For many people, having their own business may be a dream come true, but there’s no assurance of success without a solid marketing strategy in place.
Entrepreneurs are always competing with one another to develop their businesses using the most effective ideas. Despite this, many of them seem to fail horribly every year.
Startup Statistics show that in the U.S., half of all businesses fail within the first five years, and ¾ of them have failed by Year Ten.
There are many reasons for this, but one of the most common is a lack of understanding when it comes to marketing their business.
Marketing products using Word of mouth, handbills, hoardings and other conventional means is no more a guarantee for success. Moreover, the ROI (return on investment) from such methods is often very low and is difficult to measure.
Online marketing has become a necessary tool for any business, whether small or large. Search engine optimization, social media marketing, and email marketing are some of the most commonly used online marketing strategies.
Email marketing is often overlooked by entrepreneurs, but it is actually one of the most powerful tools in a marketer’s arsenal that can be used to reach and engage customers.
It is highly recommended to work with an SEO company that will not only help you with Email Marketing but also with the other aspects of your online marketing strategy.
However, hiring the right SEO agency is a challenge in itself and you will save a lot of time and money if you are aware of some of the most frequently asked questions and also avoid being scammed by SEO companies.
Why should startups integrate email marketing into their overall marketing strategy?
Great ROI
Email marketing has the highest ROI of any digital marketing tactic.
Email is personal
People feel like they’re getting a one-on-one message from you, which makes them more likely to open and act on it.
Email gives startups an edge over their competitors
By using email as part of your marketing mix, you can stand out from the crowded marketplace.
Email is immediate
Unlike other marketing channels (such as SEO or social media), you don’t have to wait for results with email. You can see the effects of your campaigns almost immediately.
The Customer Engagement Metric (CEM)
The CEM is a metric that can help you measure the success of your email marketing campaigns. The higher the CEM, the more successful your campaign is.
It would be pointless to send out emails to customers who are not interested in what you have to say. Segmenting your email lists into different groups will help you target those most likely to be interested in your product or service.
Email Marketing Strategies for Higher Customer Engagement for Startups
As a startup, you need to be using email marketing from day one. Email marketing is a powerful tool that can help you increase customer engagement, sales, and ROI.
Here are 15 ultimate email marketing strategies for startups to increase customer engagement:
Here are 15 of the best:
1. Choose the right email marketing software
If you want high customer engagement, you need to choose the right email marketing software.
There are a number of factors that you need to consider, such as ease of use, features, price, and integrations.
Ease of use: The software should be easy to use, even for those who are not tech-savvy.
Features: The software should have all the features you need to create successful email campaigns, like automation, segmentation, and A/B testing.
Price: The software should be affordable, especially for startups.
Integrations: The software should integrate with other marketing tools and platforms to make your life easier. Some important integrations include CRM, eCommerce, and webinar platforms.
Make sure to do your research and find one that fits your needs and budget.
2. Build a subscriber list
The next step is to build a subscriber list. This is where you’ll store the email addresses of all the people who have signed up to receive your emails.
Whichever method you choose, make sure you’re clear about what people are signing up for. They should know exactly what they’ll be getting from you and how often they’ll be getting it.
There are a number of ways to grow your list:
- you can collect email addresses on your website, or
- you can run a contest and ask people to sign up for your mailing list in order to enter.
- you can also offer a freebie or discount to people who sign up.
- you can offer exclusive content or early access to your product or service.
Whatever you do, make sure you’re acquiring high-quality email addresses. You don’t want to end up with a list of subscribers who never open your emails or unsubscribe the minute they get them.
3. Give a strong reason for signing up
When people sign up for your mailing list, you need to give them a strong reason to do so.
Offer them something of value – such as a free ebook, report or whitepaper, free trial, exclusive discounts – in exchange for their email address.
This will help you build a subscriber list of quality leads who are genuinely interested in hearing from you.
Nobody likes to receive emails for funnels that they abandoned or products they don’t want. Email frequency should be considered when you are building your email list.
Make sure people know what to expect when they sign up for your mailing list, and stick to your promises. If you promise to send emails once a week, then make sure you only send emails once a week.
4. Make sure you have a strong subject line
Your subject line is the first thing your recipient will see, so it’s important to make it count. Use words that will grab their attention and make them want to open the email.
Be sure to test different subject lines to see which ones perform the best.
50% of people decide whether or not to open an email based on the subject line alone, so it’s important to get this right.
There are a number of ways to create effective subject lines, but some of the most common is to tease the content of the email, use numbers or listicles, or ask a question.
5. Your email content should match your subject line
Once your recipient has opened your email, the content should match the subject line. If it doesn’t, they’re likely to lose interest and delete it. Even worse, they may mark it as spam.
Make sure your email content is relevant, engaging and well-written. It should also be visually appealing, with images, videos or infographics to break up the text, wherever possible.
And of course, always include a call-to-action (CTA) so that your recipients know what you want them to do next.
Your email content should be interesting, relevant and useful to your subscribers.
Nobody likes to receive sales pitches masquerading as newsletter content.
