I’ve been providing email marketing services and educating small business owners on great email strategies for more than 10 years. I love sharing and swapping expertise among business associates and I find that email marketing is still a gray area for some. So here, I’m sharing my 6 top reasons to embrace email marketing in your marketing plan.

  1. Ownership. Email marketing is a platform you pay for and can count on. Unlike free social media, you own your contact database and therefore have clear access to real data and results that you can use to make decisions. While social media is incredibly useful, it has its drawbacks. How many people viewed your LinkedIn post? The answer is “unclear” – what exactly is an “impression”?? With email marketing you see the number of times each person opened your email, how many times they opened and even what day and time it was opened.

2. Visibility. I ask my business owner audiences who goes a full work day without checking your email? No one ever raises their hand – if we run a business we need to be in touch with anyone who interacts or is interested in our services. So we check every day and likely several times a day. Not so on social media. There are days that go by without me checking this or that platform. So if you want me to know something about your business, the guaranteed spot for me to find it is email.

3. Contacts. Ask yourself, “who deserves to be in my database?” It’s better to have 500 fabulous clients, prospects and partners than to have 5000 people who don’t know you and don’t care. If they occupy the same room as you in a networking event, that’s not enough to add them to your database. If they signed up for your talk, they showed interest in your topic and your services and you, they can be added. And that’s why it’s great practice to have a lead magnet on your website – so that visitors can decide that they want your tips and will hand over their name and email address.

4. Content. Using a professional platform and having a high quality list are just 2 ingredients – you also must feed your audience information they’re curious about. Don’t talk about yourself – what can you offer them that will make their situation better?

—If your business model or industry is complex, then spend the bulk of your content on educating and informing the audience in their own language. Share – don’t lecture.

—If you have a lot of competition, spend most of your content on how unique you and your business model and process are – in a way that will directly benefit them.

5. Audience Segments. Segment your audience so that the content they receive is relevant to them. I learned this the hard way in my first company. I taught people how to use software. I learned that executives didn’t want to hear how to copy and paste, and seniors weren’t interested in pivot tables. Ooof, tough lesson to learn! If you offer different services to different groups of people, then giving appropriate information to the audience that’s interested, is the way to go.

6. Automations. Let the data work for you! most email marketing platforms offer automations and triggered by user action. Take the time to utilize the technology available so that more happens with less work from you. After the content is launched, pay attention to the data. Who opened, clicked, opted out? If someone unsubscribes, take that piece of information in the best way possible – they are saving you time by letting you know they’re not interested.

There you have it, my 6 favorite reasons to use email marketing.

But wait! Here’s a bonus tip!

Consistency! Whether it’s once or twice a month, make a plan to keep the content calendar filled ahead of time, so there’s no time or energy wasted on “what to write next”. People translate consistency into trust, so it helps you build your trust factor.

Email marketing works! It doesn’t result in a new sale every month but that’s not the goal. You do this to keep a relationship going so that when someone has the need for your services, you are the one they turn to. It’s a beautiful thing.

Please reach out to me if there’s any way I can help you make this happen for your business.