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Dec 06 2022

Does Email Marketing Work?

Social media has taken over our marketing strategies. 

Every new platform promises that this is the only way you’ll connect with potential customers. This is the only way you’ll build an audience. This is the only way you’ll grow your business.

But is it really? 

Short answer—absolutely not.

While social media is a great way to gain brand awareness and connect with your ideal audience, it’s not always the most effective option for your marketing.

If social media just isn’t working how you hoped it would, Email marketing could be the answer. 

There are around 330 billion emails sent and received every day. 

Over half of the world’s population uses email.

According to marketing studies, 79% of marketers rank email as one of their top three marketing tools. Email is cost-effective no matter how big or small your business is. You can reach hundreds of people with one email, making the return on investment one of the highest across marketing strategies—around $36 for every $1 spent. 

How can email marketing help small businesses?

Lead Generation With an Opt-In

Gaining new leads is a never-ending process for a small business. 

Sure, you can throw all of your marketing efforts at the wall and see what sticks. Or you can target your efforts and only bring in leads that are already interested in your services.

Offering a lead magnet– a relevant freebie that your ideal audience wants or needs– in exchange for their email address pulls in potential customers that are already familiar with the problem you’re solving. 

It’s quality over quantity. Why waste your time pulling in as many people as possible when only a small percentage of them could become clients? It’s better to target your lead generation to those that are in your ideal audience to begin with.

Okay, so you have all of these email addresses. Now what?

Building a Strong Audience Through Email

Thanks to your opt-in, you have a list of people who you know are already interested in your services. 

Now is the time to build relationships with those people. 

Reaching out through email to welcome them into your community is the first step. A short email sequence that welcomes them in, tells them about you, and lets them know what to expect builds trust and credibility. 

Email is the perfect medium for building a direct rapport with your prospects: 

  • It’s more personal than social media, and you won’t get buried by a sea of posts or back-burnered by “The Algorithm.” 
  • It’s something that almost everyone uses. 
  • It’s mobile-friendly.
  • The metrics are easy to track, and content is easy to adjust.
  • You aren’t limited to a certain number of characters, and you don’t have to find an image to go with every piece of content you write.
  • You can reach large numbers of people.

Increasing Brand Awareness with Email Marketing

Once you have a strong relationship with your email list, it’s time to start encouraging people to look at how your services can help them. 

Use an email sequence to let your audience know about your services in a more personal, detailed way. Let them know about new products, sales, features, and success stories. You’re raising brand awareness and promoting your services without paid ads. You’re also driving more traffic to your website as your audience looks for more information. 

An email marketing campaign builds excitement and interest in your services by doling out information a little at a time. You always want to leave them wanting more!

Email Marketing For Customer Engagement

Email marketing is a great way to engage with your audience directly. 

Invite them to reply to your emails with feedback, questions, or just to say hi! Letting them know you’re a real person behind the words establishes credibility and trust. 

You’re also able to gather information about your audience and give them more relevant information. By segmenting your email list, you can direct content specifically for certain followers rather than giving your entire list information relevant to only a few of them.

Your followers will appreciate your content as less of a sales pitch and more of a conversation. 

Your sequence should lead them through a journey. You understand their problem, you know how they feel, and you have the solution for them.

Email marketing isn’t going anywhere. Just the opposite, in fact. It’s more reliable than social media–and less work, too.

If you’re not using email in your marketing plan, now is the time to start. If you’re not sure how, reach out and let us help. Email marketing is a service we’lll be offering in the near future so get on our radar now and let us know you’re interested!