Making sure people know your business is open again can be tricky. The simple answer to how you're going to get customers in the door, however, isn't really that easy at all - it's marketing! Marketing encompasses a lot of different practices and tactics which are constantly evolving.
But one aspect of marketing that has been a constant for many years- email marketing offers you the highest ROI out of all marketing vehicles, $42 back for every dollar spent according to recent studies.
There are many reasons why most business owners do not use email marketing, but the most common is that it's time-consuming and requires a lot of effort. However, if you're one of these business owners who aren't utilizing this powerful tool to promote your product or service, then now is definitely the time to start! Email marketing has proven itself as highly effective in reaching out potential customers because an overwhelming majority prefer businesses to reach them through emails than other channels like social media ads.
Email is changing rapidly as well. A common question that entrepreneurs and owners of small businesses ask is how to keep up with what’s working best. Here is a list of best practices and techniques and tips that are working for many of your peers.
IS EMAIL MARKETING IMPORTANT TO AND EFFECTIVE FOR SMALL BUSINESS?
Email marketing is important or very important to 79% of businesses, yet only 60% think it's effective. 26%, on the other hand, find that email marketing strategies are ineffective or very inefficient. Developing an effective email marketing strategy requires keeping your customers in mind. According to David Newman, “Email has an ability many channels don’t: creating valuable, personal touches—at scale.”
MEASURING SUCCESS
If you have trouble knowing how effective your email marketing is, start with open rates. On average, small businesses (65%) get between 11% and 50%, but need to work on improving their click-through rate - 77% of small business average 0%-10%.
FREQUENCY OF SENDING EMAILS
Small business owners want to know how often they should be sending emails. Most respondents (about 40%) say at least once a week but less than daily, followed by about 30% who send weekly or monthly and 12% either daily or less than monthly.
Mark Asquith, the cofounder and CEO of Rebel Base Media suggests small business owners new to email marketing start by sending a weekly email. He advises "Rather than sending more, test what you already do." His point is that rather than send emails that don't work less frequently, try testing different frequencies in order to determine which frequency works best for your audience.
DOES SIZE MATTER?
More than half of small businesses have less than 500 subscribers on their email lists. However, these business owners are more likely to think that their strategies for using emails in marketing is effective or very effective compared with the ones who have between 0 and 499 subscribers. The size of an email list doesn't affect its effectiveness when it comes to engaging customers effectively through newsletters , although having at least 500 gives a slight advantage.
With the rise of technology, email marketing has become one of the most effective tools to boost revenues for small businesses. Not only is it low-cost with high return rates, but emails are easy to track and measure which makes targeted campaigns highly accurate compared to traditional advertising methods.
CONCLUSION
Email marketing continues to deliver results. But email marketing has evolved. It's no longer as simple as sending the same email to all. It's time to update your email marketing strategy.
Now, you need to send targeted messages. Messages that are personalized, and optimized for multiple devices. You also need test new elements. Trends change quickly, and what worked 12 months ago may not be successful today. Be open to testing. And when you understand what works, find ways to automate it through triggered emails.
If you implement these new changes into your email marketing strategy your customers will be more responsive, your campaign performance will improve and your business will continue grow. What do you think makes a modern email marketing strategy successful?