Category — Email Marketing

For small businesses, email marketing has many advantages.

First, it gives you an easy, cost-effective way to contact your customers and potential customers. You can use this to encourage up-selling, repeat ordering, events, new product offerings… the possibilities are endless.

Secondly, you have the ability to use email marketing to push your leads through the buying process. Rather than depending on a sales staff to make the necessary follow ups, you can schedule the appropriate email follow ups to be sent out automatically – never having to worry that a lead will go cold because they weren’t “touched” often enough.

These are just two reasons small businesses should invest in email marketing. If you’re ready to get started with your small business email marketing plan, or are looking to expand your current email marketing, call The Envision Agency, Small Business Marketing at 800.441.1319.

Email can really work. We have improved email campaigns to have a 5% closing rate. What that meant for the client was that from the emails that were sent, 5% of the people completed an application and became a client and this was all without ever talking with a sales rep.

It took a while to get there. We segmented lists and tested messaging until we were able to really target our best clients… and then worked to make sure we closed those clients and reduced the overall cost to obtain that client. The first step was to improve our email list.

Collect email addresses from all leads and clients. If you can send them emails, you can try to convert them into a customer (or repeat customer).

Put your leads into buyer segments. Someone who has just expressed interest is different from someone who is in the process of becoming a client, and that person is different from an actual client. Take some time to learn the different places a person can be in your list and start segmenting out your buyers.

Survey your current list. If you already have a list, send a survey out to them and see if they’re happy with the emails that you’re sending, what their interests are, and if there is anything else they would like to receive with those emails.

Review your results. If you have been sending emails to your client base, review your open rates, click through rates, conversion rates and unsubscribe rates and compare those to the averages for your industry. If you’re not hitting at least those averages, review what may be causing it.

Having problems with your email campaigns or not getting the ROI you would like? The Envision Agency, Small Business Marketing can provide an email marketing analysis and help you revise or create your email marketing strategy.

If you’re local, you can use it to create better email campaigns.

Local businesses have a great opportunity to beat out their competition with email marketing. I have met very few local businesses that offer the ability to sign up for their email campaign. And, if they do, they often send out coupons for discounts during holidays and don’t really email me at other times. They’re missing out on some great opportunities – to start up a conversation and to be top of mind when I need them.

So, what can you do to make sure your email campaign is a success? Here are some tips to make sure you have success with your local email campaign:

1. Ask for emails. Offer sign-ups on every page of your website, in the store, at the register, on the phone, and in your signature line. Basically, ask your customers to sign-up with every communication you have. They’re going to get something out of it too! If you want, you can offer a coupon, discount, white-paper, free trial, etc., for when they sign up. Let them know what they’re going to be getting from you… and don’t make it all about the coupon.
2. Send emails. You promised your subscribers something: now it’s time to deliver. Make sure if you said weekly on Tuesdays, you’re sending every week on Tuesday. These are people who are interested in hearing from you – capitalize on that interest. Send them interesting things that add value to your relationship and make you the expert in your industry, so when they, or someone they know, needs your product/service, they recommend you right away.

   Don’t know what to offer? If you’re an accountant, you can send a weekly tax tip or money-saving idea out to your subscribers. If you’re an AC repair company, how about sending monthly maintenance ideas and offering in-store presentations on what they can do to keep their unit running smoothly. I know in Phoenix, the last thing someone wants is their unit to go out in the summertime – offer them classes and then offer a twice a year service plan where you’ll check on everything for them. Offer value and get them to interact with you and you’ll have a great campaign.

3. Use your local status. People want to support local businesses and help their community. They also want instant gratification and to talk to someone in person. You can use all of these to your advantage by including a community event in your email or reminding them that they can walk in and talk with you if they ever have any questions or need help. They don’t have to sit on hold for 10 minutes!

You can use email to interact with your customers and strengthen their loyalty to you. Beat out your competition and start email marketing: you won’t have to worry about losing your customers to your competition, even if they start lowering their prices because you have something better: a great relationship!

If you’re interested in starting email marketing for your business, or would like to optimize your email campaign, contact The Envision Agency, Small Business Marketing. We have experience in creating both local and national campaigns and using email to build loyalty and brand awareness while maintaining a healthy ROI.

Email marketing can give huge returns. Here are some tips for email success.

