In the previous week, we talked about using various social media platforms to market your start-up company’s product and services. This week, we shall introduce another digital marketing strategy: Email marketing.
There are 4 well known types of email marketing, namely email newsletters, acquisition emails, retention emails and promotional emails. We will go in depth for each type of email marketing, so buckle up, and try to take in as much information as possible!
Email Newsletters
Sending email newsletters to subscribers is one of the most common and popular email marketing strategies. As a small business, its recommended to send email newsletters on a regular basis (for example, monthly) to your subscriber list to keep them updated on the latest news of the company. For example, you can include how-tos, announcements about new products and services, and even your company culture. You can also include engaging content, such as team-bonding photos or memes, into the email newsletter to provide a source of entertainment to your subscribers. Some recommended platforms that help you in the creation of the design and layout of your email newsletter are Mailchimp, SendX and MailerLite.
Acquisition Emails
Acquisition emails are emails sent out to prospective customers that are likely interested in your company and engaging in the services/products that you provide. It is not as simple as just sending out product information to your subscribers and members. So, how should we go about sending out a perfect acquisition email?
Firstly, send out welcome emails immediately after receiving your email list. Secondly, make it easy to sign up for your email list. Avoid placing the sign-up link close to the borders of the email, but instead you can consider designing it into a button labelled “Sign Up Here” and place it somewhere easily visible. Afterwards, increase your list using top data sources. It is always good to invest in a solution that provides custom, targeted prospect lists. For example, AccuLeads can help you churn out your ideal audience base so that you will be able to grow your target audience and send emails to engage them. Next, you should re-engage your list of disengaged customers. For example, you can send out an email titled “We Missed You!” to re-engage older customers who are no longer active, which shows them that you value their attention. Lastly, it is important to respect “unsubscribe” requests. When a prospect chooses to unsubscribe from your email list, do respect their decision and do not continue to hard sell your product to them. This is to maintain your brand’s reputation and image.
Retention Emails
Many companies send out retention emails to gain feedback from subscribers and customers. This is a great way to request feedback or offer to subscribers who have not interacted with your business for a certain period. Sending out retention emails to target audience is said to be a useful email campaign strategy that can help you retain your customers.
Promotional Emails
The most common type of emails that we receive in our inboxes are probably promotional emails. Why is that so? Sending out promotional emails is an effective way to drive sales, signups, and introduce new product offerings for your start-up company. It is important to title and design your company’s promotional emails in an attractive way so that they can grab the attention of your subscribers and customers. Other than offers to entice and encourage your target audience to engage in your products and services, promotional emails can also be used to reward engaged subscribers with exclusive offers, such as promotional codes and membership discounts. This allows you to increase your loyal customer base as let’s be honest, most consumers are attracted to offers and discounts and hence are more likely to stay as a long-term consumer at your start-up company.
Email marketing is a powerful tool when used to engage, acquire, and retain customers. When used in the correct way, it can increase sales for your start-up and hence benefits your business. In many start-up companies, marketing and sales come together due to their close relevance to each other. Similar to sales, there are times when potential customers reject your marketing strategies. Hence, it is important to have the patience to wait for your desired outcomes, and not rush to generate results.
