Successfully building a company from scratch takes dedication, a clear business plan and a good amount of marketing know-how. Word of mouth is certainly something you want, but you can’t rely on it for all of your advertising needs, even if you offer the best customer experience around. One of the most cost-effective marketing methods for startups is email marketing. It’s fairly easy to find an internet marketing blog full of content for advanced marketing, such as automation or dedicated marketing software, but today I am going to talk about the basics of an email marketing campaign, how it can help your startup and how doing it wrong can negatively impact your business.
The Basics
Before you start an email marketing campaign, there are a few things you should know. First, your initial emails to subscribers should not be attempting to sell them anything; they should, instead, provide useful content that will answer their questions and display your knowledge in your field. Every email you send should include a call to action, prompting the recipient to respond or connect with you in some way. The most popular way to do this is by providing links to the business’s Facebook or Twitter account, accompanied by a simple message like “Join us on Facebook” or “Connect with us on Twitter”. You should never purchase email lists, because it will make your newsletter seem spammy. Instead, point your website visitors to a subscription page and ask your customers in person if they’d like to be included in your email list. This ensures that only people who actually want to receive your emails are on your list.
Doing it Properly
Making your emails friendly and recognizable will help you build a good relationship with your subscribers, hopefully prompting them to become customers in the future. Keeping your emails consistent is key to keeping your subscribers and ensuring that they remember you and your company. Set a regular schedule for your emails and stick with it. Don’t change the format or design, either. Your subscribers shouldn’t have to wonder who sent them the email. Pay attention to the feedback you receive, from people unsubscribing (which will happen) to people who engage you on social media or by email. The responses you get from consumers can help you focus on a specific area where your potential customers have a need.
Doing it Poorly
There are some things you should never do in your emails. First, never try to force a sale onto a subscriber, even if you’ve built a relationship with them. Make them offers, give them coupons and give them quality articles, but make sure that every email benefits the recipient without requiring anything of them. Don’t trick people into subscribing to your list, either. Some companies automatically enroll people in their newsletters when they make a purchase or sign up for an account, but that will merely lose you customers in the long run. Keep your emails brief, too. Needlessly wordy emails will prompt people to unsubscribe from your list, undoing all the hard work you’ve done to get them there.
Whether you’re hiring a company to take care of your marketing campaigns for you or heading them up in-house, you’ll be able to connect with potential customers more easily and receive valuable feedback on both your marketing campaigns and your business as a whole. If you use an email marketing company, you should keep in mind that you’ll have less control of the whole process, though it’s often worth it if your business sends emails out once a month or less. Being consistent, taking user criticism into account and imparting value to the reader will help your business become known as a leader in its field and will drive customer relationships. Your business could be negatively affected if you buy email lists, send overly-long emails or attempt to use your newsletter to sell to your subscribers without building a relationship first. Reliable, valuable email marketing takes time and patience, but is ultimately an invaluable tool in any business’s marketing campaign.
