Social apps and the rise of digital and mobile marketing will be the end of email marketing. At least that’s what the experts have been telling us for some time now. One look at email marketing’s ROI and it is easy to see that the experts are wrong.

Research shows that email marketing delivers a return of almost $45 for every dollar spent. That’s the highest ROI of any other digital marketing tactic. But before we bash the so-called “experts,” it is important to realize that email marketing has surprised almost everyone with its ability to adapt to the digital marketplace.

So how is email marketing managing to stay so relevant?

  1. It is taking advantage of user engagement on other channels. The best email marketers are able to mine an individual’s data and use that to personalize their email marketing efforts.
  2. It is adaptable. The best email marketers monitor the success of each email campaign to find out what did and didn’t work. Who unsubscribed? Who responded to a call to action? Do customers respond to animation? Do they prefer video testimonials? The lessons learned are then used to shape the next email marketing blast and make it more effective.
  3. It is personalized. At the end of the day, it’s all about the customer. Specifically, the one reading the email. Email marketing, unlike many other social media and digital marketing techniques, allows you to speak to a single customer. Many social media sites blast information to all who will listen but email marketing can be tailored to one customer at a time.
  4. It is inexpensive. Small businesses on a tight budget can reach as many customers as they want without spending an outrageous amount of money.
  5. It is mobile. Everyone knows that mobile is where it is at today. In fact, with four out of five consumers using their mobile devices to shop, going mobile is essential to the success of your business. Email is easily adaptable to mobile devices so it allows you to reach customers and generate sales leads without investing a great deal of money on new technology or software.

Email marketing may not seem as flashy as some of the latest apps and other digital marketing techniques. It is, however, a tried-and-true method of marketing that continues to do a fantastic job of reaching customers.

If you are like most people, there is no better feeling than seeing your number of likes, follows, subscribers, and visitors increase. And the more those numbers increase, the better you feel.

Jason Zook, founder of IWearYourShirt.com, felt the same way. And for years, according to The Truth About Growing An Audience, he went to drastic methods to gain a bigger audience. Trouble was, although he gained a bigger audience, it wasn’t doing him any good in terms of sales leads or new customers.

Why? Because although he had built a huge audience, that audience wasn’t right for his business.

When it comes to building a following, you must focus on quality over quantity. Learning to tame your ego can help you sift through the numbers and find the people who give you the most value.

At GoLeads, we can help you build a strong audience that actually cares about your business. While that audience might take time to grow, it will be well worth it. That’s because you will end up with a loyal and committed audience that is interested in your company and what it has to offer.

Zook believes that growing the right type of audience requires three tactics (which are paraphrased here):

  1. Define your audience and focus on bringing that audience value.
  2. Create consistent content for your audience that inspires or helps to solve a problem.
  3. Spend time interacting with your audience.

Of course, doing all of these things requires a solid strategy, hard work, and a lot of patience. At GoLeads, we specialize in helping our clients build audiences that are interested in the products and services they have to offer.

Zook admits it may be a cliché but to build the best audience possible, you must focus on quality, not quantity.

Learning to tame your ego can help you sift through the numbers and find the people who give you the most value.

We couldn’t agree more.

Creating content is a big job. After all, it takes a lot of time and know-how to create good content and then make sure it is distributed through the right channels and reaches its intended audience.

Many business owners want to know that content creation is truly worth the time and effort needed to do it right. The answer is an emphatic, “Yes!” So why is that?

  1. Content is the most effective SEO tool when it comes to getting your website a good ranking.
  2. Content will provide your sales leads with the kind of information they want. And when you help a prospect solve a problem, you also stand a good chance of converting them into customers.
  3. Good content builds trust. When your prospects know and trust you, they will be more likely to buy from you in the future. They also will be more likely to spread the word about your products or services.

Now more than ever, businesses can’t rely on just one marketing technique to drive sales. Some prospects are best reached on social media, others by direct mail campaigns, and still others respond best by talking to someone on the phone.

