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There are only a handful of things that people do every day, but checking their inbox is high on the list for most. This makes email marketing for small businesses one of the most cost-effective and direct ways to reach prospects and engage existing customers. From maximizing your ROI to re-engaging lapsed leads, we’ve made a list of nine benefits veteran business owners can enjoy by jumping on the email marketing bandwagon.
The potential ROI is massive
On average, every dollar spent on email marketing earns $44 back. But why is the potential ROI so huge? Being able to target inboxes can create customer connections much cheaper than competing channels like social and paid ads. With email automation you can also send personalized, timely, and engaging emails to customers within a couple of clicks, saving time and money compared to more labor-intensive communications channels.
Reduce your carbon footprint and save money
Small business email marketing can deliver even more information than a leaflet or printed advert, but without paper ink, glossy paper or envelopes. If your company still relies on newspaper, billboard, magazine and direct mail ads, going digital will help reduce your carbon footprint and save money. At the same time, unlike leaflets, which are targeted solely by zip code, you can send emails to exactly who you want, so you will never waste money chasing prospects that are never likely to convert.
Earn more sales with follow-up emails
Customers like businesses that pay attention to them. Thus, follow-up emails that help to satisfy a need generate high click-through rates. Imagine, if you need to, that you’re a retailer selling food supplements or a plumber that does boiler inspections, your customers will thank you for the reminder. Alternatively, crafting imaginative subject lines that offer promotions and discounts for repeat purchases can convince customers to take action and boost sales.
Read next: 5 Ways to Write the Perfect Email Subject Line
You don’t need specialist knowledge to get started
If you’ve used a platform like Zen Cart, WordPress, or BigCommerce to build your small business website, a good email automation system will give you access to all the email marketing tools for small business, training resources, customizable templates, and user-friendly reports needed.
This means you will be able to track open rates, click-throughs, and evaluate the success of your campaigns without the need for specialist knowledge. And if you do get stuck, support is usually only a phone call - or email - away.
Look more professional with less effort
Using a professional provider and gaining access to pre-designed templates will allow you to send professionally designed email campaigns for small business that will stand out in your subscribers’ inboxes. You will also be able to insert your logo, brand colors, and add any supporting content you want. As a result, email marketing makes it possible to strengthen your brand recognition, increase credibility and boost awareness with less effort.
It’s super-targeted
Although we’ve touched on the fact that email is super-targeted, it merits explaining further. Unlike most other marketing communication channels, email gives you the ability to segment your audience by geography, age, gender, industry, job function, and more. You don’t want to send the same marketing messages to prospects, first-time buyers and long-term customers, which is where the segmenting abilities of email will allow you to specialize and differentiate accordingly to build the perfect email marketing strategy for small business.
See also: 5 Content Marketing Goals to Implement into Your Business Growth Strategies Now
Keep existing customers loyal
Loyal customers recommend your business to others and keep spending money over time. This makes keeping an existing customer is anywhere from five to 25 times cheaper than acquiring a new customer. Informing, educating, and rewarding your email subscribers with exclusive offers is a powerful tactic for increasing the chances of them sticking with your business longer than they would otherwise.
Re-engage leads that have gone cold
Drip campaigns are automated email messages that you can send to customers after they take a specific action. Common drip messages include welcomes, thank yous, and abandoned cart emails, which are sent to customers when they add products to their cart but do not check out. When you consider nearly half of all abandoned cart emails are opened and a third of those lead to purchases, these email marketing ideas for small business create a unique opportunity to re-engage customers who chose not to convert the first time.
You're preaching to the converted
Your email subscribers are a list of people who have opted into receiving updates about your business. As such, you’re targeting a receptive audience, which has already exhibited an interest in being updated about up-and-coming products, timed promotions, and seasonal updates. This gives you the unique opportunity to promote your products or services via messages that speak directly to your most engaged customers.
As a small business owner, you probably can’t afford to waste money on marketing campaigns that don’t yield immediate results. Email marketing is cost-effective, inexpensive to maintain over time, and incredibly easy to set up. Start now, boost your brand, strengthen relationships, and find new avenues to grow your veteran business.
Kayleigh Alexandra is a community writer for Micro Startups — a network dedicated to giving through growth hacking. Visit the blog for your latest dose of startup, entrepreneur, and charity insights from top experts around the globe. Follow us on Twitter @getmicrostarted.
Business success means growing your veteran owned small business and improving sales, processes and the customer experience each year. We created the ebook “9 Tips to Grow Your Small Business” to help in your success. You’ll get nine chapters of easy-to-follow growth strategies including marketing tips for small business, how to maximize your customer base, winning government contracts, and actively measuring success. Click here to download it now.
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