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How to Reach 3.7 Billion People

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Half of the world uses email, and the percentage is higher in the US. According to Statista, there are 3.7 billion global email users. This number is predicted to grow to 4.1 billion users by 2021.

In 2018, 205 billion emails are sent each day. Email is still one of the most popular modes of communication.

Email makes money. For every $1 you spend on email marketing, you can expect an average return of $38. Further, according to 80 percent of professionals, email marketing drives customer acquisition and retention.

This data points to the value of an email marketing effort. This is an effective way to maintain a top-of-mind connection with clients and prospects.

Build Your Email List

The key to email marketing is to continually build your list. Adding people without their knowledge is considered to be poor form. Instead, ask people if you can add them when you connect. Or, you can send an email and ask them to opt-in to your list.

The goal is to establish and leverage a list of clients and prospects. This list can be segmented as needed to target clients, past clients, prospects, industries, etc.

Send Email Marketing Messages Regularly

You need to stay in contact with your list. Content needs to be of value to the recipient.  That ensures that recipients will appreciate your messages and not see them as spam.

In addition to sharing content, consider achieving these business purposes with email:

  • Thanking clients
  • Asking for testimonials and/or reviews
  • Asking for feedback
  • Highlighting an upcoming event

Have a Plan

Save time in the long run and develop an email marketing plan. Know what you will send, to whom and how often. Then, your effort becomes a series of tasks that implement the plan.

Be sure to note the results of every message. Use the insight to fine tune your plan and make your email marketing even better.

3 Tips for Email Marketing that Works

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Your business needs control over its digital marketing. That means investing in a great website and email marketing. Today I focus on three ways to ensure that your email marketing is working for you and your target audience.

Just about every day, we are reminded why we need to nurture our own marketing channels. Social media rules change and people’s interest in specific channels change over time.

Every business needs direct connection with their audience that they control. If Facebook goes away tomorrow, will you lose your followers? What if LinkedIn drops all your connections? Not if they are all part of your active email marketing effort.

Email marketing allows your messaging to be delivered straight to the inboxes of your own list of people. You can affirm connections and market to new prospects.

The open rate on email messages is excellent overall, but poorly handled campaigns will have your subscribers hitting the unsubscribe link without giving you a second chance. You need to ensure your email messages are relevant and valuable to your recipients.

Build Your List Organically

People should opt in to your list. Period.

Never add anyone without their permission. This can happen several ways:

  • When you meet a new prospect, ask if you can add him or her to your email list. I usually write their response on the back of the business card to make sure I add people who say yes, and don’t mistakenly add those who decline.
  • Send an email with a link to subscribe to your email list. Explain what people will get and the benefit to them of being part of the list.
  • Add a link to subscribe to your list to your email signature. This helps people who you are actively in contact with to subscribe.
  • Be sure there is an invite to subscribe on your website.

No one wants to get added to an email list without consent. Email that isn’t requested is spam, plain and simple.

Collect What You Need and Nothing More

We all value our privacy. Collect the information you need to create targeted emails for each subscriber and nothing more.

If you want to send birthday messages, ask for the date. If not, don’t.

Generally, these few items will help you to create targeted messages:

  • Name
  • Email
  • Interest(s)

Provide Valuable Content

Every email should provide value to the recipients. Keep that goal top of mind as you compose your message. Messages must demonstrate your focus and understanding of the recipient.

Value can come in the form of information that speaks to their needs and interests, inside information that solidifies the relationship with you, or a promotion available exclusively to email subscribers.

Before you hit send, ask yourself what the value is to the recipient. If the answer isn’t clear, rework the content of the message.

 

 

 

 

9 Tips for Great Email Marketing

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You need an email marketing strategy. You really do.

Email is used by 3 billion people. If you’re doing business in the developed world, your customers are actively using email. Some other stats to consider:

  • According to Constant Contact, for every $1 you spend on email marketing, you can expect an average return of $38.
  • According to Forrester, people are twice as likely to sign up for your email list as they are to interact with you on Facebook.
  • Email has a higher conversion rate than social media and search COMBINED.

Like your other marketing efforts, email needs to be approached strategically. With a plan that outlines goals and activities, you will be more successful. Plus, when you define what you want to achieve, it becomes much easier to make course corrections to keep you on track for success.

As you develop your email marketing strategy, address these 9 tips:

  1. Set goals: Define what you want to accomplish with email outreach. Be specific – what will success look like?
  2. Have a calendar: Create a calendar for your messages. Define what messages will be sent and when. A calendar ensures that you cover all your topics. It also helps you to be consistent, a trait that helps recipients get comfortable with your messages.
  3. Personalize: Use personalization options in your email marketing tool of choice to make sure your messages speak directly to each recipient.
  4. Think small screen: Most emails get read on the small screen of a smart phone. Make sure your design looks great and your content does not overwhelm.
  5. Segment your subscribers: All subscribers are not the same. Send messages that reward active subscribers with perks and others that engage inactive subscribers. See Tip 2 – make sure your messages address recipient needs.
  6. Allow recipients to respond to a real person: No one wants to communicate with a generic info@ mailbox. Messages should be clearly from a person. Responses should go to that person.
  7. Call to action in every message: I get your email and I open it. What do you want from me? Make the desired action clear. Stick to a single, explicit call to action for the best results.
  8. Analyze your data: Pay attention to your message data over time. Look for trends. What does the data tell you about the topics, timing, etc that resonate best for your recipients?
  9. Adjust: As you follow these steps, look for insights that help you to refine your efforts. Never hesitate to make adjustments. That great idea that didn’t get any opens isn’t as great as you thought. Let it go and spend your time finding a better message that does work.