Recently, some digital marketing experts have said that email marketing is a dying art. According to them, this marketing channel no longer has the impact it used to, with users opting out and unsubscribing more than ever before.

However, we believe the exact opposite of the above argument, and we have the stats to prove it. With a return on investment (ROI) of over 40% in 2022, email is still very much an effective marketing channel today – one that your business should definitely utilise.

Over 60% of small businesses are using email marketing to reach their customers, it’s time you jumped on the bandwagon too. With 99% of email users checking their inboxes at least once daily, this is one of the best and most effective ways to market your brand. Plus (and this is a very big plus), email marketing can be completely free if you start small.

Starting out with email marketing for your small business

If you opt for a free Mailchimp subscription, for example, you can start sending emails out to a database without spending any money. Put together some engaging copy and create an easy template, and you’re ready to go.

Top tip: Don’t try to do email marketing manually. It’ll take up too much of your time, which, as a small business owner, you don’t have much of.

The importance of an email marketing strategy

When done right, email campaigns can boost your brand awareness, generate leads, and drive traffic to your website.

However, it’s important to remember that any form of digital marketing needs to start out with a strategy. So, before you start signing up for Mailchimp, you’ll need to put some thought into the tactics you want to use and your overall plan for your campaigns.

Your strategy should cover how you’re going to gently nudge consumers down your marketing funnel to the point where they’re ready to make a purchase. You’ll also need to consider who your target audience is so that you can tackle their pain points within your campaign.

If you’re concerned about putting together an email marketing strategy yourself, don’t panic! We’ve got the solution for you at the end of this blog post – keep reading.

How to collect emails for your small business

If your small business has a website, it’s essential that you build a functionality that allows users to subscribe to your newsletter.

Again, this is a free and relatively simple way to gain access to the email addresses of people who actually want to hear from you.

When consumers visit your website, they might not be ready to make a purchase just yet, but they may be prepared to submit their email addresses to hear more from you.

It’s a good idea to use your social media channels to support the work you’ve put into creating an email sign-up form on your website. You can add a link to your sign-up form in your social media posts to start collecting email addresses.

Top tip: You can’t pull email addresses out of thin air. You need to market your sign-up form on all your digital channels to build your subscriber base.

3 types of emails to consider sending

You don’t need to have in-depth knowledge of email marketing tactics to send out a few basic emails. While you can leave automation, sequencing, and journeys up to the experts (more on this soon), there are three simple emails you can send out to get started.

1)      Send a welcome email to new subscribers. This immediately engages people as soon as they’ve joined your mailing list.

2)      Create an abandoned cart email that reaches out to potential customers when they have added your product to their cart but they haven’t completed the purchase.

3)      A re-engagement email can be sent to customers who haven’t bought from you in a while or customers who haven’t heard from you a in while.

Top tip: Track the results you get from sending these emails closely. Most email automation platforms will provide you with an overview of your analytics. This is how you’ll know what’s working and what isn’t.

Now that you know more about email marketing for your small business – and why you absolutely should be using this channel to market your brand – we’d like to share a little secret sauce with you: We have a team of email marketing specialists available that you can work with to create powerful email campaigns. Our services start from as little as £17.50 per hour. Contact us today to start your journey to email marketing success.