With all the different marketing options available, it’s hard to narrow your focus. It’s especially difficult to nail down the very best strategies. So, why email marketing? While new marketing trends might seem like the way to go, it’s more important to make sure your strategies are paying for themselves. Sure, we all like to see those vanity metrics, but when it comes to paying the bills, there is almost no other marketing tool that can hold its own against email marketing.
Why email marketing?
So just why should you choose email marketing? Good question. Let’s take a look!
Most of your visitors are window shopping
You may not realize this now, particularly if you’re just starting out. But the fact is, only about 15% of the people who visit your website are actually ready to buy your product or service. They’re those golden customers who have been looking for just the thing you’re selling and they’ve finally found it. Or maybe their friend has been telling them about your product for months, and now they’re ready to dive in.
But what about the other 85%?
They’re the ones who stop by, take a look, but decide they just aren’t ready today.
So how do you get that 85% “in the store”?
Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a way you could find out more about that 85% and encourage them to make a purchase?
Up until now, you may have simply thought of them as random, uninterested visitors. But what if you started thinking about them as potential, future customers? Because that’s exactly what they are. Even if they didn’t buy today, it doesn’t mean they won’t buy tomorrow.
So how do you get them to come back and purchase? You guessed it – email marketing.
How email marketing works
You know those stores that have giveaways, and all you have to do to sign up is drop your business card in the box or fill out a little slip of paper with your name and contact info? Email marketing takes that concept into the digital world.
A visitor to your site may not be ready to purchase your product or service, but they might be willing to give you their email in exchange for something. (We’ll discuss what that something can be in an upcoming article, so stay tuned.)
Once you have their email, a whole world of possibilities opens up. You can notify them when a promo launches or when an item that they viewed goes on sale or is back in stock. You can even send them a friendly “Hello” and let them know you’d like to meet up in person (if appropriate for your business type and industry).
What email marketing does
Email marketing has become synonymous with spam, but it really doesn’t have to be … and in our book, it really shouldn’t be. Instead, email marketing is a way for you to grow your business and build relationships.
Grow your business
Your email list is your future business. Subscribers are future buyers, not just a bunch of people along for the ride. When you consider them as potential clients, it’s easier to realize that emails should be opportunities for conversation. Content that is “pitchy” or pushy will ultimately defeat your purpose. Remember, this is a prospective buyer.
You treat your paying customers with respect and gratitude, right?
Treat those on your email list the same way. They are simply your future paying customers. Do you really want to subject them to an obnoxious sales-pitch? Of course not. You want to start a conversation.
Build relationships
The keyword here is “relationship.” Through your emails, you want to build long-term relationships founded on trust. Let email recipients see that you’re willing to work with them to help them achieve their goals (even if they haven’t purchased anything). Then they’ll have more reason to trust you and, eventually, to choose you over the competition. We’ll dig more deeply into that in a later post.
But for today we want to stress this point. Nothing can sell people more than trust can – which is why your family and friends wouldn’t think of buying from anyone else. They’re loyal to you. That’s the way you should think about the potential clients on your email list. Work on building a healthy relationship, just like you would with a friend.
Start that list!
Now that you understand why email marketing is such an effective tool, what are you waiting for? It’s time to start your email list. If you already have one, even better! You’re halfway there in reaching out to your next customers.
