Email marketing is an inexpensive and valuable tool for businesses, especially local businesses. Statistics show that 77% of customers prefer to receive permission-based marketing messages through email. Its vast reach, the ability it gives you to target your audience, and its measurable outcomes are just a few reasons why every company should be emailing its customers. Here are three of the characteristics that make email marketing so valuable:
1. It’s repeatable.
Many businesses claim that creating content is too difficult and therefore avoid email marketing, but you can resend e-mails and repurpose website and blog content to bulk up your messages with useful information. Using blog content is a great way to not only avoid paying for two sets of content but also to drive traffic to your website. You’re reaching customers directly rather than simply hoping they’ll find your blog. Make them want to read more!
2. It’s inexpensive.
Compared to other forms of marketing, e-mail marketing is very inexpensive. A subscription to an e-mail marketing service can start at just $10 a month, and many, like MailChimp, have free options or components (depending on the number of contacts you have). This makes email marketing one of the most inexpensive tools to boost your business. According to the Direct Marketing Association, for every $1 spent on email marketing, the average return on investment is $44.25!
3. It’s easy.
Many e-mail marketing platforms, like Constant Contact, MailChimp, and iContact, make it easy for even a novice to paste content and images into a fantastic-looking template. There are hundreds of templates to choose from, but this review will give you a brief overview of the features and prices of some of the more popular services.
3 Insider Tips to Get the Most Out of Your Email Marketing
- Don’t send out a “newsletter” – disseminate information that’s valuable to your customers.
Newsletters, simply put, are boring. Many customers or potential customers aren’t interested in the happenings of your company or industry, including employee news or the latest study regarding your product. 
Instead, include events, local news, useful content, and offers/discounts (coupons or freebie downloads) – things that your customers will value and that will encourage them to think of you as a resource.
- Know your audience, and write to them.
Think about what your audience needs. What problem can you solve for them? Help to solve it with your email marketing. For example, a cosmetic surgeon may execute an email marketing campaign about how to take care of yourself post-surgery, including nutrition, workout habits, and, of course, specials and discounts.
- Use email marketing to nurture existing customers and sales leads.
Many companies focus their growth strategy on gaining new leads but don’t spend any time following up with them after the initial step. If a potential customer isn’t ready to purchase or sign up, don’t just disregard their information. Marketing to leads you have already acquired is a cheap way to remarket, and neglecting to do so is a waste of money after you’ve already done the work of acquiring a lead! The return on investment in marketing to existing leads is very high – because the investment is nearly zero when you’re sending an email to an existing lead. If you’re still not convinced that email marketing is an intelligent move, Smart Insights has some compelling research: Businesses that distributed email marketing earned 20% higher average daily revenue when emails were sent than when they weren’t. Wouldn’t you like that to be you?
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