Email Marketing: How To Build A Strategy That Converts

A complete guide to email marketing for home service businesses, list building, campaign types, automation sequences, and performance benchmarks.

Neil Eneix on Uncategorized • September 10th, 2020

Companies have been leveraging email marketing strategies for decades to connect, nurture, and convert leads into customers.

It’s one of the oldest ways to promote services online, but email marketing has remained a popular alternative for a reason. Emails are the simplest and most direct form of communication you can have with your audience. But, they also give marketers the flexibility to design complex campaigns tailored for subscribers that have the potential to become paying clients.

Although emails can be a great way to connect with potential customers, it’s important to understand the nuances that come with this type of campaign. Developing sales emails is different from crafting SEO-friendly content or PPC ads, so companies need to incorporate the right elements to succeed.

Fannit is an award-winning digital marketing agency that specializes in developing robust email campaigns. Our team understands the importance of having superb content, so we’ve developed a unique approach to email marketing that produces stellar results for our customers.

In this article, we’ll go over the definition of email marketing and highlight this strategy’s benefits. We’ll also discuss the best ways to increase the number of subscribers you have as well as other tips to launch a successful email campaign.

Resources: What Is Digital Marketing?

What is Email Marketing?

What is email marketing? How does email marketing work?

As the name suggests, email marketing is the practice of promoting a brand’s products and services through email.

But, even though it has a simple definition, there are dozens of different email marketing approaches you can take to attract more customers.

In an ideal scenario, a business collects email addresses from its prospect when they visit the business’ website.

Then, the marketing team can send out a sequence of marketing emails that promote the business’ branding as well as its solutions. The sequences are also designed to move prospects down the sales funnel, transform them into leads, and, finally, turn them into sales.

Resource: B2B Email Marketing Best Practices: 10 Steps to Customize & Personize

Advantages of Email Marketing Campaigns

Does email marketing work?

Well, that depends on the email marketing strategy you implement.

But, assuming the setup and technique chosen are appropriate for your business goals, the answer is a resounding yes.

Emails have become a part of everyday life for billions of consumers around the world.

That said, the average user receives hundreds of notifications per day, many of which are marketing emails.

This is the reason why marketers need to stay creative and test out fresh ideas to ensure their campaigns attain the level of success they envisioned.

There are many advantages to implementing email marketing.

It’s among the most cost-effective approaches, so companies don’t need to make huge investments to see good results.

In addition to this, some of the best benefits of email marketing include:

Easy Communication

According to recent estimates, there are 3.9 billion active email users around the world.

Moreover, the average professional checks his or her emails 15 times every single day, which is equivalent to logging in every 37 minutes.

In other words, emails are the easiest way for companies to communicate with their audiences without disrupting their routine.

Although emails may be seen as obsolete by some marketers, this form of communication can help you connect with customers at the right time.

Sending out a marketing email at a crucial moment during the decision-making process can be the difference between getting a new customer or losing a lead.

And, given that 60% of emails are opened on mobile devices, it’s safe to assume that this approach allows you to reach potential customers regardless of the device they prefer.

Maximum Control

One of the biggest benefits of launching email marketing campaigns is that they give you maximum control over your promotional plan.

Companies can run branding, lead generation, and other types of campaigns and develop virtually any type of content. You can opt to promote your blog posts, services, business values, and other elements that give you a better image and improve your chances of converting prospects into customers.

Additionally, companies that launch email campaigns don’t rely on additional platforms for support because they own the database of prospects.

Unlike PPC ads and similar approaches, email marketing gives marketers the ability to manage every part of their campaigns.

Sure, there are different tools to help you get started building lists and acquire more email subscribers, but these tools are normally under your full control.

Higher Return-On-Investment (ROI)

As we mentioned earlier, email marketing is relatively affordable, so companies don’t need to make huge investments to set up a successful campaign.

With this in mind, this strategy can help you raise awareness about a new product, boost the performance of your content marketing activities, and increase the number of sales you generate.

Generating more revenue through a small investment results in a higher ROI, which allows you to allocate more resources to growing your business.

According to some estimates, the ROI of email marketing campaigns is higher than PPC, social media marketing, and SEO, which is the reason 87% of companies use this technique to nurture leads.

How to Develop a Successful Marketing Email Campaign

Now that we’ve discussed the definition of email marketing and its benefits, it’s time to go over the steps you need to take to develop a successful campaign.

This article covers a variety of email marketing best practices, but in this section we’ll go over a quick outline of the different stages.

All companies are different, so there is no exact set of instructions on how to do email marketing that works for all businesses.

You have to take a look at your requirements, budget, client base, and other variants in order to determine the best approach for your organization.

With the above in mind, the general stages that almost all companies go through are:

Setting Short and Long-Term Objectives

The key to succeeding with email advertising is to take an organized approach.

Before developing content or setting your plan in stone, you should create a set of goals and objectives to help measure the success of your campaign.

Focus on setting both short and long-term objectives, including small milestones that will help keep your work team on track.

