Email marketing is one of the most powerful tools for small businesses. As you build up a strong email list, you can drive a huge amount of sales with the right email. However, it’s not as simple as just sending out an email. You need to understand the psychology behind it. To help you get started, here are some email marketing tips for small businesses.
Stay Compliant
When it comes to email marketing, one of the most important considerations is compliance. You can’t just start sending out marketing emails to anyone. There are a bunch of rules to follow. For example, you must be truthful and honest, you have to have prior consent, and you need to provide a way for people to unsubscribe. Before you get started, make sure you understand the law behind email marketing so you can stay compliant.
Personalize Your Emails
The most successful emails are always personal. You can set them up to automatically address the customer by name. But you should try and go one step further. The more you can personalize a message, the more likely it will be to work. However, you can’t just spend hours writing personal emails to customers. Instead, you should break up your email list into segments, suggest relevant products, and offer tips on the product they have already bought.
Be Concise and End Strong
Chances are, most of your customers aren’t going to read every word of your email. However, if they do start reading, you need to make sure that it’s concise and has a strong call to action at the end. To ensure this, remove any information that isn’t absolutely crucial and decide exactly what you want the customer to do after reading. Then, make a button or link that allows them to do this.
Don’t Forget Visuals
Text-based emails often don’t convert as well as visually impressive ones. Create an email that stands out in your customer’s inbox. Use your company logo and color scheme, but also don’t be afraid to be a little adventurous.
Include a Single Ask
Don’t confuse your customers by giving them options. Every email should have one ‘ask’. So, if you want a customer to buy a product, offer a clear link to the product page. If you want them to sign up for your loyalty card, make it super clear. Don’t ask them more than one thing.
End with a strong email signature
At the end of the email, you need to provide an email signature with your contact information, logo, and web links. This acts as separate navigation for anyone that doesn’t react to your call to action. You should check out email signature for Office 365 as an easy way to implement this.
Keep Testing to See What Works Best
Testing is the single most important task when it comes to email marketing. If you want to succeed, you need to know what works and what doesn’t. Track every email and monitor engagement and conversions. If something works really well, focus on putting more resources into that.