Email Marketing In 4 Easy Steps

Email marketing is one of the cheapest ways to generate leads. However, many businesses already incorporate this strategy into their marketing plan. That is a lot of email traffic to compete with, so how do you stand out?

Smart email campaigns build on relationships with their subscribers. Entice them with free, high-quality content. Develop a relationship of trust and reliability, so that when you do try to sell them something, they are accustomed to opening your emails and clicking your links. Here is a step-by-step guide for your email marketing needs.

Sign up with an email service provider

Email Service Providers (or “ESPs”) allow you to send bulk emails at once. If you tried to send 500, 1,000 or 10,000 emails at once from a personal account, you would get banned by Google for spamming. ESPs maintain the necessary hardware to send and receive bulk emails. These providers enable you to launch and maintain an email campaign.

ESPs also provide technical support. For example, they help you maintain your opt-in and out privileges. ESPs provide mobile-friendly templates and interfaces for your customers. They also track marketing analytics so that you know which strategy is working.

Since they play such a critical role in your marketing strategy, you must select the ESP that is right for you. Consider your technical needs, budget, and user interface. Changing ESPs midway through a campaign can be very tedious and could result in missed emails.

Build your list of subscribers

Once your Email Service Provider (ESP) is set up, it is time to begin building your email list. So, how do you get people to join? The same way you get anyone to do anything, with incentives. Think expansively about the incentives you can offer and test them out.

Sketch out ideas and come up with multiple variations. There are dozens of potential incentives depending upon your business model. You could offer “cheat sheets” to help your customers easily tackle problems. You could offer once a month or bi-weekly Q&A’s. If you are comfortable in front of a camera, you can host educational webinars to walk people through a particular problem. The possibilities are endless.

Share quality content

As soon as you get subscribers, make sure you begin sending content immediately. Set yourself up on a regular schedule, perhaps once a week. You can use the ideas from your incentives list to generate content. Remember, it needs to be of high quality and useful. The quickest death for any email campaign is to inundate their subscribers with useless or cheap content. The goal is to get your subscribers accustomed to opening your emails.

Send relevant offers

Once you have built a solid relationship with your subscribers, you can begin sending them relevant offers. Make sure the offer you include relates to the content that is sent.

The easiest way to include offers is by adding it to your newsletter or content notification emails. It should be attached in a noticeable manner with a strong call-to-action. You want to make it as easy as possible for your customers to click on your links.

Interested in starting your own email marketing campaign?

These strategies take time and dedication. However, once they are set up, they can reap big rewards. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can put these email campaigns on autopilot. You need to continually check and revise your emails to ensure that they remain fresh and relevant.

If you have any online marketing needs, contact us here at UCI Digital. We offer a variety of services including email marketing, website development, search engine optimization, and content development. Give us a call today at (806) 553-5332 or Contact Us via email to see how we may assist you in your online marketing efforts. You can also stop by our location at 1000 S. Adams St. in Amarillo, Texas. Be sure to check out the other various services we offer to help push your business to the top!