An integral part of your marketing has to be your email list and in this post we will explain why you need to build an effective emailing list to ensure successfully marketing your business.
#1. Having a mailing list of clients means YOU control the traffic
traffic=money
The most important part of any website monetization strategy is traffic. Without traffic, your website could have the best content in the world that nobody knows about. Most website owners spend more time figuring out new ways to generate traffic than any other activity related to the site. Website traffic is the lifeblood of any business and with a mailing list you can control that traffic.
Attention ratio
When you mail your list you need to direct them to a landing page with a mission not just to your overall website. A dedicated landing page that lets you control the attention ratio on the page. The attention ratio is a vital part of your business and you must understand this if you want your email campaign to be a success. A website homepage with links (leaks) to other parts of the site might have a 49:1 attention ratio — in other words, there are 50 ways for visitors to exit the page without a purchase or call to action from you. Keep your web pages clean, concise and direct them to where you want them to go.
And now you need to understand how a landing page has a 1:1 attention ratio. This means the visitor can either complete the form, or leave the page. There are only 2 options, complete the form or exit the page…simple. Your chances of getting a conversion at 1:1 are far better than at 49:1.
Put another way, websites are like leaky buckets while landing pages are perfect funnels. A direct email is a perfect link to the correct page you want the visitor to see.
Sending paid traffic to your website is a waste of your money.
If you’re not converting traffic into leads, then you’re just spending more and more money and you’re not getting better and better results. You’re not getting that compounding effect that landing pages provide.
Websites are full of distractions. They’re designed to take you from one place to the next. Whereas a website will give people many options, a landing page gives them just one option: to convert. You need to grab the visitors’ attention and lead them to where you want them to go. So if you are paying for traffic be sure that the message is consistent on the Ad, email and then the Landing page itself.
The real value of landing pages — is how you can actually increase your return on investment and actually save money by harnessing the traffic you have already built up and nurtured into repeat visitors.
Message Match
The reason landing pages help you increase ROI comes down to another fundamental landing page principle: message match.
Message match is a measure of how well your landing page headline matches the call-to-action that was clicked to arrive on your landing page. For paid ads, this is the headline of the ad. For an email this can be the subject line.
Message match ensures that your landing page contains the same message as your ad and /or email. When you match the headline of your ad /email with the headline on your landing page, you reassure visitors that they’re about to get the information they were after when they clicked the ad or opened the link in your email. Now all of that ties into the reason you need a mailing list, as it is to drive attention to the correct landing page and then convert to a sale.
Another aspect of message match is what’s known as design match. If your ad is visual, such as a display ad or a Facebook ad – that has a graphical component to it, you need to follow the design of your ad through to the landing page. The stronger the design of your landing page matches the design of the ad, the stronger the design match will be.
Images are processed in your brain faster than words. Therefore, if the primary visual on your landing page or a background image, is the same as your ad visual, your visitors will make a quicker connection. Again, this creates confidence that your visitors are in the right place. You need to direct them seamlessly from one phase of the procedure to the next. And confidence means they will be comfortable with you and your offer and be more predisposed to purchase.
#2. Having a mailing list means YOU benefit from mass LEVERAGE
When you build a mailing list it means that at the click of your mouse you can send an email to the people on your list and drive traffic directly to your website/landing pages. Just think of the value of those eyeballs on your newly launched product or service…directing traffic from people who opted in to hear from you means sales. You can also ask your list to click and share your offer on social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and Google + and the domino effect is exponential.
It is also important to deliver value and great content and not just sell sell all the time. Your list is an asset that has to be nurtured and cared for. You must remember that the golden rule is customer service first, second and last every time. If the money is in the list, then customer service and furnishing that list with value and information is paramount.
Quote Sophia Amoruso #girlboss – “Customer service was my number one priority”.
#3. Having a mailing list means you can make money on demand
The email list you build and end up with is full of people who have an interest in your products or information. Unlike conventional spam email lists that send out offers to thousands of people who may or may not have an interest in a particular niche, your email list is full of potential customers that have gotten to know, like and trust you. So when you email them they open it read it and take action.
Therefore, if you send out a new offer or exclusive preview of your forthcoming product you have a greater chance of a sale from a “warm” contact than a cold one. I know this to be true because my favourite email marketer from the U.S emails at 9.30 on a Sunday a.m. and it is the first thing I read without exception! Sad maybe but hey not everyone is the same!
#4. Having a Mailing list means you can make money from ANYWHERE in the world
The most extraordinary thing about having an email list, an internet connection and an offer is that it doesn’t matter where you are you can draft and publish an email and with a click you can contact your customers and drive traffic to your website and business.
By successfully driving traffic to your website you can actually monetise it and make more money.
Once you’ve defined and honed your lead generating funnel, you’ve done 90% of the work to identify areas where you can start sending your initial trigger-based email campaigns.
Ensure you are tracking the actions that relate to each step in your funnel in your email marketing software so that you can use this data to send trigger-based emails.
The process of coming up with campaigns involves looking at each step and finding the bigger drop-off points. Trigger-based emails will help you fill these gaps and move customers from step A to step B. In many instances this is as simple as sending a reminder. Often simply getting in front of your customer again-and-again has a dramatic effect. It is said that you need 8-10 points of contact with a potential client before they make a purchase, so you need to put relevant information in front of them regularly to ensure this happens and they convert.
Let’s take a look at a typical e-commerce funnel which you have directed your email list too.
