Email marketing is one of the most powerful tools available to entrepreneurs when it comes to attracting new clientele, converting them and retaining their business for longer periods of time. It goes without saying that email marketing, like all other aspects of branding, is not necessarily easy, but it is certainly worth the trouble. Most of the battle is simply understanding how to properly manage campaigns on the micro and macro levels.
Here are a few tips for how you can best leverage email marketing for client attraction, conversion and retention.
First things first
MarTech Advisor recently offered guidance related to the use of email marketing when first approaching a prospective customer, affirming that more than three-quarters of advertisers are currently feeling pressure to bring in new clientele today. According to the news provider, one of the biggest problems might be the speed with which advertisers are reaching out to their new email campaign subscribers, with 40 percent waiting past the first 24 hours to do so. That will tend to translate to missed opportunities in light of modern customers’ expectations and demands.
The source argued that the first email should be one that shows gratitude – an action that 40 percent of marketers report taking. Nearly two-thirds of marketers state that they are positioning customer engagement in the early stages of interactions as a critical matter, MarTech Advisor continued. Importantly, the news provider stressed the importance of personalization, especially in the first few email ads sent to new subscribers, as roughly 47 percent of marketers have struggled to get their campaigns into the recipient’s inbox, rather than the spam folder.
Furthermore, marketers that send their email ads out in the morning tend to be the most successful with respect to client responsiveness, with midday being the second-most effective time of day for these mailings. By following these guidelines, entrepreneurs will be far more likely to attract, engage and convert their email marketing subscribers in the early days of the relationship. Next comes using the email marketing apparatus as a powerful retention tool.
Retention is key
Existing clientele tend to cost a business less and yield higher revenues than newer ones, and email campaigns can be exceptional drivers of retention. Contributor Adam Wesolowski, writing for Business 2 Community, recently urged email marketers to incorporate loyalty program offers, cross-sales tactics and content marketing campaigns within their retention strategies.
According to the author, email campaigns can be particularly effective vehicles to communicate discounts, deals and sales taking place, which will likewise work in favor of long-term client retention. What’s more, he noted that companies can better position themselves for sustained client engagement by providing order status updates through email messages.
As always, there is no cookie cutter approach to email marketing that will work for every business. Rather, entrepreneurs must know their customers, then craft conversion and retention strategies that are based in the above practices, but tailored to their particular client base.
