10 Reasons why you should be using Email Marketing

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Your marketing is a net that you throw out to capture the attention of your best prospects.  You want to snare those prospects (and only those prospects) with the information, benefits and outcomes that speak to their situation.  That’s not going to happen on a single visit or interaction, you need to get in front of them with the right message several times…in fact a big part of your marketing job is to stay top of mind as a value added resource so you’re a no brainer decision when they’re ready to buy!

One of the best tools you can use to build your marketing net is some variation of email marketing.  There are a lot of great reasons you need to be using email marketing with your business – here are few to get you thinking!

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line – and as a business owner the point you want to reach is making money…and email marketing can help you do that!

1.  Drive sales to existing customers

People like to buy from someone that they know, like and trust.  Your existing customers (assuming they had a good experience) already know what you can do, they understand your approach, they trust you since they’ve seen the results…but they may not know what else you can do for them.

Email marketing to existing customers – whether that’s a regular newsletter or a special offer to those special people who have been your customers can be a very effective way to drive additional sales. 

2.  Drive sales with new prospects

Let’s say you do something to intrigue me – post an interesting article, tell me a good story at a networking event, run some sort of ad that catches my eye.  Whatever it is, I go to check out your website and although I’m not ready to buy, I’m interested.  In exchange for a special report, I give you my email address and you add me to an focused email campaign through an autoresponder.  You send me additional information and make targeted, low pressure offers specific to my interests over the course of the next few months (sending something every couple of weeks).

Once I’m ready to solve my problem and spend some money, you’re top of mind in a positive way as the likely provider who can help me.  Your positive persistence has paid off, I’m ready to buy!

3.  Get more out of other marketing tools

Almost any marketing approach you can think of can be complimented by an additional layer of email marketing.  Have a great radio ad?  Newspaper or magazine ad?  Direct mail campaign?  Use it to drive traffic to your website – people who are really interested will raise their hands and gladly sign up for more information…which you can deliver via an email campaign.

Maybe you meet a lot of great people networking (or social networking) – they aren’t ready to buy anything right now, but you (and they) would like to stay in touch.  A perfect scenario for your email newsletter.

You’ve written a great blog post or created a really powerful video – email marketing can be a great way to let people know about what you’ve got out there.

4.  Build relationships

Good relationships take time and effort – you have to stay in touch, you have to communicate to get things to work out over time.  Your customers, your partners or people that just like the cut of your sail want to build a relationship with you.  One way to do that is to communicate with them on a regular basis – which is what an email newsletter is all about.

5.  Educate

Unless your product is a really simple commodity, you can get a huge lift from educating your customers and prospects on your industry, the problems you solve and the outcomes you deliver.

The more you can teach them…the more value you can add…the more likely they are to view you, not only as an expert, but as a trusted advisor.  You know, the kind of person who commands a premium rate…not just because of what you know, but because you have consistently proven you have their best interests at heart.  Email marketing can be a great way to share your knowledge – doling out useful information as needed and over time.

6.  Trigger activity

Let’s say that you have a targeted list of 500 people who know, like and trust you and are interested in the problems you solve and the outcomes that you can deliver.

And let’s say that you have partnered with another company that offers a complimentary product relative to what you do – that other company is willing to offer your email mailing list recipients a valuable free offer for every purchase they make from you.  How would that tally up for the parties involved? 

• Your email list – gets a free bonus for their next purchase from a trusted relationship. 
• Your new partner – gets exposure to 500 new prospects and gets to inherit your relationship with those prospects
• You – get to give away a valuable bonus, driving additional sales and goodwill.

Do you think that would drive activity?  Email is a great way to share those kinds of fusion offers.

In terms of driving activity, you could also just offer special discounts or offers to your customers as a reward (and help drive activity during a slow period perhaps?).

7.  Start a conversation

Almost all marketing is strictly one way…from you to your prospects.  Email marketing allows you to start a valuable conversation and easily get responses back.  That could be as simple as asking questions as part of a regular newsletter or sending out an email survey.  How valuable would feedback and interaction with your best customers (or prospects) be to you and your company?

8.  Facilitate Word Of Mouth

Let’s say you send out a direct mail postcard with a great coupon for your product or service.  As a recipient of your postcard, let’s say that I’m not a fit but it would be perfect for my sister-in-law in St. Louis.  How likely am I to forward that postcard?  Sadly I might have great intentions, but it would be a lot of work to restamp and re-address the postcard…the odds are slim that it would make it back out the door.

However…if it was in my email inbox and I could just hit forward and send it…maybe even to several people.  Email makes it easy to share.

9.  Stay top of mind

We’ve already talked about people buying when they’re ready to buy.  Your job isn’t to try to convince them to buy when they don’t need you…your job is to build the relationship and be hanging around…to be top of mind when they are ready to buy.

Email marketing is a low impact way to keep your name in front of someone.  Even if they don’t open the email, the odds are good that they saw it…and that alone will count as bringing you top of mind – albeit in a lesser way.

10.  Permission Marketing at it’s best!

If you’re sending an email to anyone who didn’t explicitly indicate an interest or desire for your email, you’re spamming them!  Even if you buy a mailing list from a local chamber that you’re a member of…that’s not email marketing, it’s spam.  That approach may not get you in legal trouble, but it will generally not be a posi
ti
ve step.

On the other hand, if someone raises their hand and says “I want to know more” – you are giving them exactly what they want in the form of email marketing.  And if they change their mind and opt-out, you need to honor that request as well.

The reason permission marketing is so powerful is that you’re dealing with people who have asked for you to educate them…and sell to them.  It doesn’t get much better than that!

What about you?

Are you currently using any form of email marketing?  Any particular service?  Did I miss any benefits that email marketing brings?  Share your thoughts in the comments below – I’d love to hear them…and since I’ll likely use this with my email newsletter, I’m sure my readers would love to hear your thoughts as well! 

Shawn Kinkade   Kansas City Business Coach