Communication is paramount for any Company, especially if you happen to run a smaller Business that uses Email as the main method of communication between yourself and your customers.
Email means you can talk directly with your clients without having to pick up the phone. However, as your Small Business grows and expands, it will become increasingly difficult to contact every client individually via Email. And that’s where an Automated Email System comes in. What this system does is give your Business the opportunity to communicate with more clients in less time, and with less hassle.
The Automated Email System is one of the most effective modes of Online Marketing. According to Digital Marketing Specialists, Automated Email Campaigns do have a 15% higher Open Rate than regular Emails, and also have a 79% higher Click-Through Rate. When you consider that there are more than three billion Email accounts worldwide, chances are your customers and potential customers use their Email accounts on a daily basis.
While weekly and monthly electronic newsletters will always have a place in an Email Marketing Strategy, lots of progressive Small Businesses today are using Automated Email campaigns to drive clients towards making a purchase with them Online. The key reason Automated Emails make sense, is that they are timely, more personable and relevant to the audience. As a result, they are opened and clicked more frequently, and can help drive traffic towards your Website and get that phone ringing.
Here are some of the major reasons why your Small Business should make an Automated Email System a permanent part of your Marketing Strategy:
More Subscribers, More Selling Opportunities
According to research, 96% of visitors to your Website aren’t ready to purchase your products or invest into your services just yet. However, these visitors are interested in what you have to offer and are perfect candidates to continue communicating with to help convince them to spend at a later date. The ideal way to execute this strategy is to get them to subscribe to your Email list and begin to send them a sequence of Automated Emails.
Subscribing to your list is an easier decision for the reader to make as opposed to spending on a product or service. It’s a mini commitment they can make to your Business, and is one that allows you to then re-target them with your persuasive sales material and valuable content. This could include anything from Christmas discounts or coupon codes, through to Blog content they will find interesting.
This way of continually touching base and communicating with potential customers will not only keep your Business top of mind, but will also serve endear them to your Brand if your content is great.
Brings Traffic To Your Website
Automated Emails are a great way to increase your Website traffic. Create Emails that develop trust and deepen Brand relationships by inviting your customers to visit different areas of your Website.
For example, you can publish Blog content that’s of interest to your Email List, or break up the content and make it the first part in an Email Campaign series. It makes sense in your Automated Email to post relevant content and condense it. To add the finishing touches to the Email, you can top it off with a catchy subject line and a button that asks them to carry out an action, such as “read it here”, or “take me to the sale”. Otherwise known as a Call-to-Action button, these will help direct traffic to the areas of your Site that will either engage your potential customers further, or aid in making a sale.
Email works to get readers to click through to your Website and to your specific landing pages on your site. That’s traffic that your Small Business can leverage to increase conversions for your Business or Ecommerce Store.
Simple To Segment And Target
Studies have shown that segmenting your Emails can dramatically increase your Click-Through Rates by 50%. That’s why it makes sense for Small Businesses to setup multiple Automated Email Campaigns, in order to send targeted messages to a particular demographic.
For example, your Automated Emails could be segmented by ‘Location’, enabling you to promote a local event or other current events in your geo-location. ‘Age’ is another where you can alter the tone and lingo of your Emails to a specific age group. There is also ‘Interests’ where the Emails can be automatically sent to readers that like your industry or products. Finally, you can use ‘Gender’ to write different Email copies or to promote different products.
Research by a notable Email brand shows that sending irrelevant Emails results in 25% of subscribers opting out of Email lists, while another 54% leave because the content that they received has becomes redundant and boring.
By sending personalised content to specific segments, you can negate those problems, and send your readers content that will be directly of interest to them.
It’s Affordable And Efficient
Automated Emails are simply more efficient and less expensive method of Marketing for Small Business Owners. If you prepared accordingly, then it’s easy to put together an Email message in 90 minutes or less. Compared to the time and money spent with sending out individual Emails manually, Automated Emails can save you valuable labour, design costs and ensures your resources are not stretched thin.
Emails also don’t cost anything to send, especially if you utilise bulk Emailing services such as MailChimp. Sure, you may have to spend a few hundred dollars a month to use Email Automation Software; however, if you actually weigh up the cost versus benefits, you’ll find the latter will win out each time.
Keeps Clients Informed And Alert
It’s common practice for doctors, dentists and other health care organisations to send text messages or Emails to patients of their upcoming appointment. Small Businesses can also apply a similar follow-up strategy with Automated Emails.
Using the above example, these establishments could also segment their Email lists by months when those patients most recently visited, then create an automatic Email and schedule it to send several weeks before those patients are due for their six-month or one-year return.
E-Commerce Stores could use this for promoting upcoming products that are about to be released and even setup a priority list that compels the readers to click a Call-To-Action button at the conclusion of the Email.
Date reminders can also be useful for landscaping companies, gardeners, cleaning services and other niche industries. You can create an Automated Email series that keeps your clients informed on the impending date and when they need to take action. They’ll not only likely be thankful for the reminder, but also be likely to follow through with a booking or purchase!
Automated Emails Can Generate More Revenue
Yes they can! When media companies create and send Emails, one of their main goals is to make more money through advertisements.
Your Small Business’ Email list could be the perfect vehicle to attract advertisers too. The logic here is if you’ve spent a lot of time growing a quality list of contacts that have specific interests, then that itself should attract advertisers that are looking to bring in more customers.
For instance, if your Business sells dog harnesses and leads and you have a large Email list, then another company that sells dog soaps and shampoos may want to leverage your Email list and book an ad spot for the next 15 Emails that will go out over a calendar year. The same goes for a bike brand that may reserve an Ad spot for a cycling event that is trying to attract visitors to sign up.
Automated Email service can generate more profits without having to sell your products or service directly to the client. Bonus!
An Automated Emailing Marketing System is a powerful tool for your Small Business, as it enhances your client engagement and doesn’t waste valuable time or incur heavy costs. It is a proven and effective method of communication across a large and growing audience – hopefully yours.