Every business owner wants to pull in new customers to their offerings reliably, regularly and automatically. The amazing thing about email marketing is that it can do all of this at once, or at least play a big part in a marketing campaign that does. It also generates an amazing £36 of returns for every £1 invested. Look through our expert guide to learn everything you need to run your outstanding email marketing campaign.
Email marketing learning links
Creating a mailing list
Before we start worrying about those emails, we need someone to send them to. That means building a mailing list of people containing their names and emails, and businesses too if you’re a B2B company. That’s all you need to take down for a mailing list, though more can be added, such as interests, industry, birthday, etc.
You probably know as well as we do that some businesses take down a lot more information than just the three I mentioned above. That gives you more information to base your campaigns and results analyses on, but the more info you ask for, the fewer people are going to fill in your form.
Think about it: How much more likely are you to fill in two boxes that ask for your name and email than a form that looks like a tax return or job application? This is a big consideration, as short forms get many times more valuable responses than long ones.
Ways to collect email addresses from your site
There are several ways to get those details from your site.
- Simple forms
- Newsletter sign ups
- Blog sign ups
- Subscriptions and members’ areas.
- Lead magnets
- Product sales
All of these are slightly different. However, they all need a form, a call to action, a bit of persuasion and some legal bits relating to privacy and data storage. You can learn more about these methods and what they require in our blog on collecting emails from your website.
If you are using Moosend’s online email marketing service, as we recommend, you can also take advantage of our video on adding people to your mailing list here.
When you have put together a mailing list, it becomes a valuable resource and an effective way to maximise the use of your website, as well as stay in touch with potential leads. Done well it’s a great way to grow your business. Find out more in our article on making use of your mailing list.
Your email marketing campaign
Your mailing list is a valuable resource. Use it regularly to keep prospects warm, get customers to return to your sales pages and build trust with your audience. There are two ways to do this:
The newsletter – Is simple and effective. That is why I recommend it to anyone who isn’t particularly experienced with emailing systems and web apps. It should be simple enough to send it using any marketing app. Just remember that, contrary to popular belief, a newsletter is about the audience, not you and it needs to be relevant, interesting and valuable to them.
Automated emails – This allows you to send out emails at a set time after a user buys from you, contacts you or subscribes to a service. You can even send a series of messages at different times. It helps you save time by sending in advance and allows your business to respond quickly to customers, even when busy. You can’t tailor emails to current events and feedback at the time of sending, as you can with the newsletter, though.
If you have the resources, it is best to pair up regular emails, such as newsletters, with automatic emails, such as post-purchase thanks. This pairing works well because it feels relevant to users, especially if you use personalisation. the best returns come from emails sent automatically by online shops and service providers when customers have shown interest and then left.
The Cost and Value of Email Marketing
Let’s start this section as we started our blog on the subject, with the incredible value for money offered by email marketing. It is one of the most cost-effective marketing techniques, raising more than £36 for every £1 spent. The best returns on investment come from emails sent automatically by online shops and service providers when customers have shown interest and then left. Whatever your strategy though, it only works properly when done correctly, and it takes time and analysis to figure out the ideal method. Everyone has to start somewhere though, and you can choose to begin your email marketing campaign in one of three ways:
- In-house email marketing – £7 – £800 per month
- Do it yourself – £7 – 350 + your time
- Delegate – £100 – 800
- Using a professional- £200 – £1000 per month
For DIY campaigns, don’t underestimate the value of your time as you move forward. To work out if you should do it yourself or save those precious hours by hiring a professional, you can start by calculating your return on investment and comparing it to theirs. You may need some figures from analytics apps to help you figure out your value generated.
For pros: ROI = Value generated / cost
For you: ROI = Value generated / (hourly earnings x number of hours worked)
When you’re estimating or adding up costs, you need to factor in the cost of acquiring the email addresses you’re contacting, too.
Services – Choices and costs
The next financial choice is what email marketing service to use. As mentioned above, we recommend Moosend as a useable and reliable service where you can produce outstanding results. Mailchimp is another solid choice and is the market leader:
- Moosend – Free with full functionality for up to 500 users if you get an account with us. £5.50 per month or $7 to upgrade at the time of writing
- MailChimp – Free with limited functionality for up to 2000 users. £10 per month to upgrade at the time of writing
If you want to really improve your stats and increase the returns on your email marketing campaign, you can pay an expert to do it for you. Chances are, they can achieve your marketing goals more effectively than you can on your own, using much less of your valuable time.
Email marketing blog links
Conclusion
Email marketing isn’t just one of the most cost-effective forms of marketing out there, it also provides a regular, reliable flow of new clients and can be automated easily. In the modern digital world, it is key to a stable sales and marketing effort for almost any online business.
Compile a mailing list that fits your business, cost your campaign shrewdly, and design effectively, and you could have found an effective way to level up your marketing for good. You can learn how to do all of that here, and if you need a little extra help, get in touch with us and ask.
