Small Business Email Marketing: What is it?

Email marketing is a form of digital marketing that takes place when a company (hopefully yours) emails its list of individuals in bulk form. The purpose of this bulk mailing is solicitation, requests or selling, by ultimately generating clicks in the email with a call to action (CTA). This CTA is designed to bring you to a product or service page. Your CTA needs to be catchy, but we will get to that in another blog post. The email marketing takes place during any email communication in bulk to build your brands leads, integrity, faith, and expectations. You can either purchase email lists from 3rd party providers, or generate your list organically through email marketing signup forms; located on your website, social media channels, or in a physical form. Email marketing is designed to boost your brand without breaking the bank. The benefits of email marketing can vastly outweigh traditional forms of direct marketing, which is why you should use email marketing as a core component of your marketing strategy.

email marketing benefits

Why Use Email Marketing: How to Take Advantage?

Where there is a will, there is a way, and that way comes in the form of email marketing companies. We here at Creative Revolution offer email marketing services, packed with analytics, reporting and full-service integration to your email marketing campaigns. However, we understand some of our readers are DIYers, so let’s give you the rundown on how to take advantage of email marketing. In the event you want us to design and implement your email marketing strategy, shoot us an email.)

Step One: At a minimum, you are required to have some email marketing list; otherwise where would you send emails? Whether it be one person or 1,000,000, a list is your first requirement. As mentioned earlier, you can purchase a list with various data, at a reasonable rate. However, you do not know the source of these emails and is regarded as black-hat. These lists are typically not considered permissible users as they did not give consent to join your email campaign, which could ultimately lead to CAN-SPAM penalties. Our stance is to play by the rules when it comes to bulk mail, as hefty fines can be levied per message sent.

The best strategy for building your email marketing list is to generate one organically. This can be created through email signup forms located on your website, social media channels, or pounding the pavement and having individuals physically write their name and email address for you with a pen and paper. Organic lists will yield the best ROI because you know the end recipient is already interested in your product or service. Otherwise, they would not have signed up in the first place. Obviously.

Step Two: You are going to need a 3rd party bulk email service, someone with a reputable background that can efficiently deliver your emails. There are a few things to look for when choosing a service. The first is cost, as a DIYer your business is looking to eliminate additional costs associated with email marketing. The second is deliverability rate; you want to make sure the emails being sent are being delivered. The final aspect is tracking and measurement. Without any data, you cannot fine tune your future messages to see who has unsubscribed, opened, or clicked your messages. Creative Revolution supports MailChimp as our 3rd party bulk mail service as they offer all of the above features, packed with customized templates and the ability to import your coded email. They rock.

small business email

Your email marketing campaign needs to start with a strategy. Your first email could be a thank-you message to subscribers for taking time to be a part of the team, and to offer them an exclusive promotion for being loyal. As your list grows and develops, your email marketing may be customized to gather repeat business and retain those current subscribers. Additionally, you can use your service to different segment groups in your list to refine your message and deliver accurate emails to specific targets. The ability to sort your lists, track your campaigns is the most important feature as a marketer. Nothing beats market segmentation.

Email Marketing Benefits: Pros vs. Con’s.

Pros:

Cost is a major component of email marketing. As there is no print involved, you eliminate the cost of printing, addressing, and shipping.
Speed and timeliness. Your message is delivered as soon as you hit ‘send’and can be tracked from that point.
Tracking your return on investment is simple and is considered the 2nd most cost effective online marketing strategy.
You can blast multiple emails throughout the week or on a daily basis.
Nearly half of the internet users in the United States check or send email on a daily basis. I checked my home mailbox once last week.
The digital marketing rise is leading to a rise in email marketing with the majority taking advantage of email marketing. Don’t fall behind.
Compared to direct marketing, email marketing has a higher response rate and higher average order value. You ever see those pieces of direct mail laying on the ground?
Con’s:

Deliverability rates can fluctuate as email addresses often go unused and can be stagnant. Some emails reject the sender, and other messages can be caught in filters.
You must take specific actions to make sure you are well within the boundaries of CAN-SPAM act.

Derek Brusin

I am the one who likes cupcakes.

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