What is Email Marketing?
Do you often wonder why many online entrepreneurs say that the money is in the list? What does that even mean? Do you ever come across terms such as list building, lead magnets, newsletters, schedule and monetization of the list? And ask yourself what these terms mean and how can they benefit my business? I did, too, until I researched and implemented Email marketing into Hippos to Horses Marketing. It is hard work building a list.
As a business owner, you have to really understand your customer’s needs and serve them better than anybody else in that space. It takes a lot of commitment and dedication on your part, but the rewards are well worth it.
So, What is Email Marketing Anyway?
Email Marketing is the promotion of your business and its products using Email as a medium of communication. This definition clearly shows that email marketing has a lot to do with building your business. Email Marketing is like an online sales team knocking from door to door, offering your customers value. Value can manifest in different forms: – content, brands, promotional offers, industry insights, motivation etc.
Email marketing is vital for most online companies; an engaged email list will be the fuel that powers a business… your business!
Why Does Your Business Need Email Marketing?
Creating a robust email marketing strategy helps you reach and connect with your ideal target audience in a personalized way. Writing an email is very intimate, particularly if you write in your voice. In a blog article by H2H marketing, every business can attract a unique and distinct target audience by simply using a language that resonates with them. As a business owner, you should write emails in your unique style to all your subscribers.
A Well Run and Consistent Email Marketing Strategy Grows A Business
Stay in contact with your Tribe
- Email marketing provides you with an opportunity to communicate directly with your customers.
- Research shows that by the end of 2021, there will be 4.1 billion email users (Radicate group 2017)[1]. The sheer volume of the potential market for your business makes email marketing a potent weapon in your marketing arsenal.
- Direct communication: – Emails can be delivered directly to your customers without being intercepted by a 3rd Party. Take a moment to take this in. As long as you have received permission from your subscribers to send them your company’s emails, your emails are guaranteed to receive a warm reception. Email service providers (ESP) will help you send these targeted emails to your subscribers. There are no algorithms that can limit your content from reaching your customers.
- Many online entrepreneurs share stories on the loss of social media accounts and websites due to some random mishap or malware. Email marketing was their saving grace because they were able to directly communicate and update their Tribe on the problem that they were facing
- Communicate your news: – A great use of Email marketing for your business is using it as a communication channel. Every business owner should take advantage to communicate its product launch, exclusive perks, pre-sales privileges.
(PS. Notice how these privileges make a customer’s feel important)
- Email Marketing, like social media, is an excellent tool for engagement.
[1] The Radicate group 2017: https://www.radicati.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Email-Statistics-Report-2017-2021-Executive-Summary.pd
Email Marketing is Your Ticket to Becoming an Industry Guru!
Email Marketing will help you build credibility in the industry, especially if you are consistent in sending out valuable emails—consistency signals to your audience that you have a bottomless wealth of knowledge.
The more content you produce and share your opinion on a given topic, the higher your chance of being viewed as a Guru! And quite frankly, if you ascribed to the school of thought the deliberate practice (The famous 10,000 hours that make you an expert), you will indeed be a Guru in your industry by virtue of the time spent researching and putting out quality content. It’s a win-win situation!
Email Marketing is The Solution Giving Platform.
Now that you are a guru! You can further solidify your credentials by offering solutions to problems faced by your target market. As a business owner, you can use Email Marketing to react to questions raised on other online platforms (Social media, comments on blogs, vlogs and podcasts). Your number one goal is to serve. Serve by showing your customers the benefits they will get by using your products.
Email Marketing helps your business To Be a Trusted Friend
As a business owner, you should endeavour to create content that will instil hope. Schwartz. D ( The Magic of Thinking Big ) writes, ‘when you believe there is a way you automatically convert negative energy into positive energy – let’s Keep going, Let’s move ahead.
Email marketing will provide your business with a platform to transform your customers.
Empower Your Tribe with Knowledge
Knowledge is power: give your customers valuable content that will lead to a transformation. Transformation should be the end goal of any content that you put out. The emails you write to should give your customers knowledge, insights, industry trends. Empower them!
Consistency through Automation
Automation of your Email marketing process guarantees consistency. Why is consistency important? At Hippos to Horses Marketing, we believe that consistency is a superpower – small things done purposefully become phenomenal!
