Email Marketing: What It Is & How to do It Right

Did you know that email marketing is one of the most lucrative ways to promote your business?

We'll share some data to back that up later in this post, but email is a reliable channel for attracting and retaining customers. Email marketing campaigns can drive traffic and engagement on your website, and they're cost-efficient if you automate and personalize them.

This guide will discuss the ins and outs of email marketing. We'll review what it is, why it's important, and how small businesses can use it successfully.

What is Email Marketing?

Email marketing means promoting your business in different ways through emails. That can include updates, helpful information, discounts, and general communications. Businesses can use email marketing to engage directly with their customer base and personalize the messages they send.

Email marketing is powerful because of personalization. You can write emails to make them sound like they speak directly to each customer, and customize the copy to fit that person's needs. Automation makes personalized campaigns possible for businesses of all sizes and decreases the time spent creating emails.

Email marketing is a must for small businesses - in fact, 64% of them actively use it. It's practical, economical, time-saving, and often outperforms other marketing channels.

How does email marketing work?

So, how does email marketing work, and why is it so effective? Short answer: It uses customer segmentation - or the sorting of customers according to characteristics like age, location, likes, and dislikes.

Customer segmentation for email is different than other forms of digital marketing because it leads to direct communication. Instead of putting marketing content out there and hoping it gets seen, you're creating a direct interaction with each customer. By segmenting customers in your CRM, you can send different, personalized messages to each group.

Why is email marketing important?

Email marketing is important because it works. But the million-dollar question is: Why?

There are several reasons why email marketing is effective. Let's break down a few of them in the section below.

Growth & Reach

Email marketing is growing. It's been around since the 1970s and is still one of the most popular forms of digital marketing today. With 4.48 billion email users, there's a good chance most of your customers have an active email address.

Cost Efficiency

Marketing can be intimidating for small businesses. You have to be strategic about where you put your dollars, not just because you want a good return on your investment, but also to protect your brand's integrity and values.

Marketing emails generate $36 for every $1 spent, meaning email is a cost-efficient channel when used effectively. You can control when messages are delivered to each customer, and automation allows you to send messages in bulk without typing and sending each one manually.

Personal Engagement

Personalized marketing is more than just including someone's name in an email. It's identifying what customers want from your business and crafting a marketing message that addresses those needs.

Automation and built-in reporting tools help you determine exactly what your customers need - and when and why they need it. Rather than seeing a generic ad, they engage with a message created specifically for them.

Pro Tip:54% of users say they unsubscribe from emails because they're not relevant to them. Personalization is essential, no matter the email type.

Brand Recognition

Email will also strengthen your brand awareness. Businesses that engage in email marketing usually see higher website traffic and increased social media engagement. Personalized email marketing creates positive relationships with your customers because you're making an effort to keep in touch with them.

Now, let's look at how you can craft a successful email marketing strategy for your small business.

How to Do Email Marketing for Small Business

This section explains how to create an email marketing strategy. We'll discuss getting started, general tips and habits, and the do's and don'ts any business should follow.

1. Define your marketing goals.

Before getting started, you should define your email marketing goals. These goals should complement your other initiatives and guide the content and tone of your campaigns. They should be specific and contribute to your business's long-term objectives.

For example, you might set a goal to add 100 subscribers to your email list. That will generate more engagement with both your emails and your company's website. With this goal in mind, our strategy would prioritize capturing customer's emails through things like sign-up forms or other communication channels.

2. Establish your brand voice.

Decide what content you want to produce and how you'll present it. For example, will you be funny or informative? Will you run a weekly newsletter or craft one-off marketing campaigns?

Email is an extension of your brand - what it sounds like, how you want it to be perceived - so you want consistency with your style and frequency. Your small business has a what, why, and how, so keep those at the focus when creating email content.

3. Choose Email Types

Your marketing strategy should include all four of these email marketing types:

Newsletters

Newsletters are an excellent way for businesses to share information and stay connected with customers. You can send newsletters at any interval - weekly, biweekly, monthly, etc. - but you should maintain a consistent schedule.

Here's an example of an email newsletter from Adventure Cycling:

Newsletters should bring value to the customer and give them a reason to engage with your content. For example, if you're a landscaper, you can send a seasonal "special edition" highlighting that season's plant life and plant-care tips. That will keep people interested in your brand, even though you're not directly selling them something.

Nurture Emails

Nurture emails build long-term customer relationships and gradually move them toward a purchase. They're usually part of a series of messages that gradually persuade people to buy something from your business.

