What’s all the fuss about email marketing?

Hands up…who ‘does’ email marketing in their business? 

I ran a recent poll on my Facebook page and just 35% of responders regularly sent emails to their email list and to their past clients. 

What! 65% of you missing out on this wonderful opportunity to connect with clients and clients to be. Contacts who actively tell you they want to hear from you (they’ve either bought from you or handed over their email address). When they hand over their email address, they expect you to land in their inbox, they expect offers and vouchers..hell, they even expect you to sell to them! Now that’s music to all of our ears!

So I wonder why the small number?  Is it because you’re not sure of the benefits of email marketing?  I was at a recent networking event (yes, a Thrive Collective gathering) and I heard another marketing consultant tell another business owner not to bother with emails as it was ‘dead’.  What utter nonsense! 

One of my own clients when working with her on her marketing strategy said, “I don’t include email marketing as I don’t like emails myself”. Sorry love, it’s not about you, it’s about your ideal clients. What do they want, what do they respond to and how can it help you grow your business.

Email marketing is on the rise.  Because it works.  It brings healthy returns and avoids business owners running a risky business of building their business on someone else’s platform.  That’s Mr Z incase you’re wondering.  What’s your plan B if / when Facebook and Insta go down?  Hmmmmmm

So, incase you’re wondering if to invest time into email marketing, let me share some of the benefits (and if you need more help, check out my free WORKBOOK).

If social media is the cocktail party, then email marketing is the ‘let’s meet up for coffee’.

Yes, when you’re looking at getting out to an audience, social media wins hands down when it comes to quantity.  For sure.  But when someone puts their hands up and opts in to your email list, it’s like them saying ‘let’s meet for a cuppa’.  Yes!  Let’s have a conversation….oh, and you’re giving me permission to drop into your inbox. Hurrah!

I could go on for hours on email marketing. After all I’ve been doing it for 15+ years. I first started in direct mail in my marketing career, and swiftly moved onto email marketing when it became widespread. Working at some of the biggest companies in the UK, managing their email marketing and customer contact strategies. Including Sky TV, Sony Electronics, Carphone Warehouse and Marks & Spencer. But it’s the smaller businesses that I enjoy working with most. As the returns can be HUGE!

Let’s go. Here are my top 7 reasons to get stuck into email marketing.

1. You own your list! Enough said! Sorry social media fans. I know I don’t want to be relying on someone else’s business to grow my own. Do you? Invest in building your own list and you’ll avoid being at the mercy of algorithms.
2. It helps build relationships and credibility. Email is direct, making it more personal and personalised than say social media marketing. Afterall, you’re contacting people who have actively said “I want to hear from you Sam”.
3. It’s targeted. You have more control over who sees your content. You can have a lot of fun with targeting and re-targeting of emails, offers and content in general. Afterall, you get all the analytics. Rather than vanity numbers…you can see who opens, who clicks, what they click…and what they buy.
4. You can easily personalize your emails. From inserting a subscriber’s name in subject lines and content in the messages. All of which has a massive uplift in responses. Don’t ever underestimate starting your emails with “Hi Sam….”
5. It increases brand awareness. With each email sent you stay top-of-mind with your audience. Remember those numbers we hear, 7 times to hear from a brand before you consider doing business? Emails dropping into their inbox counts towards this number. Letting your audience know you’re there and open for business. Even if it’s just in the inbox.
6. Helpful metrics. From delivery rates, open rates, click-to-deliver rates are insights into your customers’ behaviours and interests. No other marketing gives this so easily and reliably. Perfect for number geeks (like me) but easy to digest for those who just want to know what’s working.
7. It’s cost effective & environmentally friendly. No print costs, no postage fees, no advertising rates. You’re talking to people who have either brought from you or who have said they’d like to hear from you.  None of this ‘spray and pray’ marketing.

Like I say, I can go on for hours. I hope after reading this blog you think about how you can start capturing data that you can go on to email. Followers and fans on your social media platforms, in your Facebook groups, those checking out your website or people you meet at networking events or trade fayres.

If you’ve enjoyed this, don’t forget to sign up for my free top 5 tips to grow your email list workbook.

I’m Sam Dixon, founder of Thrive With Sam Dixon, a Marketing Consultant to ambitious businesswomen who want to launch, grow and scale their business with flexible marketing support. 

For a free 30 minute discovery call get in touch by email hello@thrivewithsam.com or come join Thrive Collective, my monthly membership community. JOIN HERE.