For example, a good short-term goal would be to build up your email list of subscribers by a set number during the first month.

Milestones can include activities like the implementation of forms on your site and the development of content that’s designed to attract potential subscribers.

As for long-term goals, you should stick to goals that can be measured, but think in terms of 3 to 12 months down the line.

How many leads do you want to generate during this time frame? What elements will you add to your marketing mix? When should you release these materials? All these are questions that should be answered at this point.

But, remember to be realistic with your estimates, otherwise you’ll be setting yourself up for failure.

Learning About Your Target Audience

As with most other promotion strategies, you need to learn more about your audience before you begin crafting your marketing emails.

Effective email marketing strategies capture customers’ attention and use valuable content to keep them engaged.

However, the only way to produce content that your potential subscribers deem as useful is to understand their pain points and develop materials that help solve these challenges.

Fortunately, learning about your audience is much easier than a few decades ago.

Today, companies can rely on a variety of tools to help them understand consumer trends that are currently shaping their industries.

Furthermore, organizations should look at their current base of customers and subscribers to determine what factors encouraged them to purchase or subscribe to your email newsletter.

By reverse-engineering knowledge based on your current customers, you’ll develop great email campaigns that reel in more subscribers and have higher open rates.

Developing a Tailored Strategy

Once you’ve set your objectives and gained in-depth knowledge about your audience, it’s time to create a tailored campaign for your business.

Developing an email strategy is more complex than figuring out what emails to send when.

For starters, you should look at your set of goals and your budget. The first steps usually include implementing features that help capture email address and other pieces of information from online users.

So, determine which basic changes are the most important, calculate their cost, and create a timeline based on the funds you have available.

Use the same technique for all steps until you create a blueprint of your plan.

After outlining your entire email marketing strategy, start thinking about the content you’ll create.

If possible, you should review your previous email analytics and website statistics to find out which content is performing best.

Then, establish a schedule for developing these materials, creating a sequence, and writing out the emails for each stage.

Getting help from an email marketing specialist can help simplify the process and allow you to focus on delivering the best service to your customers.

Choosing an Email Marketing Platform

Now that we’ve examined why email marketing is important, let’s look at the benefits of choosing the right platform to manage your campaign.

There are dozens of different email service providers out there, so choosing the best options is not always easy.

As a general rule of thumb, you’ll want to choose a platform that allows you to send targeted emails, create visually-appealing messages that yield a high click-through-rate, and allows marketing automation.

It’s important to note that some platforms offer unique features, but you should ideally find an email service that has all the basics before looking at these details.

We’ll go over the top platforms to create email campaigns later on in this article, but it’s important to understand that the combination of tools you choose will directly affect the results you get.

You should take the time and research the different options for each activity you need to carry out, from form building right down to content creation and integrations with your other tools.

Determining the Different Sequences

Every successful online email marketing campaign relies on an effective sequence of messages that gently move subscribers down the sales funnel.

But, to develop these sequences, you need to have an in-depth understanding of the buyer’s journey.

The buyer’s journey represents the different steps that the average prospect follows before becoming a customer.

That said, you may have more than one stereotypical customer, which means that you have to develop tailored sequences for each segment of your audience.

You should already have a good understanding of the buyer’s journey from the customer research stage. If you don’t have enough information, you can always develop a few variations and conduct split testing to see which variants give you the best results.

Starting or Growing the Email List

Depending on the features you have on your website, you may already have an email list to start with.

If this is the case, you’ll need to focus on updating your current email list and growing the number of subscribers you currently have.

Some companies may not have the luxury of starting with an email list, so they’ll need to develop a plan to attract potential customers.

In the vast majority of cases, consumers are happy to exchange their email address for information they deem as valuable. Once again, knowing your audience is crucial, but you also have to watch the quality of the content you release.

If the quality of your lead generation content is questionable, you won’t be able to build an effective email marketing campaign.

Creating the Campaign Content

There are different types of content you’ll need to create for your business’ email campaign.

Email newsletters are a must, but you’ll also have to promote your blog posts, pages, and other content on your website.

The good news is that email marketing plays well with other techniques. For example, if you already have an inbound marketing plan in place, you can promote this content through email to boost the performance of your entire digital promotion efforts.

With the above in mind, you’ll also have to develop tailored content to move each segment of your audience down the funnel.

First off, you should determine which materials should be sent to customers in which stage.

Subscribers in the early stages of the funnel respond well to blogs, tutorials, and lighter content.

Potential customers that are further down the sales funnel prefer more comprehensive pieces like ebooks, white papers, and case studies.

When you have a good idea of what content is suitable for which stage, you should write the email sequences that will help transform subscribers into paying customers.

There’s a good chance your subscribers will open your emails mobile devices, so you may need to make some adjustments to your content.

You won’t necessarily have to write new content, but you’ll want to ensure your website and marketing materials can be viewed comfortably by people with mobile devices

Completing the Last Checks and Launch Your Campaign

Even if you feel like you built an effective email marketing plan, take the time to complete the last checks and review the whole strategy one last time.

