This is a pretty simple yes or no answer to this question. I find that many small business owners say yes to this question, but then they tell me that their execution is weak.
They don’t use email marketing consistently, they don’t constantly add more prospects and customers to their list, they haven’t taken the time to learn how to use it more effectively, there isn’t a sign-up form on their website, etc.
Should you add email as a marketing channel?
Some people claimed that email would replace direct mail marketing because the cost was so inexpensive.
Email marketing wasn’t meant to replace direct mail marketing, but it can definitely help lower some of your marketing costs and remain effective.
Always remember that you want to use as many marketing channels as necessary to effectively market your business.
Part of your effectiveness will be sharing relevant and interesting content with your readers.
I’m sure you get emails from people you enjoy reading and from other people you delete or exclude from your lists.
Part of being relevant is not releasing products every time you contact your customers and prospects. You can present products and sales every time, but at some point your customers and prospects may decide that they have had enough hype.
Note that this also applies to your industry. If you are a restaurant and send a weekly coupon or a special coupon, you can keep your email list alive and well by sending it weekly.
What Makes Email Marketing Effective?
As a small business, your passion for what you do and the quality of your customer relationships is what sets you apart from others. When you use email, you will be able to reinforce those relationships and connect with your customers and prospects in a way that no one else can, every time you hit ‘Send’.
Email marketing delivers end results.
Email marketing offers you a fast and effective way to get your message across to customers and prospects and keep your organization on top. It is an innovative marketing tool that is as easy to use as it is powerful. But it doesn’t end there.
Your email marketing should have the following tools available
Your email marketing tool should also make it easy to integrate your social media channels. So when you email your mailing list, you will be able to connect with a whole new audience of leads through social media sites and generate even more new business.
You want to make sure that the email tool you use makes it easy to get the look you want quickly. Many of the Email Marketing tools have email templates designed for all types of communication (newsletters, promotions, etc.).
Make sure you can personalize your emails with your logo, images, colors, fonts, and more. You want to keep your brand identity consistent across all of your marketing channels.
Also, see if you can find business-specific template options that are easy to use.
More things to do
Constantly promote and link your social media pages by inserting Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn icons in your emails.
See if the email marketing tool has an Auto Tweet feature to automatically post emails to your Twitter account.
Make sure it’s easy for your customers and prospects to share your email message on their social media sites with a Social Share toolbar of some kind.
Make sure you can import and manage your entire contact list with ease. Some email tools make this a huge headache.
You want to make sure that you can add people to your email marketing list directly from your website. When you can add to your email list directly from your website and Facebook page, your life is easier.
When looking at email marketing tools, see if you can schedule welcome emails or commonly sent messages with your email autoresponder.
A reputable email marketing company will make sure your emails get seen. Good companies will have a deliverability rate greater than 95%. This will keep your emails out of junk folders.
A good email marketing tool will also have some kind of antispam checker.
They must also have a good reputation and follow permission-based email practices.
Your email tool should be able to track your results. If they have graphs of your email campaign results, including: Open rates, clicks, and bounces, that’s even better.
Another cool feature of your email marketing tools would be the ability to measure your success on social media with the number of fans who “Like” or “Share” your emails on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Your action steps
Look for a good email marketing tool. The most important part to remember is that this is only one tool in your marketing plan. Don’t put all your hopes on one tool.
Think of your various marketing channels as spokes on a wheel that deliver your ideal prospects and customers to the hub at the center of your wheel.
Have a variety of spokes on your wheel for greater effectiveness and use email as one of your most effective tools.
Go and conquer your market.
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