You’ve probably heard about the countless benefits email marketing has to offer, but what exactly is email marketing and how can your business benefit from it?
Email newsletter marketing is the act of sending a commercial message via email, usually to a group of people, known as a database. Every email that is sent to a client, whether present or prospective, might be regarded as email marketing in the broadest sense. Emails can help with product and offer awareness, lead generation, brand awareness, relationship building, and keeping customers engaged between purchases.
What makes email marketing important?
According to a recent survey, 90% of consumers use their email on a regular basis. Email users cover almost every demographic sphere which makes it one of the most diverse marketing channels available. This alone should persuade you to investigate the tool further. Unless your industry accounts for the remaining 10% (which it definitely does not). Email is a fantastic, cost-effective way to go directly into your subscribers’ inboxes capturing their attention to ensure that you are top of mind.
How can email marketing benefit your business?
- Better customer-brand relationship – By creating personalised content, you build stronger and more personal relationships
- Improve sales – Campaigns can feature products or services, encourage customers to purchase after abandoning their cart or deliver special offers.
- Generate traffic to your site – Campaigns that show off products or tease a useful article on your site drive traffic to your site and improve your SEO.
- Increase leads – Use emails to carefully nudge a potential lead down the sales funnel by providing reminders and useful content that shows off why a.) they need your service and b.) why they need you!
- It’s cost-effective – While traditional marketing campaigns like direct or print can be costly, email marketing campaigns tend to be more cost-effective and targeted. As your database grows so does your reach, without an additional cost to access your clients and being able to choose the frequency of your communications, unlike using print or direct marketing tactics or even online paid ads.
How do you run email campaigns?
Email marketing campaigns are run by using email marketing services or software. Email marketing services/software streamline all of your email marketing efforts. They usually have a wide range of features depending on the service that you choose — however, they often have functionality related to automation, subscription, general email communication, notifications, monitoring, campaigns, integration with other marketing, sales, and analytics.
Why is an email marketing service important?
Personal email accounts are limiting but with email newsletter mailing services, the possibilities are infinite. They give you the tools you need to create beautifully designed, dynamic campaigns, manage your database and offer comprehensive reporting tools to measure crucial metrics like opens, clicks, and shares. Reporting metrics allow you to refine your strategy and create campaigns that get you closer to your goals.
They also offer tools and training to help you stay in compliance with important email laws, which are easy to break if you try to market from a personal email account.
Free email marketing services to consider
There are plenty of email marketing services available out there but here are our top three free services that you can start using today without a monthly subscription:
#1) Mailchimp
- Price starts at free
- 2000 Contacts
- Drag & drop editor
- Customisable
- Our personal favourite
#2) Mailer Lite
- Price starts at free
- Premium plans start at $10 per month
- All basic email features such as; drag-and-drop editor, automation and segmentation.
- A/B testing tools
#3) SendinBlue
- Price starts at free
- Unlimited contacts
- Drag & drop editor
- Highly customisable
What email marketing service should I choose?
We recommend MailChimp. It is one of the most well-known email marketing services on the market today. If you’re thinking about building an email list but aren’t sure where to start, MailChimp is a great choice.
It’s easy to get started (it’s free until you reach 2,000 subscribers) and has a very user-friendly interface. Mailchimp allows you to send emails, manage your subscribers, set up autoresponders, create beautiful email templates, target your subscribers, split test your campaign and much more! Mailchimp also has a large library of ‘how-to’ videos to help you on your way to email marketing success.
Hopefully, by now you get the gist of email marketing and understand the importance of utilising an email marketing service. If you need help getting started, contact us now.