The Role of Email Marketing

Back to: The Bite-Sized Guide to Digital Marketing 101

 

There are 5 main roles email marketing performs as part of your digital marketing campaign:

1. To build better relationships with your existing clients
2. To build a list of prospects – people who may become your clients in the future
3. To increase the potential to convert those prospects to paying customers
4. To generate repeat sales
5. To find out how to improve your products/services

We talk about these 5 points below.

1. To build better relationships

No one wants to overload your clients’ email inboxes with annoying messages but specific, targeted and well-planned emails do help to build good relationships with your existing clients. It is very easy for a client to go elsewhere, even when they were happy with your products or service. So to send them information which is useful and interesting and which focuses on their needs, not just your latest promotion, reminds them that they loved you/your product/service and ensures you are top of mind when that time to buy comes round again.  This sort of relationship building is about establishing trust and consistency.

2. To build a list of prospects

Building a list of prospects in an email list allows you to very easily communicate with a lot of people in one go. The list can be divided if need be into separate fields of interests or emails can be sent to everyone. The goal of maintaining this list – and of course communicating with the people on that list – is to foster a familiarity with your brand, confidence in your presence in the industry, and above all be useful to those who have registered an interest in your business. This list is fragile as people can very easily unsubscribe, so every communication should be planned with purpose and offer value.

3. To increase conversion potential

Each time you send an email to someone on your list and they remain on it (ie they don’t hit the unsubscribe button) you have achieved a positive “touch” with them. The more positive touches you achieve, there is an increased likelihood that one day they will purchase your product or service. It means that you provided them with something of interest and cemented their relationship with you just a little bit more.

4. Repeat sales

By capturing a client’s email address and then using it to send them regular and useful information, you increase the chance that they may re-purchase from you when the time comes around. For example, you may send them a follow-up email asking them how they like the product they bought. This then may be followed by an email that gives them tips for using the product to get the best from it. Finally, you might offer a discount for an additional product. This after sales type of attention may result in an additional purchase. Alternatively, just adding the client to your email list and sending them a regular e-newsletter allows you both to keep in touch and be top-of-mind if another purchasing opportunity comes along.

5. Improving your products/services

Finding out whether or not your clients are happy with the service they have received or the purchases they have made is crucial if you are going to apply improvements to your business. An email is a great way to find out exactly what they think as it is less intimidating than calling them or asking for face-to-face feedback. Emails can direct people to anonymous surveys or can simply ask for some feedback as a reply. Sending these requests out on a semi-regular basis also demonstrates that you are serious about your business and creates feelings of confidence and quality.