Email marketing has been long touted as more important than social media. Which is a very strong claim, however it could be true.
Many people don’t value email marketing as a high priority as they don’t understand how to do it, or think it’s too complicated. But ask any seasoned online entrepreneur, and they’ll tell you an email list is your secret sauce.
You see, giving someone your email address is akin to giving someone your landline phone number back in the ‘80’s. They trust you, and they want to hear from you. It’s a way to build a relationship, share your expertise and make the recipient feel connected to you. It’s also been proven to be a major sales channel so if you’re in business, you need to step up your email marketing game pronto.
Let’s look at our seven top reasons why email marketing, an email list and marketing strategy is so important to your success:
Social media isn’t as personal
Your followers on social media don’t know you and most aren’t invested enough to spend much time looking at your content. It might be a quick read of the one post that showed in the News Feed and they’re off onto the next post.
However, if they’ve signed up to your email list, chances are they’re reading your blog, have Google’d you or searched on your Facebook Page for a link. They’re invested. They want more. And you can reach out with a personal touch using email marketing.
You’re now on a first name basis
With email marketing, you’re able to address your subscribers by their first name. NO OTHER marketing platform as the ability to do this, and calling someone by their first name instantly builds rapport.
Also, if someone subscribed to your list that means that they gave you permission to email them, and they want to hear from you. Leverage this opportunity and promote your products and services, and sell.
You’re also able to segment your audience and send each list an email that they will find valuable. Being able to cater to your subscribers and learn what they want is gold.
Share yourself and share the love
When creating emails, you tend to be more vulnerable, open and personal. There’s a lot to be said for writing an email when you’re thinking of a reader, as opposed to writing a Facebook post when you’re writing to a potential audience of 100K.
Sharing a little about you and showing you’re human, is key to getting to know your subscribers. You could even ask them to reply with their comments or share their own story with you.
This creates an even stronger connection with your email list (and might give you some blog content ideas too!).
It’s cost effective
Email marketing is easy, inexpensive and effective. If you choose to use an email marketing platform such as Mailchimp or Campaign Monitor (our faves), many of them are free when you first start build your list. They’re also super duper easy to use and have templates so you can simply drag and drop, and create a professional email marketing campaign in minutes.
They’ll wake up with you
Emails are one of the first things people look at in the morning. So you could have your name front and centre in their inbox, at any place in any given moment.
We have found that email is also more concentrated on than social media. People flick through social media whereas with email, they’re generally sitting down when they check it, and they actually read it.
An important thing to remember is to make your emails and newsletters mobile friendly. Many people check their email on their phones, and if they are having trouble reading your it on their phone, they will probably just delete it.
Also, know what day is best for sending an email campaign or newsletter. If you know who your audience is, you will be able to judge when the best day of the week and time of day to send out your emails. Reporting will help you (see Reporting is Easy tip below), and you may need to test a few different days and times until you have a clear picture of success.
It’s sales gold
Subscribers to email list are more likely to convert to a customer, than any other platform. Just don’t overdo your sales emails.
The same rules apply as with social media where you should be sharing valuable information, with a sales slant every so often.
Remember, your subscribers have the power to unsubscribe at any given moment, so don’t be blowing up their email with endless offers and sales pitches.
Reporting is easy
All of the email marketing platforms have data and insights which will help you greatly when developing new campaigns. You can easily see who opened, and who read your emails. You can track clicks on links and your unsubscribes, and see which emails performed better than others.
In a couple of clicks you have a very clear idea of who your engaged readers are, and where you might be falling down.
By creating an email marketing strategy, and growing your email list, you are building a solid foundation for your business.
Trust, relationships, and authority are needed to solidify your connection with subscribers, and email marketing allows you to successfully and effectively do this with ease.
