It can be said that Email marketing for small businesses is one of the many cost-effective ways that a business can use to pass messages about their products to existing and potential customers. Most people have working email addresses and so a business can leverage this medium that the client is already using to reach the maximum number of people with information. Emails help businesses pass on information to customers about their existing and new products, changes in how the product works and the benefits of using the product.

When a marketing email reaches a potential client, they are then able to respond, ask for clarifications or even order the products. In this way, communication between the two parties is done effectively. Any business that can master the art of passing messages through emails can be assured of increased revenues and reduced marketing costs. We shall have a look at what exactly is Email Marketing for small business and whether it is worth the trouble or not.

Starting an Email Marketing Campaign

In order to create great email marketing for small business campaigns, one needs to have a good strategy. There are several simple steps that a business can follow to ensure they have a winning campaign:

Select an Email Marketing provider – Depending on the business needs, you need to choose a service provider that will provide maximum benefits at an affordable cost. The business needs will range from the audience size, budget and email features needed.
Goal setting – It is important to be clear on what you want to achieve specifically with the campaign. The goal can be customer retention or acquisition, new product introduction or just passing general information to ensure your products stay on top of the customer’s mind at all times.
Generate a Contact list – One great way of creating a solid list would be setting up a sign-in option on the company website where clients have the choice to receive emails or not. This will spare you from having emails end up in the spam folder.
Planning and execution – The next step is to generate emails that capture the message you want to pass. Have benchmarks against which success will be measured and have clear timelines on when any action needs to be taken.
Testing and Refining – The whole process should be continuously monitored to know when the email campaign is veering off from the expected direction. Any changes that need to be made should be taken into account at the right time to ensure success of this strategy.

Advantages of Email Marketing

There are many reasons why Email Marketing for Small business is preferred including:

Cost effectiveness – This is one of the most affordable marketing campaigns to run compared to other forms of marketing. Costs that come with printing or media space are automatically eliminated.
Ease of scalability – One can start with small audiences and easily reach large groups with a few modifications.
Ease of spreading – It’s easy for customers to forward emails to their friends which will increase your customer base through high conversion rates.
Time saving – Emails are usually automated to be sent at specific times without any further human intervention.
Flexibility – It is easy to customize emails to suit the market and the budget. Emails can be as simple as a short message or include different graphics as per one’s preferences. This also helps with branding of the business and how you want customers to perceive the business and the products being offered.
Benchmarking – With the availability of reports, it’s easy to compare how the business is doing in the industry and whether the Email campaigns are yielding any results. From there a business is able to make informed decisions on how to improve and be more competitive.

Challenges facing every email marketing campaigns

There are several challenges that Email marketers face in their efforts to deliver their messages to their target audiences.

There is always the risk of emails ending up in the spam folder of target customers even though they were initially interested in the information. Customers may feel the emails are too much and ignore them altogether. When emails are too frequent, they may be off putting and if they are too spaced, the probability of them taking the required actions may be too low. Emails may also lack the personal touch since they are not 100% customized and therefore some clients will not see exactly how your products are providing a solution for them.

Main types of marketing emails

When it comes to Email marketing for small business, there are four main types of emails that a business can choose to use depending on the goal they want to achieve. Should the email type that a business decides to use appeal to the customer, they will most likely forward it to others who will be informed and maybe even converted to long term product users.

Newsletter. This type of email provides customers with the knowledge about the product and enhances the rate of engagement of clients with your goods.
Retention Email. As the name suggests, this type of email helps secure your existing customers by providing feedback channels as well as always reminding them of the product’s existence and functionality. This type of email is best for businesses that have been in the market for a while and have gained a customer base.
Acquisition Email. This email is best for newer businesses whose aim is to convert prospective customers to loyal customers. The email provides useful information on how the product will solve a potential customer’s problem in the hope of a conversion to actual customer.
Promotional Email. Promotional emails aim at enticing target customers with different offerings so sway their spending towards your products. They are intended to increase the sales of a given product or introduce new products to the market.

Starting an Email Marketing Campaign

Advantages of Email Marketing

Challenges facing every email marketing campaigns

Main types of marketing emails

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Starting an Email Marketing Campaign

Advantages of Email Marketing

Challenges facing every email marketing campaigns

Main types of marketing emails

Related

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