When it comes to marketing ROI for your business, email marketing is the queen bee. For every $1 spent, the average return is $42! Not only that, but when someone voluntarily shares their email address with you, they’re giving you permission to contact them directly. They want to hear from you. That’s gold for your business. But how do you get started, or improve, email marketing for your business?
If you’re just beginning with email marketing, you’ve come to the right place. We have tips for the types of emails to send, our favorite email marketing platforms, and an intro to metrics to track. We presented this as a free webinar, you can watch the recording here.
Three Types of Emails to Send
Welcome Emails
Did you know that welcome emails are 320 percent more efficient than other promotional emails (source)?! It makes sense. Someone just gave you their email and asked you to contact them. Saying “welcome” and offering something as a thank you would be highly effective. Here are some quick tips to get your automated welcome email started:
- Keep it short, sweet, and simple
- Use a concise subject line and don’t forget your CTA (call to action)
- Use it as a chance to introduce yourself and offer something of value, like a discount or resource
- Setting up a series of welcome emails can be even more effective than a single welcome email – after welcoming customers, encourage them to follow you on social or check out your blog or provide them more information on your services
E-Newsletters
Likely when you think of email marketing, an e-newsletter comes to mind. This tried-and-true email offers value to customers with tips, resources, blogs, news, events, and more. Here are a couple suggestions to make the most of e-newsletters:
- Send 1-2 times a month, in this case less frequent means higher value
- Use your newsletter to segment your audience based on what they click on so you can send targeted emails based on each person’s interest. This can be separate lists for deals, blog, types of product, etc.
Thank You Emails
After any kind of conversion on your website, like a purchase, downloading a resource, etc., sending a thank you email is another touch point to keep your customer engaged with you. Similar to welcome emails, thank you emails are a chance to offer more value and authentically connect with customers
Ask for a review – public reviews help to grow your business and your thank you email is the perfect place to make this ask. Even if you don’t receive a 5-star review, not great reviews give you an opportunity to demonstrate your customer service and potentially improve your business. Alternatively, great reviews help potential customers make the decision to buy with you.
Top Email Marketing Service Providers
When choosing which email marketing platform is right for you, there are a number of variables to consider. Budget, number of current subscribers, email marketing goals and tactics are just a few things to keep in mind when looking for the right platform.
Be aware that many platforms use tiered pricing based on the number of subscribers you have. You pay more as you grow your total subscriber list. Also be sure to watch for limits on the number of total emails sent. Some platforms are unlimited while others add extra costs for sending more than X emails per month, regardless of the number of subscribers.
- MailChimp – Offers email, social media, and website services. Pricing tiered based on subscribers. Monthly send limit based on your tier level and number of subscribers. Limited number of segments per tier.
- MailerLite – Email and landing page services. Pricing tiered based on subscribers. No limit to the number of email sent. Unlimited audience segments.
- Constant Contact – Email, social media, and landing page services. Tiered pricing based on subscribers.
Email Marketing Metrics 101
So you’ve been sending emails but you’re not sure if it’s working. You can assess the success of each email by looking at these metrics over time. When you send an email that has a bump in any of these areas, try to pinpoint what you may have done differently. There are many variables to consider, from the design of your email to the day and time sent. But over time you’ll see a pattern and can better focus in on what’s working…and what isn’t.
- CTR – Click through rate. How many people clicked your email to a destination.
- Open Rate – How many people opened (and hopefully read) your email.
- Subscriber List Size – How many people receive your emails. Making it simple and easy for people to sign up in many places (social, website, pop up) increases total subscribers.
- Traffic to Website – How many people visit your website as a direct result of email marketing. Create a specific campaign link to track this in Google Analytics.
Every industry has a different “base line” when it comes to emails marketing. This is a good starting point to see how your emails are doing compared to your industry.
We’re now offering an extended version of this webinar that dives deeper into email marketing basics. This short video series is paired with a workbook designed to give you ready-to-use emails to grow your business. Learn more here.