How To Connect With Your Audience In Their Inbox
Email Marketing is not a thing of the past, believe it or not! I would argue it’s even more effective now than it ever has been before. Here’s why: social media is crowded (often overwhelmingly so) with messaging and advertisements, which makes it easy to either be tuned out or skipped over completely. Sending an email skips that rodeo altogether and allows you to connect with your audience without competing with the noise on social platforms. It’s also more personal, connective, and less likely to be skipped over.
As a Marketer, I feel a personal responsibility to add this information here— do not abuse your audience’s trust by spamming them with emails. We’ve all received spam mail before, which means you know firsthand how annoying and invasive it feels. The fact you have your audience’s emails means they trust you on some level with their personal information (side note, you should offer them something of value to incentivize them to give you their email address).
Moral of the story: don’t spam, sell, or betray your audience. Doing so is a surefire way to kill your brand credibility and turn off your audience members.
Okay, I’m stepping down from my soapbox now. If you need help with the basics of email marketing, click here for my Email Marketing 101 tips. If you’re ready to take things a bit further, here are three tips to help you strategize your email Marketing efforts as a small business.
1. Focus on quality over quantity.
Have you ever created an account online for one of your favorite stores, only to be bombarded with sales emails from them on a daily basis? For me, bombardment usually results in a quick click of the “unsubscribe” button. When it comes to email Marketing, less is usually more.
Rather than trying to create as many emails as possible, focus your efforts on creating quality content that your subscribers actually want to read. Add value, not noise. If you’re not sure what your subscribers will want to read, start by pulling content from your most popular blog or social media post.
2. Incentivize your audience to join your email list.
Your email list should be a valuable place to be, so promote it as such! This is especially easy to do if you have an incentive for your followers or visitors to sign up (pro tip: you’re going to need more than “sign up for news and updates!” to see real growth in your email list). An incentive should be something of value for free, such as a downloadable guide, exclusive access to a video tutorial, social media graphics, or business resources. Your followers get something of value from you in exchange for their email address, and now they’ve opened the door for you to connect with them further in their inbox. Win-win.
Bonus: You’ve now positioned your business or brand as an expert in your industry by offering your audience something of value, which is a huge step in establishing a connection with your potential clients and customers.
3. Send a test email to yourself before emailing your entire list.
Designing emails can be tricky, which means it’s important to send a test email to yourself and/or a team member for a quick proofread before you officially send it out to everyone. Once you receive your test email, do a quick sweep of the design— make sure images are clear, your formatting is correct, and your copy is easy to read. Check for spelling errors or broken links, and make sure your subject line looks correct in your inbox. If you can, it helps to get a second pair of eyes on your email draft before you hit send.
There are several options for email Marketing platforms out there on the Internet, but my team prefers Mailchimp. Even if you’re new to the email Marketing game, Mailchimp is pretty user-friendly and has helpful resources if you get stuck.
Don’t overthink email Marketing too much— you likely already have the content, you just need to convert it into email form. Keep it simple, remember you’re emailing real people (not robots), and include valuable information to every email you hit send on.
To no one’s surprise, I couldn’t write a whole blog about email Marketing without shamelessly plugging my own email list for TAC(t). Sign up for free weekly Marketing tips sent directly to your inbox here!