When you’re looking for another avenue to gain more clients, many people think about email marketing. Most companies don’t plan to tackle email marketing until they have been established because it takes time to do it right and the returns may not justify the cost at the start up of a business. Where ever you are in your business, if you’re considering email marketing, here are some tips to make sure you get the biggest bang for your buck.

Make sure you’re compliant. You don’t want your email campaign to cost you more because you get caught for violating the CAN-SPAM Act. The FTC has a page on their site that makes it easy to understand what you can and cannot do (click here).

The CAN-SPAM Act isn’t the only thing you need to watch for compliance reasons. If your industry has further regulations on advertising, make sure you follow those. I’ve done tests comparing the “less compliant” version against the version that my legal team wanted me to send. The legally compliant version performed significantly better. And, we didn’t need to worry about getting penalized for non-compliance.

Send email to people who subscribe. You will get a much better return from someone who has requested more information from you than from someone who hasn’t. They are more likely to open and respond to your emails and less likely to mark you as SPAM or complain. To improve your email list, make sure you have an area where people can subscribe on every page of your website and offer it with every communication you have with customers. You can also offer something free for a subscription, such as a coupon, free white paper, etc.

Segment your emails. Use what you know about your customers to send them relevant information that they can use to take further action with you. For example, if you are a pet store, don’t send your users an email about cat food if they’re a dog only household. PetsMart does a great job with their email campaigns: they know everything from what type and number of pet(s) you have to the type of food you buy and your pets’ birthdays. If you only have birds, you won’t receive anything about dogs or cats.  Use the information you collect to provide your subscribers with a better experience and you’ll have a HUGE gain from your emails.

It can take time to set up your email marketing campaign so you can get the most out of it. It’s easier to start it and make small changes to optimize that try to get everything 100% correct the first time. You’ll find through testing and optimization that something else will work better than what you originally thought. If you need help setting up your email marketing strategies or would like to optimize a campaign you already have going, give The Envision Agency, Small Business Marketing a call.

6 things to optimize before you stop.

If you’ve tried email marketing and have decided it doesn’t work for your business, I suggest giving it another shot. It takes time and effort to put together a successful email campaign, and it’s not working for you, there are multiple variables you should review. Here are just a few of the items you can review:

1. Your list: Did you rent or buy the emails or is it an in-house list? If you rented/purchased the emails, the problem could very well be your list. Rented and purchased email addresses typically hold a very low email response rate. You should look at how the email addresses were collected and if they would be interested in hearing from you. If they were trying to win a free car and gave their email address, they may not even realize that the would receive emails from you.
2. Subject line/Sender Address: If your subject line isn’t appealing or looks too much like SPAM, your readers may not open it up. And, they’re less likely to open up the email if they don’t know it’s from you. Make sure your email address and name show who you are and that your subject line is appealing without looking like SPAM.
3. Content: Try sending a different variation of the emails you’re currently sending. If the content isn’t appealing to your readers or you don’t have a strong call-to-action, you won’t see the response you want. Do you tell readers what action they should be taking from your email?
4. Segmentation: Who are you sending your emails to and are you sending what they want? This ties in closely with content. Here is an example of a gym: if you have people who are fit and are interested in building muscle and people who are looking to lose weight and send an email to everyone on one of those topics, you’re cutting your potential in half. Half of the people you sent the email to are already not interested and are likely to unsubscribe because your email isn’t relevant to them. Segment this list into two groups, and send the email to the right segment.
5. Sending Day/Time: Certain days and times give email a better response rate. Most people check their email (including personal email) at work. Sending emails after the workday ends or on weekends may not work as well as sending it during the work week. And if you’re sending them on Friday afternoon, they very likely won’t work… do you want to respond to any emails on a Friday afternoon?
6. Filtering / Blacklists: Even if you are using a reputable email service provider, your emails may be filtered into the SPAM folder for content. Make sure you check your emails and see what level they are considered. You should also check your IP address and make sure you aren’t on any blacklists. While you may be following all the rules, you’re likely sharing that IP address with someone else who may not be as diligent. If you find that you’re blacklisted, contact your email provider, and they can help you get it resolved.

Are you looking to implement email marketing or optimize your email marketing strategies? Give The Envision Agency, Small Business Marketing a call. We are happy to discuss what you’re currently doing and what we can do to help.