Verify that the sequence you create makes sense and that your content has been proofed and is ready to go.

Also, remember to test the email address forms on your website to ensure they’re saving the data on your email list.

Take this opportunity to test the different integrations you put in place and make sure that all of them are working properly. The last thing you need is for subscribers to leave their data and for it not to get transferred to your email list.

After reviewing your campaign, you can hit the launch button and send out the first wave of email newsletters and other targeted emails.

Monitor and Optimize

Email marketing has evolved into a complex art form, so blasting subscribers with wave after wave of promotional emails won’t do the trick anymore.

Modern consumers are savvy and they have access to email providers that filter out promotional materials based on the subject line and other elements. Even if your emails have a high open rate, you need to ensure that potential customers are following the right steps after.

Like other forms of online techniques, email marketing allows you to monitor and adjust your campaign based on the results you get.

Remember, your email campaigns are composed of a variety of different parts, so you’ll need to keep a close eye on a set of key statistics that give you valuable insights.

You should always measure your emails’ click-through-rate, but also take the time to determine which other metrics hold the most value for your business.

Then, track these statistics and make tweaks to continuously improve the performance of your marketing materials.

Tips to Grow Your Email List

There are many factors that will affect the performance of your email campaign, but growing your list may be the most important part of this marketing strategy.

It’s a known fact that the more people you have on your email list, the more chances you’ll have to convert them into paying customers.

However, there are many ways to grow your email list, so you’ll need to find the one that works best for your business.

Here are some of the most effective ways to grow your email list:

Use Pop-Ups

Pop-ups are a great way to capture email addresses from your website visitors. You can use them to offer a discount, a freebie, or a lead magnet in exchange for an email address.

Offer a Lead Magnet

A lead magnet is a valuable piece of content that you offer for free in exchange for an email address. This can be an ebook, a checklist, a template, or anything else that your target audience would find useful.

Run Contests and Giveaways

Contests and giveaways are a great way to generate excitement and grow your email list. You can use social media to promote your contest and encourage people to sign up for your email list to enter.

Use Social Media

Social media platforms are a great place to promote your email list and encourage people to sign up. You can share links to your lead magnet, run contests, and use social media ads to drive traffic to your sign-up page.

Add a Sign-Up Form to Your Website

This may seem obvious, but many businesses forget to add a prominent sign-up form to their website. Make sure your sign-up form is easy to find and that it clearly communicates the value of joining your email list.

Promote Your Email List in Your Email Signature

This is a simple but effective way to promote your email list. Add a link to your sign-up page in your email signature so that everyone you email has the opportunity to join your list.

Use a Welcome Mat

A welcome mat is a full-screen pop-up that appears when someone visits your website. It’s a great way to capture email addresses from new visitors before they even start browsing your site.

Create a Dedicated Landing Page

A dedicated landing page is a page on your website that’s specifically designed to capture email addresses. It should have a clear call to action and a compelling offer that encourages people to sign up for your email list.

Run Paid Ads

Paid ads are a great way to drive targeted traffic to your sign-up page and grow your email list quickly. You can use Google Ads, Facebook Ads, or other platforms to reach your target audience.

Collaborate with Other Businesses

Collaborating with other businesses is a great way to reach a new audience and grow your email list. You can co-host a webinar, create a joint lead magnet, or cross-promote each other’s email lists.

Email Marketing Best Practices

Now that you know how to grow your email list, let’s go over some email marketing best practices that will help you get the most out of your campaigns.

Segment Your Email List

Segmenting your email list means dividing it into smaller groups based on certain criteria, such as demographics, interests, or purchase history. This allows you to send more targeted and relevant emails to each segment, which can lead to higher open rates and click-through rates.

Personalize Your Emails

Personalization is key to successful email marketing. Addressing subscribers by their name, referencing their past purchases, or tailoring content to their interests can make your emails more engaging and effective.

Write Compelling Subject Lines

Your subject line is the first thing subscribers see, so it needs to be compelling enough to make them open your email. Use clear, concise, and intriguing language to grab their attention.

Optimize for Mobile

As we mentioned earlier, a large percentage of emails are opened on mobile devices. Make sure your emails are responsive and look good on all screen sizes to provide a seamless experience for your subscribers.

Use a Clear Call to Action

Every email should have a clear call to action (CTA) that tells subscribers what you want them to do next. Whether it’s to visit your website, make a purchase, or download a resource, make sure your CTA is prominent and easy to understand.

Test and Analyze Your Campaigns

Email marketing is an ongoing process of testing and optimization. A/B test different elements of your campaigns, such as subject lines, content, and CTAs, to see what works best. Then, analyze your results and make adjustments to continuously improve your performance.

Conclusion

Email marketing is a powerful tool that can help businesses connect with their audience, nurture leads, and drive sales. By implementing the strategies and best practices outlined in this guide, you can build a successful email marketing campaign that delivers exceptional results.

If you need help with your email marketing efforts, don’t hesitate to contact us for a free consultation.