Marketing, no matter the size of your business, is a crucial part of growing your brand and extending your footprint in your respective niche. How you allocate your money, in your marketing plan, is essential to overall return on investment (ROI), growth, and profitability. Smaller businesses are the heart and soul of each community they thrive in. Small businesses typically have unique needs and smaller budgets when it comes to marketing campaigns, so knowing how and where to invest your funds, why marketing is important to your overall business plan, and how to stand out in your market is important to understand and delve into. For starters, the most cost-efficient way to begin marketing for your small business is through strategically planned email marketing campaigns.
Email marketing builds authenticity
Although some of the biggest brands in the world use email marketing as one of their main sources of direct marketing to their customer base, it should not be pushed to the wayside for small business owners. In fact, email marketing is one of the best ways to build your brand identity, creating authentic connections between your customers and brand on a budget. The more you get your name out there, the easier it becomes to recognize you against other competition in your market. Email marketing allows you to stay in touch with your target audience and current customer base by remaining ever present in their mind through email targeted marketing.
Providing fresh content on a consistent basis direct to their inbox keeps you at the forefront of their minds increasing profitability and creating brand loyalists through direct awareness.
The benefits of email marketing are apparent
Aside from coming across as your most authentic branded self, email marketing provides many benefits that increase your ROI and brand awareness. From creating customer relationships to building credibility, email marketing should be a no-brainer option for your marketing plan.
Customer relationships flourish
No matter the niche, customers crave your attention. They want to know that they’re on your mind and you’re thinking about their happiness and convenience. If they are already a brand enthusiast, they want to be in the know about all the new things you have to offer them, often. Providing new and exciting information via email is the fastest and most effective way to reach your full list of current and potential customers almost instantly. Email is the most used form of communication now, so deliver yourself to your customer through their preferred communication method. Think about it- how often do you check your email on your phone throughout the day? They are probably in the same boat as you with countless refreshes and information flowing. Be on their mind before they even start their day, by delivering your message right to their phone. The more they hear from you, the more they will want to solidify their relationship with your business.
Establish your brand through consistent communication
Through regular outreach via email marketing, you build your brand to become a recognizable force in your respective industry. With consistent content direct to your current and potential customer base’s inbox you are building connection while refining your brand voice, brand goals and overall brand ideal. Over time, customers will come to know what you stand for and how you operate entirely. In the early stages of creating a marketing plan, ensure you have a brand guide that is tailored to your unique brand goals. Establish a brand voice, marketing goals and content ideals. Your brand guide will act as the backbone to your email marketing plan. Your brand guide should be reviewed and executed alongside your email marketing plan with each new email.
A break in consistency, or brand authenticity, will create space for customers to question their understanding of your brand which should be avoided at all costs.
Tailored content gives you a leg-up in your industry
Positioning yourself as an expert in your industry, on a local and global level, gives you a leg-up in your respective niche. Through the use of email marketing to provide consistent, thought-provoking content you exemply your understanding of the market you work in. No matter what niche you are a part of, competition is something that everyone faces, both large and small scale. To stand out, you have to provide relevant content that is informative, important and timely to your target audience. Through the consistent creation and implementation of email marketing you not only connect with those interested in your industry, but show that you are well-informed on the products and/or services there within.
Trust is established through providing expert advice and opinion, so email marketing acts as a two fold reward by building trust and establishing your unique expert footing in your market.
Time requirements are minimal
As a small business owner, it is likely that you wear many hats. Time is of the essence for you and your bottom line. When considering the amount of time it may take in various marketing efforts, email marketing is on the lesser end of the spectrum, not taking away too much precious time from your overall schedule. Consider the simplicity of creating email marketing campaigns versus some bigger, more time consuming options like commercials, mail-in flyers or radio ads. The time requirement for an email marketing strategy wins out and is more effective in the immediate impact based on your call to action.
Hands down, email marketing provides one of the highest ROIs when comparing time and cost to conversion rates.
Budget needs are relatively low
When comparing email marketing to other forms of marketing collateral, the cost is minimal. The biggest budget investment will be on creating (or hiring someone to create) copy that converts. Whether you’re trying to draw someone to your website to book a session or purchase a product, the main goal of copy for ROI purposes is to tell the recipient to do something. Email marketing is one of the most cost effective ways to get the word out about what you offer to a large audience in little to no time. Your content can be viewed in seconds after being sent, something you can’t do with traditional mail marketing. Also, email marketing doesn’t require all the extras that come with mail marketing, like the printed material, graphics, postage or compilation of addresses on each piece.
Email marketing is one collect and send method that hits a low budget benchmark while converting at a high rate.
Whether you’re a new small business looking to make your mark in your industry or an industry expert looking to leverage your business through more targeted marketing, email marketing is the way to go. From low budget costs and little time requirements to a high ROI, email marketing gives you the boost you need as a small business to become a big name in your area.
