get something in exchange for your subscription. In order to manage a successful email marketing campaign, you need to grow and retain subscribers.
Providing valuable content such as newsletters will help you achieve this goal. Here are a few ways to create valuable newsletters:
1 – Add How-To Tips
A balance between 90% educational and 10% promotional will attract people to your newsletters. A how-to guide achieves this balance in a way that educates your readers about your brand and features.
2 – Add An Email Signature
There are plenty of free email signature generators and paid options available. Identify one that is clean, crisp, and holistic to reap the maximum benefits of an email signature.
Add Important Updates And News
A company event or announcement is a great thing to share through newsletters. Just make sure your newsletter design is responsive and compatible with mobile devices because 70% of people delete emails that do not display well.
Create And Share Customer Case Studies
A winning email marketing campaign uses a mix of content and customer case studies. You can use email marketing to show your audience how you’ve helped local customers just like them. This serves two purposes, one highlights the product or service you offer and two highlights how your company worked with a customer.
So, creating and sharing a customer case study allows your readers to get insight into what a customer experience with your brand looks like. The best part of a case study is that it is all about your brand without appearing all preachy and it is a great promotional opportunity without being pushy.
A case study should not be confused with testimonials and reviews that highlight customer experience. Instead, a case study highlights the business process of your company, reads like a story, and connects with your readers.
Identify how you want to project your brand and what parts of the process you want to highlight and create and share customer case studies accordingly.
Promote A Loyalty Program
We have established that email marketing is all about building and retaining a subscription base. Your email marketing efforts will only yield the desired results if you have people engaging with your content. Many small businesses offer rewards/loyalty programs and email marketing is a fantastic way to boost enrollment. The goal is to grow your email subscription base and retain these subscribers.
In fact, 83% of consumers are encouraged to stick with a brand that provides a loyalty program and the customers in these loyalty programs are making 30% more purchases. In other words, a loyalty program brings in more purchases and repeat purchases.
But how can you let your consumer know about this loyalty program? Email marketing is a great way to share details about your loyalty program and promote it. This will create a buzz and help you inch towards lucrative ROIs on your email marketing efforts.
Run Review Campaign
Reviews have the ability to influence buying decisions. 95% of consumers read reviews before making an online purchase. So, reviews are important. In fact, we live in a world where buyers trust reviews more than advertisements.
This means that reviews need as much attention as advertising efforts if not more. If someone is on your mailing list, chances are they want to hear about your brand. Remember, unsubscribing is also an option.
Use this reader base to your advantage and ask your users to write reviews for your company and start to build trust. For example, send out an automated email to all your buyers requesting a review and send a follow-up.
This will increase the likelihood of an authentic review and encourage other buyers to engage with your brand. In fact, you can even segment your list of buyers based on the amount spent, the number of purchases made, the time spent on the website, and other indicators. This will increase the likelihood of getting a review and also make your most active users feel validated.
Do your homework and run a review campaign that helps you boost your sales.
Send Special Offers And Deals
Whether it is a loyal customer or a potential buyer, one thing that is unanimous is that everybody likes special offers and deals. People like some special offers, so use it to treat your subscribers and get new purchases. But, just like all other email marketing ideas, special offers and deals need to be done properly to yield desired results.
A special offer or deal has the ability to convert someone simply browsing your newsletter into a customer. Whether it is a discount on your latest product or service or a special bundle price, the idea of potential savings entices readers and can trigger impulsive purchases.
Focus on your value proposition and avoid being overly promotional. Maintain that this special offer and deal will provide value to your client and this will increase the likelihood of a buying decision. As a result, spending special offers and deals can help improve your bottom line.
Operating a small business has its own set of challenges. Often small businesses are operating on tight marketing budgets and do now have the same leeway as giant conglomerates. But the high ROIs from email marketing campaigns evens out the playing field a little.
With email marketing, the idea is not to compete with other businesses but to create a rapport between your brand and interested prospects and customers. Use these 5 email marketing ideas for small businesses to create a winning email marketing campaign for your small business and notice desired results.