Are you making the most of your email list to build and maintain your business? Chances are you have a healthy, qualified audience right in the palm of your hand and not making the most of it.
It isn’t hard to find something to send and captivate your email list. If you are providing clients with a valuable service every day, you should have a pool of knowledge and resources you can share with all your contacts.
Whether your contact list consists of clients, networking colleagues, online subscribers or all of the above, you can provide them with relevant information that will delight them.
Build strong relationships when you send to your email list regularly
Keeping in touch with your email list on a consistent basis means your bond with them grows stronger, and you stay top of mind when it comes to them needing your help.
Avoid just sending email after email about your services and asking for business. This is a surefire way to lose their interest AND lose potential business.
It should be about sharing handfuls of information that relate to your audiences’ challenges or opportunities. Focus on their needs and add value to their day, without asking for an instant sale.
Here are some facts about emailing that may surprise you:
- Email marketing drives more conversions than any other marketing channel, including search and social. – Monetate
- Email subscribers are 3 times more likely to share your content via social media than visitors from other sources. – QuickSprout
- For every $1 spent, email marketing generates $38 in ROI. – DMA
Doesn’t that make it worthwhile to expand on what to send your email list?
12 Types of emails that will delight your contacts
- The welcome email – as soon as they connect with you, this initial email lets your contacts know you are happy to have them on board, and includes the benefits they can expect from joining your mailing list.
- The e-newsletter – this type of regular email is your chance to share important industry updates, such as relevant changes in laws and tax, an upcoming conference, news on industry leaders and much more.
- The survey email – in contrary to popular belief, many people are happy to assist you with any questions you would like to ask them. In fact, some feel privileged to be asked to contribute. The survey can be about what interests them, or you could ask them for advice about a new service you are considering.
- The ‘free gift’ email – offering your mailing list something free that they can make use of is an excellent relationship builder. You could offer downloads such as worksheets, reports, or an ebook. You could offer a free consulting session or even a discount on your existing products or services.
- The blog update email – your blog articles can be priceless to your audience. Along with sharing them on social media, you should broadcast them to your list to keep them going back to your website. You can set up blog-feed emails that automatically send out an update when you publish a new article.
- The curation email – sharing other people’s articles with your contacts is another way to add value. Any quality content on the internet that is relevant to them is welcomed by them. They most probably wouldn’t be aware of the content otherwise, or don’t have time to be chasing up information all over the place.
- New product announcement – this type of email gives you the opportunity to share your latest product or service to your list. It reminds them of what you do, and they see the innovative direction you are taking.
- The case study email – you’ve just reached another outstanding outcome with one of your clients. Why not share their joy with your audience? It’s a great way to inform your list of what you can achieve without being boastful.
- The review email – you may have been using or testing a third party service that you know would either benefit people on your list, or cause them issues. You could format the review like a Pros and Cons report with a star rating. Recipients would appreciate the time and money you are saving them.
- The monthly digest – this email can summarise the highlights of your month in one message. It can include your most popular articles, most popular curated stories, links to new products, survey results – basically anything worthwhile from the month.
Once you sit down and nut out a generous list of email ideas, you’re ready to put things in motion.
Start by setting SMART goals for your email marketing
Your email goals should tie in with your overall business goals. Such as building brand awareness, increasing sales, reducing costs.
Like all things productive, you start by defining your SMART goal:
- Specific – NOT “we should send more emails”. How would you go about emailing more? By building your list? By emailing more frequently?
- Measurable – to measure success you need numbers. Decide on what type of metrics would indicate success – like an increase in the number of contacts or clients, email opens or clicks.
- Attainable – your goal should be realistic and workable, so it is taken seriously.
- Relevant – your goal should reflect your business initiatives.
- Timely – you should set a date to achieve your goal in order to keep things moving and create a sense of accountability.
Your SMART goal should look something like these:
- “We aim to increase our mailing list by 25% (taking it from 2400 to 3000 contacts) by October 31, this year.”
- “We aim to increase our email conversion rate from 1.2% to 3% by September 30, this year.”
Taking action
Once you have your goal in place, you now have the ammunition to get started.
Tidy up and organise your ideas, then map them out on a calendar. Don’t forget to measure your progress along the way to make sure you are on track.
Do you have any other ideas of emails to send your email list? Are you getting positive email marketing results already? Share them in the comments below.
- Why websites don’t convert visitors into buyers - January 17, 2020
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