For example, let's say you're a landscaping company and want to sell your abundance of mums. You can send nurture emails about fall flowers, indoor and outdoor plant ideas, or upcoming sales and events. Then, your last email can be a promotion for your mums. At this point, the customer is (hopefully) excited to make the purchase.

Here's an example from a local restaurant advertising its Valentine's Day deals.

Promotional Emails

Promotional emails feature a direct offer for one of your products, services, or discounts. They're especially popular around holidays because they offer incentives to customers whose interest in your business might have dropped off. They often include subject lines like "Great Deals Inside" or "Limited Time Offer."

For example, here's a promotional email advertising a fall sale at Brooks Brothers:

Transactional Emails

Transactional emails aren't traditionally considered marketing content. They are the emails you send after a purchase, like an invoice or a follow-up message thanking customers for their business, or asking them to leave you a review. Transactional emails may also include abandoned cart messages, password resets, and more.

While these emails don't promote your brand, they can increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. For example, a simple message like, "Thanks for your order! We'll let you know when your products are available for pickup," helps the customer feel prioritized, and can give them a sense of assurance that you're on the job.

Pro Tip: Automate your transactional emails so they send immediately after a purchase. That will give you more time to craft other messages that promote your products and services.

4. Choose a service provider.

There are several email service providers on the market. Let's quickly review what you should look for when considering one for your business.

• Customer Segmentation: Segmentation is one of the most important aspects of email marketing, so your provider should have ways to organize contacts into groups. It should pair that with reporting tools that highlight your most engaged customers.
• Signup Forms: Your provider should generate forms that capture email addresses on your website and social media accounts. The data should go directly into your CRM, workflows, and lists.
• Automated Workflows: Look for a provider with the most automation power possible. Email marketing is powerful because it's automated.
• Ease of Use: If you've never worked with a marketing email provider, you should look for one that's easy to use and has a good support team.

5. Build a contact list.

Contact lists are groups created using customer segmentation. You can send the same email to a list of contacts in your CRM and update that group over time. Not only is this efficient, but you can personalize marketing emails for each contact list.

Start by creating lists of preexisting contacts. Then, decide how you'll build your list as new customers discover your brand. You should have straightforward processes for capturing emails of both new and returning customers. That will grow your list over time, increasing your reach and making your promotional campaigns more effective.

6. Write engaging email copy.

Email is personal, and your copy needs to be, well, personal. Catching onto a theme here?

Take the time to connect with customers and tell them a story in your copy. This is a prime opportunity to let your brand shine and make those long-lasting connections with your audience.

Here's an example from Derryfield Country Club. Notice how this message sounds like it's coming from someone who plays this course daily. Even the advertisement for TaylorMade within the email uses the same brand tone. It's personable and makes a real connection with this audience.

7. Optimize your email subject lines.

When creating automated campaigns, you should consider one of the most important elements of email marketing: your subject lines. With only 50 characters, you need to make an impression strong enough to get your customers' attention.

Here are a few tips:

• Appeal to emotion.
• Stick to your brand voice.
• Avoid excessive punctuation or sales-y language.
• Don't be afraid to get creative.

Here are a couple of subject line examples:

Subject Line	Industry	Why it Works
This would look great on you!	Fashion/Clothing	Piques curiosity and compliments you - you want to see what this item is.
Your next trip: Paris	Travel	Aspirational in the long-term, adds aesthetic value in the short-term
You're missing out on the greatest sandwich of all time!	Food & Beverage	Appeals to FOMO and curiosity - also, you might be hungry!

If you can A/B test, go for it. A/B testing involves sending two versions of your email to a sample of your customers. One small group gets version A, while another small group gets version B. The email that performs better is then sent to the remainder of your contact list.

Email Marketing Do's and Don'ts

Before we wrap up, here are a few best practices to keep in mind when launching an email marketing campaign.

• Do experiment: See what works, and don't be afraid if something doesn't work right away. Catalog your performance and learn from it over time.
• Do segment your list: Always segment! Personalization is a huge part of why email works.
• Do vary your content: Remember, your emails should add value to your customers.
• Do remember to proofread. You don't want to send a "we made a mistake" email after your original one.
• Don't purchase email lists: It's tempting when you're starting out, but they're just not worth it. Don't waste money on contacts who haven't opted into your emails.
• Don't forget to follow the rules. Double and triple-check your compliance with opt-in laws.

Is Email Marketing Effective?

The answer is a resounding "yes." Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to promote your business. Almost all your customers will have an email, and you can customize your messages to speak directly to their needs.

Follow the tips in this post to create a successful email marketing strategy. Remember to segment your customer base and use reporting tools to measure customer engagement. Over time, you can fine-tune your delivery process and marketing copy to craft emails that get opened every time.

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