Email Marketing

What is email marketing?

With the recent introduction of GDPR protecting people, a lot of people think email marketing is dead.  In reality, it’s probably going to be more effective as GDPR has stopped spamming and all the other under-handed ways people used to use emails.

You will see your inbox getting less and less emails as things are reported and wiped out etc. And that’s because of GDPR. But it’s still one of the most effective ways that you can generate business.

There’s a lovely statement here: What is email marketing? Basically, you send emails to prospective customers and clients, depending what market you’re in, and turn them into customers. Or it’s where you actually have them as a customer or client but you’re actively trying to sell them more and turn them into people who love to buy your stuff off you, whether it’s a service or a product.

Let me give you an example of what I mean by that as people often get this wrong.

Let’s talk about the service industry first of all.  When you’re looking for a new client, depending on the nature of the role that you play,  let’s say we’re a plumber and the potential client is looking for an emergency plumber as they have radiator leaking all over their carpet, this isn’t prospecting.

This is someone who will do a search, find a website, make a phone call and when the first plumbers says I can come out they are going to take them on board and out them come.

Building a Relationship

When we’re talking about prospects, we’re talking about people who have joined a list of yours because maybe on your plumbing site you’ve put an opt in where you’ve put a download like a PDF or e-book on topics like things to do in the winter to ensure pipes don’t burst and all the maintenance things they can be doing on the central heating.

So, by sending them constant emails with good information in and interacting with them, when they’re ready to upgrade their boiler, have their boiler serviced, have their central heating upgraded or have some work done like a replacement radiator or any plumbing related work done at all, you’re now in the fray.

You’re one of the people they will contact to get a potential quote for the work.  So that’s turned a prospect into a customer.

When they’re already a customer, what’s your upsell?  Again using the example of a plumber, you can offer them a winter check up for small annual fee or they can do a payment plan.  So pay you £10 a month and you’ll come and do an annual check up free of charge including their boiler and the rest of their plumbing services (make sure the outside tap is turned off etc.)

There are so many things you could be doing and this is what email marketing allows you to do to maintain that contact with them with good advice in regular emails.

Email Campaigns

Now, there will be additional video to this one showing how you set up campaigns and the different strategies you can take. You just need to understand that email marketing allows you to maintain contact with a prospect with the objective of eventually getting them to become a customer; or if they’re already a customer or client, the whole point of the emails is to get them to buy more of your services or goods. So there should always be an end goal and an end strategy.

Your website design should incorporate numerous ways to capture potential customer’s email addresses in exchange for information, coupons or offers.

There will be further articles to support this video but for now, please ensure, that you as a local business have email marketing as one of your effective digital marketing strategies.