Your best bet is to focus on providing value, whether that’s through helpful tips and advice, exclusive deals or early access to your product or service.
6. Your emails should be in easy to read format
Email clients are constantly changing, so it’s important to make sure your emails are compatible with as many different email clients and browsers as possible.
This means using a responsive design that will automatically adjust to the screen size of the device being used, whether it’s a desktop computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone.
You should also use a readable font, such as Arial or Times New Roman, and avoid using too much text formatting, such as bolding and italics.
Too much formatting can make your email difficult to read, especially on mobile devices.
Your emails should be easy to read on any device.
Using a responsive design is the best way to do this.
Your emails should be easy to read, with short paragraphs and plenty of white space.
To make your emails as easy to read as possible, use clear and concise language, and break up the text with images, videos or infographics.
7. Honour unsubscribe requests
“I think it is nothing less than a crime to not offer an option to unsubscribe from your mailing lists.
Email marketing is permission-based, which means people have given you permission to send them emails.
If they no longer want to receive your emails, it’s important to respect their wishes and allow them to unsubscribe”, said Vikas Solanki, the founder at BestinIndia.com.
Not only is this the right thing to do, but it will also help prevent your emails from being marked as spam.
Respect your subscribers’ wishes and allow them to unsubscribe from your mailing lists.
8. CTA-based email signature
Most people forget to add a CTA to their email signature, but it’s a great way to promote your product or service.
Include a short sentence or two about what you do and include a link to your website. This is a great opportunity to drive traffic back to your site.
Make sure your email signature is professional and visually appealing.
Your email signature is also a great tool to allow people to connect with you on your Social Media Profiles.
Include links to your profiles on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, as well as your website.
Here is an email signature generator from HubSpot that will transform your email signature into a powerful marketing tool.
The HubSpot Email Signature Generator is a great way to create professional and visually appealing email signatures.
It allows you to add links to your social media profiles, as well as your website. You can also choose from a variety of templates and fonts, and the generator will automatically adjust the size of your signature to fit any device.
9. Email A/B Testing
Did you know that you can increase your click-through rate (CTR) by up to 50% just by testing different subject lines?
Email A/B testing is a great way to test different elements of your email to see what works best with your subscribers.
You can test things like the subject line, the sender name, the Email Preview Text, the Email From Address, the Email Reply-To Address and the Email CTA.
Testing different elements of your email can help you increase your click-through rate.
To learn more about Email A/B Testing, check out this article from Campaign Monitor.
10. Email Segmentation
Email segmentation means dividing your subscribers into different groups, based on their interests or demographics.
This allows you to send them specific content that is relevant to them, which will increase their engagement with your emails.
You can segment your subscribers by things like age, gender, location, interests, purchase history and customer status.
Segmenting your subscribers allows you to send them specific content that is relevant to them.
This will help you increase your customer engagement and conversions.
11. Automated Email Marketing
Automated email marketing is a great way to keep your subscribers engaged with your emails, even when you’re busy with other things.
You can set up automated emails to welcome new subscribers, send birthday wishes, promote new products and services, and thank customers for their loyalty.
Automated email marketing is a great way to keep your subscribers engaged with your emails.
This will help you increase customer engagement and conversions.
12. Email Marketing Analytics
Every email marketing software comes with inbuilt Analytics, which allows you to track the success of your email campaigns.
You can see things like how many people opened your email, how many people clicked on your CTA, and how many people unsubscribed from your list.
Email Marketing Analytics allow you to track the success of your Email Marketing Campaigns.
It’s important to track your email marketing campaigns so that you can see what’s working and what’s not.
Email marketing analytics will help you understand your subscribers’ behaviour so that you can make changes to improve your campaigns.
Some things you can track with email marketing analytics include the number of opens, clicks, unsubscribes, bounces and complaints.
Email marketing analytics will help you understand your subscribers’ behaviour.
13. Send Emails at the right time
The time you send your emails can have a significant impact on their success.
If you send them at the wrong time, they may not be read or may even be deleted without being opened.
However, if you send them at the right time, they will be more likely to be read and acted upon, thus hugely improving their engagement rate.
To find out when is the best time to send your emails, check out this article from GetResponse.
14. Create a sense of urgency
One of the best ways to increase email engagement is to create a sense of urgency.
This can be done by offering discounts that are only available for a limited time, or by including countdown timers in your emails.
Creating a sense of urgency will encourage your subscribers to open and click through your emails.
Use urgency boosters like countdown timers or time-sensitive words like “urgent”, “now” or “today” to encourage your subscribers to open and click through your emails.
15. Email Marketing Resources
There are a lot of great resources available online that can help you learn more about email marketing.
Here are some of our favourites:
– The Email Marketing Academy from HubSpot
– The Email Marketing Guide from Campaign Monitor
– The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing from AWeber
Wrapping Up
Email marketing is a great way to connect with your customers and increase customer engagement.
These 15 email marketing strategies are a great way to get started and increase customer engagement and conversions.
What are your favourite email marketing tips? Let us know in the comments below!
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