Building Your Brand Through Email Marketing

Written by Emma Sloan, Social Media Manager and Content Writer

Email marketing tools are one of the best investments to make if you’re even remotely interested in email marketing for your business. But which tools should you be using, and how can you optimize lead generation for emails? We’ve listed below our favourite email marketing tool recommendations for 2019—as well as our go-to tips for sending emails that turn into new business.

Our Top 3 Tools for Email Marketing

MailChimp

Email marketing doesn’t just end in your inbox—good email marketing will convert readers into customers, which is exactly what MailChimp does. Beginner-friendly, affordable for marketers of all sizes, and easily connectable to WordPress websites and eCommerce stores, MailChimp thrives by being the best of the best at customer conversion to not only retain your clients, but grow your customer base overall. Its ability to create gorgeous landing pages— which is absolutely essential, due to how many clients are gained via visuals—  and its free plan makes it a fantastic resource for companies both small and large.

SendInBlue

An email and SMS marketing software striving for simplicity, SendInBlue is a marketing tool that offers easy-to-navigate marketing campaigns, transactional messages to customers, and a flexible budget: their free account comes with unlimited contacts and a limit of 9000 emails per month, and their SMS credits can be bought separately with no expiry.

ConstantContact

Hailed as the #1 most-popular email marketing service for small business, ConstantContact’s high ranking is due to its myriad of customizable email templates, the ability to select how much experience in email marketing you possess, and promotion ideas based on your industry. On top of their 14 or 30-day trials in which people are given full access to their tools, their live chat, email help line, and discussion forums offer unparalleled customer service.

We’re a ConstantContact all star, but we can help you on any platform.

Converting emails into new business

91% of businesses use email marketing to create demand for their services. You’ve likely seen many different ways to do this – from cold email campaigns to regular newsletters – and no matter which model you choose, we recommend you stick to these five simple steps:

  1. A permission-based email list. Crafting a list of email contacts that you intend to market to—all the while offering the option to unsubscribe to avoid negative customer response— can stem from a combination of your professional and personal social circles. Narrowing your contact list down to persons of interest (as in, those who have either a direct or indirect interest in your core services) helps to both focus and optimize your reach. DO NOT PURCHASE AN EMAIL LIST (we’ll go into this in a future post, but just don’t – it’s not worth the time, money, or possibility of severe negative blowback)
  2. A strong subject header. We all receive too many emails, and how many non-business ones do we gloss over? Probably most of them, which makes the importance of a short, strong, engaging subject line all the more emphasized. Think of the subject line as a teaser for the email – get them in the right frame of mind to read your message.
  3. Personalization and curiosity are essential: hook your reader in the first second and let them know that the content relates to them. The payoff needs to be clear from the title of the email onwards. If you received this email and wouldn’t feel incentivized to read it, then you know it’s time to rewrite.
  4. Have a persuasive CTA. A call-to-action is what converts leads into clients; direct them to sign up for your services, phone your team to learn more, or schedule an in-person consultation to continue the conversation. And through the tracking features on your email marketing tool, the clicks show you who is interested in your services, so you can follow-up with them with more emails, a phone call, or an in-person visit, depending on your business model.
  5. Scarcity and Demand are always good motivators. People want what’s cheap or hard to find, and we love the feeling that comes from getting a deal before the deadline. Create a sense of urgency in your email by offering a limited time offer – and this doesn’t have to be a discount. People prefer higher value over lower costs, so choose promotions that offer more value instead of slashing the price. We do this by offering the first three months of hosting with any web package. Choose a service that you are comfortable giving away, and use that as an add-on, and watch your sales increase.

Contact us to set up your email marketing

We can help you build your email list through effective leadgen campaigns, PPC marketing, social media marketing, and creative, quality content. And once you have a list, we can help you stay in touch with your customers, earning referrals, repeat business, and new opportunities.