Do you have an email? I will be surprised if you don’t. Most likely, you have more than one email. How often do you check your inbox? If you’re like most people, it’s every day. Perhaps, more than once. Does it occur to you that email has become part of our everyday life, just like social media? Unlike social media though, email is more private and personal. One place you should consider in reaching your audience, therefore, is in their email inbox. It’s called email marketing.
Email marketing is one of the oldest forms of online marketing. Though it’s not as popular as it used to be, it’s still very much in use today. It begins with building an email list which is a list of email contacts you can reach out to from time to time. With a good number of ‘quality’ emails of your target audience, you can generate more leads and sales for your business or brand. It’s why many businesses and brands are paying attention to growing their email list. You should too.
Here are the 3 steps you need to start taking advantage of email marketing:
1. Register an account with an email marketing platform and select a package that suits your needs.
With an email marketing platform, you can build and manage your email list, send automated emails, access analytics of your emails and much more. There are a lot of email marketing platforms out there today, like Mailchimp, Aweber, GetResponse, Sendlane, Convertkit, etc.
2. Grow your email list
If I was a complete stranger to you, would you gladly give me your phone number just because I asked you to? How about if I helped you solve a problem you’ve always had, and now ask you for your number, would you gladly oblige? That’s the secret: I gave you something first.
It’s a timeless principle. A gift opens the heart of the receiver. When it comes to list building, we call it a lead magnet. Some call it an ‘opt-in bait’. The idea is to give something valuable in exchange for their contact info (email and maybe plus their name).
Nobody wants to be sold to. So, they’re skeptical about giving a stranger their contact details. By offering something first, you would have already broken this psychological barrier. You start building a level of like and trust with the prospect.
What you give doesn’t have to cost you a lot, but it has to be very valuable to your prospects. It could be a short ebook report, audio, a video, a discount code, a free tutorial, etc. The idea is, it must solve one of the prospect’s immediate problems. So depending on your kind of business, determine what is best as your lead magnet. And start building your list using it.
For faster results, use a paid ad to promote your gift.
3. Start engaging with your list
Connect with them further; offer more value. Send them emails consistently, at least once a week. Eventually, promote your offers from time to time.
Basic Rules For Optimal Results
When it comes to email marketing, there are a few basic rules that will help you get the best possible result. If you’re considering using email marketing as part of your digital strategy, you want to pay attention to these 3 rules.
1. Don’t just bombard people with email about your product
I know you believe your product is the best thing to happen to humanity, but the people on your email list don’t think so. People are tired of being bombarded with sales mail every day from every Tomi, Dennis, and Haruna. You want to stand out of the crowd. How? This takes us to the next rule.
2. Tell stories
People love stories. Connect what you’re selling with everyday life experiences, in your own life or in the lives of people around you. You watched a movie, or heard something in the news, or observed something when you visited the shopping mall the last time, you can use it in your email broadcast and find a way to tie it around what you’re selling. Just be creative.
3. Show that you care
People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. The cardinal question that’s always on the mind of your prospective client is: what’s in it for me? You want to show them clearly that you’re not just trying to make some money off them, but that you care about their well-being. Trust me, they can read through your sweet talk about how great the product is, to whether you truly care about them or not. Focus on the prospect, not yourself.
Hire us at Barastreams, and let’s help you set up your email marketing for your business.
Thanks you very much