The startup culture has opened up new possibilities for people all over the world. While it's great that so many people are taking the initiative and diving into business waters, it has also become increasingly difficult to get your business noticed. In the bygone times, sales were achieved through door-to-door salespeople. However, nowadays, there are only a few thousand of them spread across different US states. The physical existence of a salesperson has been replaced with email marketing for startups and small businesses.
If you are currently trying to create a budget for your digital marketing expenses and are struggling as you are working with limited funds, you will find email marketing to be an inexpensive way of achieving your goals. We assume that your goals include increased conversion rates, more real-time customers, and skyrocketing profits. It's tough to believe that so many amazing business goals can be accomplished through a virtually inexpensive email marketing campaign, yet it's the reality nonetheless.
Email Marketing for Startups and Small Businesses Explained
EDM marketing can be a powerful tool for your business, no matter the size. The fact that brands with sophisticated email marketing strategies report a return of $42 for every dollar spent should be enough to give you an idea of just how important email marketing really is. But pay special attention to the word sophisticated, as it tells you everything you need to know. An email can either be memorable or completely forgettable - and it's quite clear where in the spectrum you want to be.
Of course, you shouldn't make email marketing the only business strategy that will be responsible for the source of your traffic. However, if you are becoming an owner of a startup, then you are probably lacking funds. The same goes for small or growing companies owners. You want to make the best financial decisions for your small business, as every dollar you spend needs to go toward the right purpose. That's where email marketing enters the scene.
There's a lot to be achieved with a single email. For starters, you don't have to fight for your reader's attention, as they are already genuinely interested in hearing what you have to use. Otherwise, they wouldn't have given you their email address in the first place. But what you do need to do in order to increase sales is make an offer your reader won't be able to resist. And that's where a good email marketing strategy comes in handy.
Five Email Marketing Tips to Employ as Soon as Today
Did you know that startups and small businesses usually, although not exclusively, have better email marketing campaigns than large corporations? That's because small business and startup owners truly understand the value of email marketing. If you want to improve user experience and increase sales, then don't hesitate to utilize the power of email. With the incoming tips and tricks, you will get to create emails that only rare ones will be able to resist.
1. Personalize your emails
The more people you have to please, the harder it will be to please everyone. It's much easier to impress a group of ten people than a group of one hundred of them. It clearly goes without saying that you can't send personal emails to all of your subscribers. But what you can do is segment your subscriber list into a minimum of three categories: • Current customers • Prospects and leads • Investors and shareholders Don't make the mistake of sending generalized content to all of your email subscribers. That's the opposite of good email marketing for growing businesses. Instead, send high-quality content that will speak to a certain group of people only and hope for the best results.2. Focus on quality rather than quantity
You don't want to rush things but rather build a rigorous email management strategy. Quality over quantity is a motto that can be applied to all things in life. And it can certainly be applied to all of your business decisions. Let's say that you are looking for email marketing services. When looking for services that can grow your business and automate your workflow, you shouldn't mind spending a bit of money if it's going to make a difference between getting high-quality services and getting the ones with questionable quality. Truth be told, some email marketing services, such as AWeber, MailChimp, GetResponse or ActiveCampaign can provide you with quality services at an affordable price. Then again, that's not something that happens very often. If you aren't quite sure which ESP (Email Service Provider) is best for your needs, I recommend you look into our comparison article GetResponse vs MailChimp. Hope it helps. When it comes to email marketing for startups and small businesses, the quality over quantity motto applies to two things - your emails, and your subscriber list. Every email you send ought to provide a certain value for the person that is reading it. Emails with generic content will only result in people unsubscribing from your email list. And if you have worked hard on composing that list, you wouldn't want to risk wasting your time.
Speaking of which, you should focus on building an engaged subscriber list from the very start. The last thing you want to do is to buy email addresses as, more often than not, they only get you blacklisted for spam. Keep yourself off such lists by building your email list the old-fashioned way - from scratch.
3. Make welcome emails a mandatory part of your campaign
Every email subscriber is a new and exciting opportunity and it should be treated as such. It's been shown that welcome emails will directly impact the future relationship you will build with your customer, as they are the first contact with the new user. While an average open rate for general emails is only 21%, welcome emails have an average open rate of 82%. You are definitely going to get the attention by sending a welcome email, and it's up to you to use your moment the best way you can. It's critical to send an email with quality content, which will help you lure in the one reading it. There's nothing wrong with being smart and cunning with your email marketing strategy, no matter if you are a startup, a small business or a growing one.4. Pay attention to email layout
People are aesthetic creatures. Put it simply, we like to see pretty things. That's why the design of your emails, as well as your entire website, is something that should be one of your priorities. Not paying attention to details related to design is one of the biggest mistakes you can make as a new website owner. And your email is one of the best places to reinforce your brand and everything it stands for. Pay special attention to the colors you use in the design. If your company’s colors are red and gold, then integrate them throughout the email layout. And don't forget about your logo - it's the best representation of your business. Speaking of design, there's one very important thing you need to keep in mind - mobile users. Nowadays, most people are opening their emails on their smartphones. Once the email layout doesn't look good on mobile devices, you risk having 70% of people deleting it, many of which will even unsubscribe from your email list. With so many tools that let you create beautiful emails that will look good on most devices, there's no reason to risk having people unsubscribing.5. Emphasize the next action with a clear CTA
A Call to Action button or a CTA is the foundation of every good email marketing strategy for startups and small businesses. In fact, this little term is what separates a regular email from a promotional email. CTA stands for the process of guiding your customer to the next action you want them to take. A CTA can be as direct as a button that says 'buy now,' or it can be discrete as a line that says 'read more.' What your CTA is going to be like is up to you and your business goals. You can guide your readers to visit your website, purchase your products, or use a one-time offer or a discount. And while this is completely individual, what's not individual is the need for a CTA. It should be a mandatory part of every email you send out.
Apply These Email Marketing Techniques and Experience Greatness
Whether you work at a startup, a large company or a retail website, having and growing an email list is important. Make no mistake - a good email marketing strategy can only get you so far. You can't expect to build an empire simply by focusing on email marketing. However, what email marketing can do is provide you with a perfect start. Think about it - the beginning is always the most difficult part of any endeavor. It's easy to grow your customer base once you have a base, to begin with. But establishing that initial base is the real problematic part. These email marketing tips are aimed at helping you get off on the right foot. There's no doubt anymore whether you should spend some time on developing a good email marketing strategy, as it represents an affordable way to grow your business. After all, you make as much as $42 for every dollar invested, remember? With a bit of knowledge, care, and automation, you can easily see great results. Bear in mind that email marketing is the right tool for all types of businesses, as well as startups with all kinds of goals. It doesn't matter whether you aim to build a fast-paced startup or the one that will be focused on the local community - email marketing will help you get there quickly and affordably. Growth Hackers is a leading email marketing agency helping startups, entrepreneurs, and business owners with branding, digital marketing, and growth hacking. Not only we'll help you boost your email marketing ROI, but we'll help you build your overall growth strategy. Contact Growth Hackers today if you want to use growth hacking techniques with emails and propel your company.
April Smith
I am a digital marketing expert that works as a part-time copywriter. I have had my work published on numerous websites of importance and I have written articles on various topics. I currently live in New York where I am working towards getting a Master's degree in Business Administration.
2 Comments
Thank you for the article !
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