Grow your Business with Email marketing
At this point, you have given value, hope, insight and knowledge. You have been consistent in your email delivery. It’s time for you to start making money. The author Benjamin Hardy (Who not How)2 says that he had to have an email list with one hundred thousand emails subscribers to get a book deal. We are not all authors like Mr Hardy. As business owners who have genuinely served customers, it is time to monetize the email list. You can now pitch your products to your target market. At this point, your email list morphs into a powerful marketing tool and fuel for your business.
Think of all the products that you have bought because you received an email. Not just any old email, an email from a company you subscribed to and not a spam email.
If you want a valuable list that will generate value for your business, you must get approval to send an Email to the recipient
The 7 Steps to Get You Started on Email Marketing
Step 1: Register your Business with an Email service provider (EPS)
As a new business owner or someone new to email marketing, you may want to start with an ESP that allows you to test the application before commencing with the paid version.
Hippos to Horses recommend Mailchimp and Converkit ( we are not affiliated with any of them, we only recommend them because we have used them in our own business).
- Mailchimp will allow you to have your 1st 2000 subscribers free
- Converkit will enable you to have your 1st 1000 subscribers for free
Step 2: – Create a Lead Magnet:
A lead magnet or a freebie are essential components in building your email list. A Lead Magnet is a valuable piece of content that you give to your audience for free in exchange for their name and email address.
The challenge is to make sure that your lead magnet defines the kind of content your subscribers can expect from you in the future. As mentioned above, it should ideally be answering a problem that they are currently facing.
A successful lead magnet leads your ideal customer to engage with your brand. It also warms up your audience, so they ultimately become your best customers.
Hippos to Horses Marketing had a lead magnet that helped many aspiring entrepreneurs start an online business. The purpose of the lead magnet is to tackle one of the most relevant challenges solopreneurs face when starting an online business.
Examples of potential Lead magnets:
- A simple pdf document: – Checklist, guide, quiz,
- Audio: – Give away for free a portion of paid Podcast content.
- Video: – Give away a portion of a course.
- Discount codes: Most online retailers usually give between 10%- 25% discount when you sign up for their newsletters
- E-book
Step 3: – Write a welcome email
This Email should be warm and welcoming. It should capture at least three of the following: –
- Show an appreciation to the subscriber for joining your email list or newsletter.
- Assurance that you will treat this Email with the confidentiality and respect that it deserves.
- Write a brief introduction of your business or the story behind your business, or the lead magnet.
- Inform them of the kind of content they can expect to receive in the future.
- If your clients are in the European Union, ensure that you are GDPR compliant.
Step 4: – Link all the above steps together
In this step, you link all the above steps (i.e.,1 to 3) together. Do not worry; the ESP system will bring all the steps together. Your subscribers will be able to receive your Lead magnet and, in exchange, give you their prized email address.
Step 5: – Post your individual ESP generated link on social media
The ESP will generate a unique code for you to post on different social media platforms or emails. Every time someone clicks on your link and follows through, you will have gained a new subscriber.
Step 6: -Be consistent in sending out Emails to your Tribe
At this stage, you are well on your way to building an email list. List building is the fuel for the growth of your business—list building is a process that will help you establish your credentials as an authority in your industry.
You should, at this point, have a scheduled communication frequency. There are no hard and fast rules about the frequency you choose. It is really up to you to decide what works well for you. The only condition is that once you select a frequency, you must adhere to it.
Possible schedules
- Weekly
- Biweekly
- Monthly
You decide on a schedule, and you stick to it!
Step 7: – Give value to get value
Once you have built trust, secured your expert authority by consistently offering value, you can now promote your products. It’s time for you to make some money.
Now what?
Now it’s your turn to start or revive your Email marketing efforts. If you are just beginning your entrepreneurial journey, start with the free ESP options; if you have dabbled with email marketing, it’s time to commit to making this work for your business. Remember, you can do hard things!
It is often said that where there is focus , energy flows . Grow your business by setting up an Email Marketing Strategy .Click on the link here to download your Free Ultimate Email Marketing Guide.
PS: Don’t forget to share it with your friends who also need to start growing their Business .
