If you want to increase your sales, you need an email marketing tool that works hard, so you don’t have to. Modern email marketing software goes way beyond just being able to schedule an email blast. Personally, I consider email marketing to be one of the most invaluable means of communication in my own business.
Email marketing is all about staying right on top of your customer’s minds. That way, the moment they need your services, they think of you instead of your competitors.
This post will show you exactly why you need a great email marketing tool – and why I switched from MailChimp to ConvertKit.
The Value of Email Marketing Software
If you own a small business, then you need an email marketing software or tool. Period. According to SalesForce.com, it takes about 6-8 touchpoints to generate a sales lead. A touchpoint is any moment when your potential customer sees communication from you or talks to someone that represents your company.
Why does it take so many touchpoints to land just one sale? SalesForce says it’s because today’s advertising landscape is so vastly different. Consumers today have more information at their fingertips and they prefer to do their own research. Plus, customers are finding your business from a huge variety of places now – social media, word of mouth, and organic search, to name a few.
A strong email marketing software is one of the crucial 8 touchpoints. It could be the 2nd or 3rd one that leads them to reach out for more. It could also pop up in their inbox the very morning that they need what your company offers.
What Are E-Mail Marketing Tools?
There are lots of e-mail marketing tools out there. These are also called CRM tools. Popular choices include Mailchimp, ConvertKit, and ActiveCampaign.
Email marketing tools will allow customers to subscribe to your newsletters. Then, you can have access to different statistics such as open rate, click-through rates, and even sales leads generated from emails.
The best email marketing tools will allow you to segment your subscribers and contact specific groups with deals or news they would be personally interested in. For example, you could reach out to everyone on your list that made a purchase before with a “valued customer” email.
What Does CRM Stand For?
It’s important to understand this because you will see it a lot in marketing articles. CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management.
It’s a great way to think about it. Instead of just sending out flyers in people’s mailboxes – something that is impersonal and a total shot in the dark – email marketing lets you build and create relationships with your customers.
How to Win Sales in Email Marketing
Some of my clients had been on my email list for several months to a year before hiring me. And then one email would motivate them to reach out. But it takes more than just irregular emails to do this.
I’ll be honest, you can’t just send out one email a month and expect it to convert major sales. It might bring in a few sales, but it won’t be worth the effort.
If you really want to increase sales, I have some tips that will help you get the most out of your email marketing tools.
Get the Most Out of Email Marketing Tags
I love using tags to organize my email subscribers with tags. In fact, I switched from MailChimp to ConvertKit because MailChimp didn’t offer tags.
Tags enable you to organize your subscribers into smaller groups. Then, you can send out emails directly to people that you know will be interested in the topics.
If you want an in-depth explanation, ConvertKit has this awesome vlog explaining tags and segments and how to organize subscribers. Basically, tags organize your subscribers and segments to organize your tags.
You’ll convert more subscribers to sales when you reach out to their specific interests and needs right when they need it. That’s the joy of tags. People in colder climates will be more likely to buy your hand-knit scarves in January, so email just those people with a special discount code.
Grow Your Email List
If you want to gain confidence in how to correctly do email marketing, check out the Email Marketing Magic course by Pat Flynn. This was a great action-oriented course that had demo videos for how to correctly set up your email marketing tool to grow your email list and generate more revenue.
Send E-Mails At Least Once A Week
After you know what you are going to email and to whom you are sending it, you need to set up a regular schedule. I love how ConvertKit lets you automate this part.
Send a newsletter out at least once a week. Pick a consistent day and stick to this schedule. It might be easier for you, but once a month is not frequent enough. You want to stay on the tip of your customer’s tongues at all times.
Put a Call To Action in the Email
It is vital to always include a call to action (CTA) in every single email. Before you hit “send,” make sure your newsletter has a purpose. What do you want the person that reads this to do?
Make the CTA easy to find. I’ve seen some obvious buttons with “Snag the Deal NOW!” on it. These are effective and grab the user’s attention.
Write in the First Person
Finally, write every single email as if you are writing to one, specific person. Imagine that you are writing an email to your friend or your ideal customer. When you use such a personal tone, the person reading it will think it was written just for them. It goes from feeling like a mass-email to feeling more personal and relatable.
ConvertKit Pricing
Another thing I love about ConvertKit is its pricing. They have both monthly and annual billing cycles. And they offer different levels based on how many subscribers you have. So you’ll be able to tier up as your business grows.
It’s basically risk-free to get started with ConvertKit. They recently started offering a $0 plan to help encourage business owners to get started. The CEO of the company said:
“Just in time for our 7th birthday, ConvertKit is making the switch from a premium price to being able to get started completely for free.
Right now so many creators start on MailChimp for free and then switch to ConvertKit once they get meaningful traction. That switch can be time-consuming and they would be so much better off to just start on ConvertKit, which is tailor-made for creators to grow their audiences.
Our mission is to help creators earn a living and we believe that by adding a free entry-point we are removing a large roadblock for beginner creators towards earning a living online.”
Personally, it was a bit scary for me to make the switch. I procrastinated for a long time to switch from MailChimp to ConvertKit because I was worried something would “mess up” or that I didn’t think through everything before I moved things over. I wish I had started with ConvertKit—it ended up being so much better than I thought!
Invest In An Email Marketing Tool
You’ll see your small business grow if you take this one step. Really invest in the time to create a personalized email marketing campaign. Write personalized emails and keep reaching out to current and future customers, and you’ll likely see sales increase. Make this a part of your marketing calendar and include it in your sales goals.
RELATED POSTS
Looking for more invaluable tools to help you run your business? Take a look at these posts: