5 Ways To Grow Your Business With Email Marketing

Greetings!

While the economy appears to be on the mend, consumers and businesses are still being more cautious with their spending. Before they pull the trigger on any purchase, they want to be sure they are making an informed decision and buying from someone they trust.

To learn how email marketing can help you educate your prospects and customers, build loyalty, repeat business, and referrals, read on.

Smart Email Marketing Works In Any Economy

When customers feel you have something valuable to offer, they are more likely to pass on your information, refer others to you, and turn to you for advice. A smart, well-executed email marketing plan that offers intelligent, actionable, and engaging content can help ensure that your business is the one people remember when they have a need for your product or service.

Here are five tips for developing a dynamic email communications strategy:

Share Your Knowledge

You and your expertise are why your customers come to you. Provide information that is both beneficial to them and that they can only hear from you.

Offer Relevant, Entertaining Information

The knowledge you impart should be both relevant and engaging to read. Challenge yourself by asking "so what?" If the information is fascinating to you but isn't important to your customers' needs, take it out. To make your communication more readable and relevant, try to:

Be fun, entertaining, and informational
Be brief - provide small nuggets of useful information
Be engaging
Be clear about benefits (write about what "you get," not what "I offer")

Vary Your Content

A content strategy that contains several different formats - features, short tips, news, a coupon or discount section, etc. - makes your communications more interesting to read and gives you flexibility. With a varied format, you can match your content to your communcations purpose.

Catch Their Eye and Their Mind

Communication that marries readable, intelligent information with smart design and photography is more likely to stand apart from the email clutter your customers are bombarded with. It is also more likely to be forwarded; people like to share clear, timely information with their friends and colleagues.

Engage Your Audience

Ask your readers to get involved in the dialogue. For example, they can submit a question to stump you on your area of expertise, which you can then answer in your next communication. Or they can help you develop interesting content. Your e-newsletter might include:

Responses to frequently asked questions
Customer success stories or problems you have solved
Results of surveys you've done with your customers

Struggling to get started with email marketing? For a free consultation, email Bull's-eye Communications or call 774-719-2324 .

4 Ways To Cut Through The Email Clutter

Consumers are bombarded by emails every day. That's why it's important to gauge the effectiveness of your communications by examining your "open rate," which tells you how many people on your list opened your email. You can improve or preserve your open rates by following these four simple steps:

Ensure that the name in your "from" line is recognizable; include the name of your business or organization
Use a compelling subject line. Lead with a benefit and try to pique the reader's curiosity. You want your readers to feel compelled to find out more.
Send targeted emails to specific audiences with content that appeals directly to their needs. Segment your email lists if necessary.
Evaluate how frequently you are sending emails. Resist the urge to over-communicate.

Spread Your Message On Social Media Sites

Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter can be highly effective tools for attracting new subscribers and prospects.

You can insert the icon of your favorite Social Media sites, including Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn into your email communication and link them to your fan pages, twitter feeds, and more. You'll be able to see who clicked on them in your email reports. Here they are: