11 Tried-and-Tested Email Marketing Tips for Small Businesses

Want to reach your target customers without spending a boatload of money?

Email marketing is one of the most effective forms of digital marketing. Why? It’s easy to implement, and even small marketing teams with limited budgets can generate ROI from email. But you have to know how to do it right.

Since small business owners wear a lot of hats and often have tight budgets, it’s essential to use the most optimal tools and resources successfully.

Here’s our list of valuable email marketing tips for small businesses to help grow your database and generate more revenue.

11 Tried-and-Tested Email Marketing Tips for Small Businesses

Discover 11 essential email marketing tips your small business can start implementing today.

1. Make it Easy to Sign Up

You can’t send any emails unless you have customers to contact.

Make sure email signup calls to action (CTAs) are clear throughout your website, so that visitors can register for emails easily.

Also, know that customers are very selective about providing their email address. So, communicate how they can benefit from connecting with you. Will you send them newsletters, discounts or educational information that’s hard to find elsewhere? Be compelling by using engaging CTAs that offer value.

2. Use Email Automation

Email automation is an intelligent way to communicate with your audience consistently. It’s sophisticated yet easy to use. You’ll save tons of time by automating routine processes.

Here are just a few things you can do with email automation:

• Send welcome emails: You have a new subscriber – hooray! Acknowledge you received their contact information, and let them know what they can expect from you.
• Send abandoned cart emails: Studies show that over 75% of ecommerce customers abandon their carts at checkout. Abandoned cart emails help you reach uncertain shoppers and give them another chance to complete a sale.
• Send discounts to inactive subscribers: Are there customers on your list that haven’t purchased in awhile? Reignite their interest by offering a discount on something they bought before, or an item that complements that previous purchase. Broadening their buying possibilities increases the likelihood of future sales.

3. Use Dynamic Content

Sending dynamic content means your audience receives information that’s relevant to them right now– not what they wanted six months ago.

65% of marketers agree that dynamic content is the most effective personalization tactic. There’s no better way to earn customer loyalty than tailoring offers to them that target their current interests.

To help you send custom, dynamic content, try a tool like Personalize. Personalize is an AI-powered marketing tool that ranks the top interests of each contact in your database based on their digital footprint (such as recently visited pages or time on page).

Personalize identifies what each customer is most interested in so you can promote the right product at the right time, resulting in at least 50% better response rates and increased revenue.

4. Try Different Tactics to Increase Open Rates

High open rates aren’t the only metric of a successful email campaign. But if customers aren’t opening your emails at all, you’re back to square one. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Write engaging subject lines: Recipients likely won’t open your emails if your subject lines are bland and uninteresting.

• Avoid spam filters: Don’t allow your email to end up in the spam folder – try implementing these tips for best results:

  • Send emails only to recipients who opt into your list
  • Send campaigns from reputable IP addresses
  • Avoid overused sales words such as “buy”, “clearance” or “free”
  • Provide a way for customers to opt-out or unsubscribe
• Send from a person, not a company: A personable, friendly message is often more effective than a generic one. Modify your sender name and send your subscribers a message from an actual person.

5. Be Mobile-Friendly

Mobile devices account for approximately 48 percent of web page views worldwide. Ensuring that your email content is easily viewable on different screen sizes is crucial.

Make sure to test your email’s mobile-friendliness on smartphones, tablets and laptops using Google Search Console.

6. Stay on Brand

Create a cohesive look and message that carries through your website, email design and all customer touchpoints. Customers feel more comfortable when they know what to expect. Staying consistent with colors, language and messaging strengthens your brand and builds trust with your contacts.

7. Measure Your Success

Einstein defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” If an email marketing campaign fails, would you repeat it, hoping for better results? Probably not.

A/B testing can help you understand what exactly appeals to your customers. By measuring response rates between alternate versions of content, you can see if a particular tactic performs better than your original method.

Analyzing your results and making tweaks is the best way to make continual progress in your marketing efforts. Make sure to test only one variable at a time so you can determine what works and what doesn’t.

8. Get Social

Don’t underestimate the power of social media marketing. You can use email marketing and social media in conjunction to draw attention to your products, services and content.

Consider offering discounts on Facebook or Twitter that only your email subscribers can enjoy. Or, add subscription links on social pages and social sharing buttons on your emails. Cross-promotion is a powerful way to build a wider audience, increase engagement and improve conversions.

9. Clean Up Your Email List

Believe it or not, you should remove people from your subscriber list who no longer have an interest in what you’re offering.

We know email addresses can be hard to acquire, so this concept is difficult for some small business owners to grasp. But in the long run, it’s better to have a smaller, engaged group of customers rather than an extensive, disinterested list.

Make sure you offer customers the option to unsubscribe from your list. If they’re not opening your emails, they’ll probably ignore it. But those who click “unsubscribe” are confirming they don’t want to receive messages from you. So, you weed out individuals who aren’t going to purchase from you anyway, which increases the quality of your remaining list.

10. Always Check for Errors

Customers who sign up for your emails want to see and read your content. Don’t blow it with a sloppy presentation! Here are a few things to keep in mind before hitting send:

• Check for typos and grammatical errors
• Check that all your links are functional and going to the right places
• Check load speed. Large images can increase load time, so keep them between 600-800 pixels or compress them for quick opens.

11. Keep it Simple

No one enjoys receiving or reading a lengthy email. Crafting shorter messages is easier for you and more enjoyable for your readers. Focus on one topic per email, use headings to call out critical information, and make it visually digestible.

Add Personalize to Your Arsenal of Marketing Tools

Email marketing strengthens customer loyalty and repeat business. The process of captivating, converting and retaining customers is a long-term process that can be more manageable with a proper strategy and the right tools.

Dynamic, personalized content is one of the most effective strategies for email marketing. Leveraging a tool like Personalize can help you send the right products, information and offers to your customers when they want and need it most.

Check out Personalize and sign up for a free 30-day trial today.

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• Personalized Email Marketing