Thankfully, it isn’t necessary to reinvent the wheel every time you set out to market to a different set of customers or prospects. In fact, many marketing strategies don’t just work well together, they work better together! One example of this is when you mix contenting marketing with inbound marketing.

Creating quality content for your website means making sure that it contains the necessary keywords while also connecting, educating, and inspiring customers. This builds on what you are already doing with your inbound marketing – seeking to build trust and getting your company noticed. You might even want to go to your sales team for content ideas. After all, they know better than anyone what your customers are looking for from your products or services.

In the end, it is important to remember that no matter how well content marketing works with other types of marketing tools, it remains its own unique and effective technique. To put it another way, according to the Content Marketing Institute, “Content marketing is the practice of creating relevant and compelling content in a consistent fashion to a targeted buyer, focusing on all stages of the buying process, from brand awareness through to brand evangelism.”

Many businesses fret over how they will respond to negative reviews or customer comments on their social media sites. The truth is, even responding to positive feedback or simple questions can be challenging. After all, you are basically engaging in a public conversation and that can be difficult.

You don’t have to be a social media guru to know that the absolute worst thing you can do on social media is to ignore someone who is reaching out to you. Remember, these are customers and sales leads. When someone makes a concentrated effort to contact you, you must respond. This includes questions, compliments, or complaints. So how do you best respond in these three instances? Here are some tips:

Questions

We all know how to answer a question. It gets a little dicey, however, when there is no clear cut answer available. Maybe someone is waiting for an item that is backordered and they are wondering why it is taking so long. Since this may take some time to research you can’t be expected to provide an answer immediately. What you are expected to do is to acknowledge the question immediately. Let the customer know that you are looking into it and then provide regular updates. Even if you don’t have an answer, people want to know that you received their message and if it takes some time to find an answer, they want updates to know that you haven’t forgotten about them.

Compliments

Responding to compliments about your service or product or anything else having to do with your brand is imperative. If someone took the time to compliment you and you fail to acknowledge it, what does that say about your business? Be sure to thank that person for the compliment and let them know that you value their business. Such interactions will keep these customers engaged with your brand.

Complaints

Even if you believe a complaint or negative comment is unwarranted you still need to take the high road and acknowledge the problem. You then need to apologize that this person had a poor experience. It also is important that if a person complains publicly, you respond publicly so people who saw the initial complaint know that you handled it. By keeping it all out in the open, you are getting the message across that you take complaints seriously and always do your best to make things right.

Social media interactions can be difficult but they are essential to building brand equity and keeping customers engaged. And it is important that you don’t drag your feet when responding. Studies show that people who engage a business on social media expect at least an initial response in less than an hour.

Maximize your email campaigns!

Email marketing is a great way to connect with your customers and prospects. And just like meeting people face-to-face, you want to use email in a way that helps you strengthen your relationship with your recipients. In other words, I’m assuming you don’t always try to sell something to the person you’re talking to every time you see them. If you do you probably don’t have a lot of friends.

Email marketing is the same way. Our philosophy is simple. When it comes to email, we want to make sure your campaigns do the following: Connect, Educate and Inspire. When you have that philosophy in mind, your email campaigns will do the following:

  1. Significantly improving your customer acquisition rate
  2. Helps you become a Thought Leader in your industry
  3. Increasing your brand awareness and over time will build equity into your brand
  4. Will help maximize all of your content on your site and drive traffic to your website.

Email marketing is incredibly powerful when implemented correctly. GoLeads (www.goleads.com) can help you achieve these objectives with your email campaigns. Give us a call to discuss this.

Plus, don’t let lack of resources stop you from implementing an email campaign. GoLeads will do it all for you – from the design to writing the content. We can handle it all from start to finish and every step in between. Call us today and let’s maximize Email to grow your business.

402-334-1824