Arrives on landing page -> Views product -> Adds product to cart -> Views cart -> Begins checkout -> Completes checkout -> Start over
Even with only a few minutes considering these steps, we can identify a number of key trigger-based email campaigns we could subsequently write:
- We could encourage customers that regularly view a product/product category but never checkout to come back and do so.
- We could email customers that begin checkout but do not complete it.
- We could email customers that add products to their cart but never view the cart itself.
- We could email customers that purchase with a reminder to re-stock or check out our new items, in order to encourage them to purchase again.
Repeat business is everything remember the money is in the list and that list has to be nurtured and cared for.
Using this as a thought provoking guideline, think about your own funnel and take positive steps to revise and direct traffic into your sales funnel for greater ROI and success. Now is the time to set up individual landing pages for all your products and offers. Also Google love sites with multiple pages and fresh content so the more you deliver the more Google will rank your pages and overall site.
Advertising is by far the best way to generate revenue from your website. Some advertising campaigns pay you just for the number of visitors coming to your site while others require that the visitor perform some action (such as make a purchase or click on a link) for you to get paid.
And if you’re running campaigns on AdWords, this’ll help increase your Quality Score.
You may not know what this is but here’s the key thing: A higher Quality Score increases your ability to get more clicks without spending more money.
As Quality Score goes up, cost per click decreases. Cost per conversion decreases as well. Now your ROI will increase without raising your PPC budget and all because you took the time to set up and mail your email list and drive traffic to your site and landing pages. You can also take this level of targeting a step further once the conversion takes place. With a landing page form like the one we talked about, you can get to know your leads better, which then allows you to segment those groups for more highly targeted lead nurturing campaigns and emails.
When you understand that implementing landing pages means more sales down the road, then you will realize that this isn’t just a short-term tactic, but a strategy that’ll pay dividends for a long time.
Targeted leads =traffic =conversion.
#5. Having a list means you can give yourself a monthly pay rise
When you start building your business online and grow your email database the internet statistics will tell you that for every 1000 email subscribers you should have the potential to earn €1000 and for 5000 =€5000 which means that the expression” The money is in the list” is probably true. However, if you sell products with greater monetary value this can increase significantly. The fundamental principle here is to grow your list, nurture it and keep it happy with relevant valuable information and your online business will flourish and drive traffic in the door of your business.
So many businesses that I work with in the retail sector fail to grasp and build this reality but online is the future to drive traffic both offline and online. Your clients need to know that you care about them. They need to feel significant and important and how else are you going to stay in touch with them regularly if you do not get them on your email list. Your annual marketing budget should be 10% of your turnover and this investment in new and future technologies will pay dividends and give you ROI in both the short and long term.
Think about the supermarket advertising campaigns and how they both email and deliver offline marketing brochures to capture your attention and highlight their offers. This is to encourage footfall and get visitors into their stores. They have many bargain offers but they also have high end offers that many many people impulse buy when in store. If this strategy works for the multiples, then it will work for you also. It has been proven that consistency of contact with your clients and prospects generates trust, which ultimately means many more sales.
#6. The majority of the profit in any business is in the BACK END with repeat sales and customers
Creating great customer experiences is about delivering something useful to each individual customer, when it is actually useful.
This is what building a great company is all really about: offering something useful to customers, to solve a problem when they need it.
For companies serious about creating this sort of experience –An email is an integral part of the procedure and automation process. It’s the part that ties your marketing activity to your inbox.
Time and again we see the big companies that think like this outperforming the benchmark and there is no reason why smaller SME and YOU cannot implement this strategy and grow your business also. The hard fact is that just two out of every 10 people actually open emails that arrive in their inbox. You want to make your email one of those two every time.
Nearly all product companies have data that can be shaped into a report. Condensing it into a short, recurring email is the easiest way for users to actually understand it. Sending it on a regular basis promotes the habit of checking in with your product. Done well, great recurring emails can be a valuable selling point for your business. It comes down to customer service and generating great value every time. You could send a mix of product updates, content and retention emails to keep your client list engaged and interested until they are ready to buy from you.
#7. You earn a lot more per click if your traffic is from subscribers (people who KNOW YOU, LIKE YOU and TRUST YOU) than you do from cold traffic
It is a fact that you will make five times more money from traffic from your mailing list than from other sources.
Plus, you can target this traffic over and over again without spending any money advertising which will generate visitors to your lead generating pages.
Here are 4 good reasons to build your email list:
- Having a list means you can ASK your clients what they want and build a product to suit them.
- You can leverage your list to attract Joint Ventures which will further grow your own list and reputation.
- Having a large list almost guarantees the profitability of nearly any new business venture and recession proofs your income.
- Your list of customers is a very valuable ASSET.
Finally, some E-mail Marketing Tips
- First impressions go a long way: The first paragraph need to be a single sentence.
- People buy from people they know, like and trust. Demonstrate credibility, expertise and value to your readers.
- Do not be BORING ! Make your email have your USP!
- Make it entertaining, educational and inspirational.
- Use video wherever possible as this has instant impact and retention.
- Use clickable links through to your landing page at least 3 times per email as this encourages ease and traffic.
- Send emails frequently as long as you deliver value and interest. If you want to be found on the internet you need to post and email as often as you want to be seen. So if you have something interesting and topical email every day but at the very least once a week.
- “Your job is to build something that users love.” That means a great experience on the web, mobile devices, and the inbox.
Images: “Business hand touch Email Marketing Concept/Mailing List /Close Up Black Pen And Paper On The Table And Email List/ Shutterstock.com“
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