E-mail marketing is one of the most effective ways to grow your business once you factor in the cost. However, there are a few problems that you must tend to so that you can run an effective e-mail marketing campaign.
Unless you are aware of the key basics of running an e-mail campaign, chances are that your return on investment will be very low. Here, we will look at everything that you need to be aware of before you begin marketing through e-mails.
Acquire a Suitable E-Mail List
The first thing you must do is to have a list of potential clients that you can contact. One mistake that I constantly see business owners make is that they purchase e-mail lists.
This seldom works. First of all, it is highly improbable that anybody has a dedicated list that is entirely made up of people that might be looking for companies. Secondly, contacting people who don’t know you will almost always lead to them simply ignoring your e-mails.
Most marketers believe that you should never purchase e-mail lists. Instead, you should look towards building an organic database of potential customers that you can reach out to with special offers.
There are many ways through which you can organically build an e-mail list. These include both online and offline methods.
Ideally, you want to utilize other marketing channels to generate leads and then use your e-mail campaigns to pursue those leads.
Adopt the Right Tone
A corporate-like tone is perfect if you are sending a proposal to a multinational corporation. However, as a business owner, you will most likely be reaching out to individual homeowners.
As such, it is best to adopt a friendly, informal tone that lets your potential clients know that you are not just an organization looking for profit.
Ideally, you should get a professional copywriter to write your e-mails for you. Those that specialize in converting copy know how to write e-mails that subtly point the reader to the button that gets them to hire you.
Obviously, the tone should be slightly more formal if your firm specializes in office or industrial cleaning. It is best to sit down and think of who your ideal client is before the e-mails are written.
One E-Mail is Not Enough
In most cases, the very first e-mail you send will not be enough to win over a new client. While a small percentage of your readers may hire your services after just one e-mail, an even higher percentage will simply ignore it.
As such, it is ideal if you follow up with another e-mail that reemphasizes your offer. You should let an appropriate amount of time pass before you send another e-mail. Otherwise, it will seem like you are spamming them. This could have serious repercussions as being reported for spam will decrease the likelihood of subsequent e-mails getting to the inbox of your target market.
Have the Right Offers
You might think that sending the same offer to every reader once every few weeks does it, but it doesn’t. You should have specific offers at specific times of the year.
For example, you may want to run a special for Christmas. When writing the e-mail for the special, make sure it has a holiday theme. In fact, you may even want to use pictures that are relevant to your message.
The good thing is that once you have the right set of e-mails, you can reuse them on new entrants to your list every year. Of course, minor changes may be required, but you only need to bear the major costs once.
Also, it is best to run multiple campaigns through the course of the year. If it seems appropriate, don’t hesitate to run campaigns simultaneously. Just make sure that you don’t send e-mails to the point of being annoying.
Utilize the Data
Once you have run your campaign for a few months, you will be able to see which campaigns are successful and which aren’t.
Running a campaign that has a subpar return on investment is never worth it. As such, you should constantly be looking to refine your campaigns and improve where you can.
Make small changes and see whether they have a positive or a negative impact. Keep the changes that end up increasing your revenue and abandon the ones that don’t.
Consider Using a Professional Service
If you want to up your e-mail marketing game, consider the help of professionals.
Obviously, you should be using the right e-mail marketing software that can help you not only organize your e-mail lists but also allow you to easily correspond with potential clients.
More importantly, you should think about whether you should delegate your campaigns to a professional organization that will be able to do a much better job than you can.
While the cost may seem like a lot at first, a good marketing organization will pay for itself in a relatively short amount of time. Also, with the time you save, you will be able to focus on other parts of the business.
Auguste Global specializes in marketing for businesses, and we can help you set up the perfect e-mail marketing campaign that is specific to your needs. Contact us now to set up an appointment!
