Top Tips on How to Use Email Marketing for your Small Business
I know that many of the female entrepreneurs or female business owners I work with have writing regular emails on their to-do list but it regularly gets dropped off and never happens.
Let’s face it, other parts of your business often take priority.
Honestly… I was in the same situation until I finally committed to writing my Pep Talk email that gets sent out every week. That was 8 weeks ago and I haven’t missed one yet, despite it being the summer holidays and the kids are off school!
I'm still very new to writing regular emails and I am keeping a close eye on my insights. But what have I learned so far, and how can email marketing help your small business?
Why should you be using email marketing for your small business?
For these two reasons:
1. It is never safe to have all your eggs in one basket!
I've grown my business through Insta, something I am proud of BUT it isn't a failsafe way to grow a successful small business and shouldn’t be relied on solely!
How are you engaging with the people that already know you, love what you do and yet, perhaps don't see your content because they follow thousands of other accounts on Insta too!?
How can you better serve and reach them?
Instagram has its limitations and the ROI on email marketing? It tends to be 40x that of social! WOW!!!
2. email marketing to your warm audience drives huge sales volumes!
For many female founders, email marketing is their primary sales driver. Do you really want to miss out on that opportunity?
I mean it would be crazy not to give it a go!
Remember...using email marketing for your small business isn't always about getting visible to new audiences. It's about keeping top-of-mind for people that already love what you do and will generally be more easily tempted to buy from you again!
Full transparency - I have about 200 people on my mailing list, (which isn't huge).
BUT they are all engaged and interested people who are going to be easier to sell to than someone who has just found my Instagram page.
Since I started using email marketing for Your AJency, I have an average of 65% open rate and click through is approx 8%. So now I really want to see where I can take it and what it can do to help me grow my small business and drive more sales too.
I did a little happy dance when I had my first sale off the back of an email -someone booked a Power Up call and it proved that my email marketing had been worth it!
Learn Lessons and Take Action: where to begin with email marketing for your small business
I am NOT an email marketing expert but I hope this might just convince you to give email marketing a whirl. Here are just some of the actions that I have taken and the lessons and advice that have made a REAL difference to me.
The key is consistency. I went in bold and committed to weekly emails but if you are starting from no email marketing, how about starting by sending a montly email? You CAN DO IT!
(If you do start sending emails and think I would find your emails useful, send me an email as I would love to know more!)
some background on my email marketing before you get started with yours:
I opted for Mailerlite. It is super easy to use and I'm saying that as someone who is not tech savvy! You can make your emails look good with branding etc and is really reasonably priced. It’s even free to use for their most basic package.
I have also used FloDesk and LOVE the looks you can create but the more research I did, the way my emails looked became less and less important. I also asked my audience and they agreed that it was the content, not the styling that really mattered to them!
MailChimp is one of the OG mail providers and it is very popular for good reason BUT it can be very costly now, especially as your audience and mailing list grows. The insights and sophistication of MailChimp can be game changing so definitely still consider it if you have a large audience waiting.
Don't forget it isn't too difficult to change platforms. If you do decide to change providers down the line, it's not impossible! I suggest you keep it simple, especially if anything “tech-y” brings you out in a hot sweat!
My 3 Top Tips for small business email marketing ....
Starting is the hardest part but you won't regret it.
Tip #1: Just start.
You have so much value to add, don't convince yourself otherwise. With the 2000 character limit on platforms like Insta, unless you have a blog, it can be hard to get across all that you want to. A reminder that email marketing is a slow burn - you can't send a few and think it isn't working. You need to commit to a minimum of 6 months. This is the absolute minimum!
I started off by sending only sales messages last year when I launched my visibility challenge last September... it was a BIG mistake.
Don't spam! You can add a subtle sales message within the email even a little PS at the end but don't make it all salesy as the likelihood is that you will lose subscribers.
Instead, make it informative, inspiring and relatable. This is a great way for people to get to know you better. Keep pure sales messages to a minimum!
Tip #2: Create a killer Lead Magnet
I created my downloadable 20 visibility prompts PDF and this helped get people to sign up to kickstart the list. I also created plenty of content around that to share on my blog and on Instagram too!
The other key way I have grown my email list is when I've delivered any workshops or masterclasses, I’ve offered up the downloadable freebie! This can showcase your expertise and get people to sign up for more advice and insights via email.
A free download can be created in Canva and match your branding. I say the more value you add the better! Don't be afraid that you are giving away too much - in my opinion that isn't possible. If you don't have ideas of what freebie to create, think of 2/3 of your most frequently asked questions and create a resource that answers that.
What I wished I had done is set up an automated email that went out to ask people how they had got on with the freebie. I find the best email marketing is when you can start conversations and build relationships with your emails. Help people experience your service and your style first-hand. (So that is still on my to-do list!)
Tip #3: Use Automations
There is real power in a nurture sequence. By this, I mean setting up a workflow (a series of 4 to 5 emails) to welcome those people who have decided to follow you.
If it helps this is what I included in mine:
What to include in an email marketing nurture sequence
✉️ Email 1: A brief welcome to say hi and what you are about and what to expect from the emails. Also make it clear that over the coming week, you will be sending daily* emails but after that it will be at x intervals. It's better to be up front!
* I actually leave 2 days between each of my emails but you can set it to anything you want!
✉️ Email 2: A simple "ask them a question" and get to know your audience a little better
✉️ Email 3: Start adding some value - perhaps write about the number one question you get asked and how you help with that - give examples and use some storytelling of your clients.
✉️ Email 4: Delve a little deeper with more inspiring advice - could be next steps or another FAQ answered.
✉️ Email 5: Feeling inspired? This is for the action takers where you should explain how they can work with you. Remind them this is the last one and they are now added to the weekly email!
There are soo many things you can do with automations. It will save you time and the options really are endless! I have created a list to work on over the next few months!
There is soo much more and I'm still learning too. Over my break I listened to a mini-series by Alice Benham and found it soo useful. This is when I realised there is soo much more to this opportunity. So if you have started and want to learn more I suggest you give it a listen. They are only 20 mins and are in a 3 part series. Packed full of advice and some great suggestions.
Someone else I really admire when it comes to email marketing is Eman Copy Co, She has a great freebie too! I listened to a great talk at Atomicon this year and loved it! She reminded me that email marketing is actually a one-to-one tool rather than a one-to-many. Each email is only going to one individual each time so think about how can you make it personal to them when you’re writing your emails.
I still have a lot to learn, so if you have someone who has given lots of good advice and helped you, I would love to hear! I’m at the start of my email marketing journey to help grow my small business too!
If you’re in the same boat and want some accountability - let me know, you know where I am.
Do you ever feel like your business isn’t being seen? Are you lacking in content ideas and confidence? Do you want acess to workshops and masterclasses from experts in PR, Social Media, SEO and more?
The Your AJency Visibility Challenge is returning next month and could be exactly what you’re looking for.
All the details are here. What are you waiting for?
Starts 16th September.
