I’ve decided to take a break from writing a post of digital courses today…instead I want to cover a topic that needs mentioning and should be a part of any business if you want to reach your prospects and gain more sales. And that’s email marketing. I’ve broken this topic down into three posts because I’ve got a lot to cover over these next three days.
Let’s explore some tips and ideas to improve your email marketing techniques so you get more prospects and make more sales. According to the Direct Marketing Association, the return on investment for a well-run email marketing campaign is more than $38 dollars for every dollar spent. After all, you’re not going to get a 38 to 1 return on investment without using the right methods which include choosing the right audience, the right products, crafting the right messages and sending them in the right way at the right time.
Create an Audience “Avatar”
Naturally, you need to know who you’re talking to as well as what excites and motivates them. Creating a customer/audience profile and general image, sometimes called an avatar, can help you focus on the overall audience’s needs. You can also create a profile for different segments of your audience based on a variety of their demographics. For example, where they are in your marketing funnel and their buying cycle might be one type of profile.
You want to know who they are, what keeps them up at night, how much money they earn, as well as how they spend their extra money. The more you know about the person the easier it will be to create messages, select and create products to sell to them and to personalize each message that you send.
To study your audience, join groups they’re taking part in, join the competition’s email lists, and read as much as you can about the audience you want to work with that you can. The more you know the audience the more effective any type of content marketing, including email marketing, will work. The reason is that it’s much easier to create messages for an audience you understand.
Know Your Products & Services
The other thing you need to do to get more prospects is to know how and why your products and services appeal to your target market. This doesn’t just apply to ones that you create, but to everything that you promote, such as affiliate items. Promoting anything that isn’t suited to your audience’s problems, needs, or related topics makes them lose trust in your judgement and expertise.
Try out products you recommend so that you can be honest in your assessment of whether it’s right for your audience or not. Get to know the product creators that you plan to promote via affiliate marketing. It’s your reputation on the line. When you send an email recommending something, they’re going to remember that you told them about it. You’ll either develop trust with your audience or you will have wasted a little time.
Keep Building Your List
Even if you have a responsive list now, it’s important that you use the information you know about your audience and products to keep building your list. The more list members you have that need and want what you offer them the more profitable you’re going to become. However, it’s imperative that you learn to target who you want on your list better. The more targeted your list members are the better results you’re going to get in terms of email opens and actions taken on your CTAs.
There are many ways to build your list faster. One way that works very well right now is content upgrades. A content upgrade could be a PDF checklist, a white paper, or other information that helps make the content the viewer is reading on your blog more useful and valuable but requires the reader to sign up for your list to get on the item. This type of lead magnet is much more successful since it’s super targeted to what your audience is currently reading making them automatically more responsive list members.
Use the Right Software
Don’t try to skimp on the software that you use to create your autoresponder, landing pages, forms, and shopping cart. Use software that is designed for your industry. For example, if you’re going to promote items that offer an affiliate link that you did not create yourself make sure you use an autoresponder that permits affiliate marketing as some of them, such as MailChimp.com do not.
Some other good choices are Infusionsoft, Agile CRM, HubSpot CRM, Aweber and ConvertKit. However, there are many others out there. The best way to pick the right one is to decide what type of features you need…not just today, but as your business grows. At the very least you need analytics, forms, automation, segmentation, integration with other software like landing page software and the ability to perform A/B testing.
Understand the Value of Your List
Your email list is better than, and worth more than your Facebook Group, more than your LinkedIn Group, more than your YouTube Channel and even more than your blog alone. The reason is that even your target audience often needs to get to know you better before buying your offerings or taking you up on your recommendations.
Email marketing is a simple and effective way to do all that. Plus, when these other platforms die, you will still always have your email list because you can download it from your chosen platform to use on other platforms such as through creating “look-a-like” audiences for Facebook Ads.
Develop Targeted and Timely Content
The best way to ensure that you always send the right content to your email list is to plan. When you plan your content; also, plan to use your email list to promote your blog posts, social media updates, webinars, and more. Your email marketing messages are informed by who your audience is, what their pain points are, and the solutions that you want to offer to them.
Each time you create or find a product you want to promote, create an educational email series of 7 to 10 emails that describes the problem and the solution. To keep emails short, link to details provided on the blog post. Email readers will go to your blog to read more. Hint: Don’t forget to create matching social media messages too.
Develop Effective Subject Lines
If you want your audience to open your email messages, it’s important you learn how to create subject lines that get your subscribers attention. Not only do you have to get them on your list, you must get them to open and read your messages. Then, you have to inspire or intrigue them enough in your message to take action.
One way to get them to open your messages is to provide a reason to open them via the subject line. Subject lines should be clear, to the point, and use the type of keywords that trigger your audience to want to see what’s inside the email. Subject lines should not be tricky, clever, or puns. They should state directly what the reader will get inside to be most effective and when appropriate, personalized to grab their attention.
In tomorrow’s post, I will continue listing tips on:
- Sending Messages Consistently
- Testing Messages to Ensure Deliverability
- Call-to-Actions
- Analytics
Feel free to reach out and chat if you have specific questions about your current email marketing strategy. Happy to set up a call and review what you have currently, then discuss how to make it work even better for your business in 2020!
Please keep in mind that I may receive commissions when you click my links and make purchases. However, this does not impact my reviews and comparisons. I try my best to keep things fair and balanced, in order to help you make the best choice for you.
- 5 Creative Ways to Build Your List Using Video - January 31, 2020
- AccessAlly Certification Training in the Works - January 30, 2020
- 5 Offline Marketing Strategies to Build Your Email List - January 29, 2020
Recent Comments