When considering your marketing goals for the coming year, one thing that should be part of the “must-have business tools” would be an email marketing campaign.
Are you unsure what to say, afraid to bother people? Or are you wondering why people would care what you have to say or why it’s really THAT important to build your list?
No fear, we will explain all of those and why email marketing is your honey pot!
What to say?
Consider your target market or your current clients/customers. Then think what would they find valuable, and that’s part of your answer. It doesn’t have to be you talking about your product or services. You can educate them by providing tips, tricks, self-help, how-to’s so they can help themselves. In doing this, you might make them realize that they actually need your product or service, thus showing yourself as an industry expert.
Provide value to your consumers regularly and they will see you as an industry expert.Click To TweetFor example, consider our industry – social media. In our email marketing campaigns, we can help our clients with tips on how best to post in social media, the importance of graphics, the benefits of digital marketing, or even a round-up of industry news or our blog posts.
While it’s true that we’re writing about services that we provide, we know there are those that aren’t going to buy immediately from us. However, they will remember all the value that we have been providing via our email campaigns.
And there is the beauty of the content within our emails: hopefully, they’ll look to us for help when they need it. We may even come to mind when their friends or colleagues ask about social media services.
Are you convinced yet? 😉
Don’t want to bother people?
Remember the value that you are providing them (refer to above). Then you’ll be confident that you’re not bothering them! After all, they signed up to hear from you. In fact, they likely want the information that you’re sending directly to them. It saves them a visit to Google!
If you are selling your subscribers on every email and shoving your product or service down their throat, then yes: you may be bothering them.
But if you are annoying, they can always unsubscribe with one simple click. Don’t take it personally either. Maybe they just aren’t your target market. Find those who are your ideal audience and move on!
Also, consider that they opted IN to your list initially, so they were first interested in what you had to say or provide. Likely they gave you their email address in exchange for a free download or just opted into your email list from your website. Remember: they signed up to see what you had to say. They found value in you, so keep delivering it.
As long as you aren’t emailing them daily, shoving YOU down their throat, you aren’t bothering them!
Why do they care?
Not to be repetitive, but they opted into your list. They care because they:
- Need your help
- Recognize your value
- Like your style
- Want updates on deals and offers
- Love your products or services
- Want to learn
In the end, it’s all about VALUE. It’s about them. As long as they see value for themselves in what you’re emailing, you’ll keep your subscribers and your golden email list to which you can market as you wish. (Facebook can’t take that away from you!)
Why is email list building the honey pot?
I kept this for last because it is the MOST IMPORTANT, the honey. Email is providing value to your consumers at their front door.
They aren’t coming to your website to check out what you are doing. They aren’t logging into their social media accounts and coming to your business page to see what you have to say.
Consumers are logging into their social media and seeing what is in THEIR feeds. If you are there, great, they may engage.
But chances are that your consumers don’t see your content and value as often as you’d like to think.
So capturing their information and providing value to them on a regular basis via email is keeping YOUR business on top of their mind.
Your email list is GOLD, like honey! Be sure you are collecting!Click To TweetIn other words, your email list is GOLD, like honey! Be sure you are collecting!
Hopefully, this answers why you MUST be doing collecting email addresses and doing email marketing. Your business will thank you for it!
This makes so much sense for those offering a product or service and who have valuable tips to share and information to provide. My newsletter is really more for me to share news with my subscribers. Whether that is a radio show appearance or a new article on the Huffington Post. The only value I see I am offering is sharing content/information with them, but it is not value (I don’t think) in the way you are suggesting it. What do you suggest for someone like me, who is a writer sharing my writing?
Hi Beverley, what a great question! If you’re sharing your writing as a means to distribute it for informational purposes only, then I think that a newsletter with your latest articles or events makes sense. Those may be your goals and your audience may find great value from your newsletter. If you’re in business as a writer and looking to monetize, find authorship opportunities, or teach, then I believe you have other options. The answer always goes back to your goals. Also, do you know why your subscribers joined your list? Is your list segmented? Feel free to email me if you want to discuss outside of the comments! meghan (at) smartbirdsocial.net Thanks for your comments!