Looking for a customer acquisition tool? An impressive 89% of marketers say that email is their primary channel for lead generation. This is why email marketing is one of the most powerful customer acquisition tools available to business owners. It’s relatively inexpensive and can have tremendous benefits over time. The tips below will help you get your email marketing process on the right track so you can begin to build your customer base.
1. Use the Right Platform
In order to make email marketing an effective customer acquisition tool, you need a platform that allows you to build a list, create and send professional-looking messages, and track performance. You can’t get this functionality if you are using Outlook or Apple Mail to send bulk emails. You need a tool dedicated to email marketing. Some popular options include MailChimp, AWeber, Constant Contact, and Vertical Response. Explore the features of each, especially those that will help you grow your subscriber list, and choose the option that works best for your business.
2. Make Every Communication Relevant and Interesting
The more often your subscribers see messages from you or your company in their inboxes, the easier it will be for your business to build credibility. The trick, however, is not sending messages for the sake of sending messages, but instead being purposeful and relevant. A weekly or monthly newsletter is a great way to provide a summary of what’s happening in your business, content you recently published, or special offers you have available for customers. Check out MailChimp’s Marketing Field Guide for more ideas on consistent messages you can send to your email list.
3. Review Your Customer Acquisition Tool’s Metrics Often
Metrics are a vital part of every email marketing campaign. There is no way to tell if you have an engaging subject line or effective email newsletter content until you see how many people opened your message and clicked on a link. Review the metrics after each campaign to see what works and what doesn’t. If supported by your platform, try A/B testing your subject lines to see if you can devise a standard format that encourages opening.
4. Keep It Short, Sweet, and Pretty
Most people scan email messages quickly, deciding in seconds if anything in the message is worth more of their attention. This is why you need to keep your messages relatively short, scannable with subheadings, and easy on the eyes. Most email marketing platforms have tools and templates that help you create email messages with effective formats that work on all types of devices, so explore the options you have available to make the best choice for your email format. Keep in mind that using the same format for each of your messages, instead of changing it up for every email you send, will help solidify your brand.
5. Include a Call to Action in Every Message
What do you want your audience to do with the emails you are sending them? Do you want them to click a link to read a blog post? Buy a product? Forward it to a friend? Sign up for a consultation? Visit your store? The most important part of every single email message is the call to action (CTA)—what you want your readers to do after receiving your message. Be clear, specific, and repetitive (within reason) to get your audience to act on the information you are sharing with them.
Email marketing is not a quick process; it takes time and consistent effort to be effective. Start building your list today so you can create a system for converting prospects into new customers.
