There is a trend among business owners to go ahead and put Email Marketing in the grave. They've mourned the loss and have moved on. They have a new love, whether it be social media, broadcast, direct mail, the list goes on. But, is this necessary?
I recently had a conversation with a small retail business owner about email marketing. I asked, "Do you have an email list from your customers?" He replied, "Yeah. Only about 600 people are in it."
My first thoughts were, "That's great! That is 600 people who are existing or former customers. They are interested in what you are doing! You have qualified business leads for future promotions and events." But then I asked, "Do you use that list?" The response was disheartening to say the least. "No, nobody opens it."
You have no idea how many business owners say that! The worst part is when you ask the open rate and they say. "It's really low, like 20%" this is exactly what this particular business owner said. THAT'S INDUSTRY STANDARD FOR A SMALL RETAIL BUSINESS!
Let's do the math. You have a list of 600... qualified leads, not a random 600. These are people who have shopped with you, been to an event or expressed an interest in being a part of your business on some level. If you send an email to all of them and only 20% of them open the email that is 120 people who responded to a headline that spoke to them, from a company that they are already interested in. How many small business owners out there would love to reach 120 people who are already prequalified customers with each email they send?
These numbers can easily be increased with proper data collection, clear call to action, segmented email lists and proper follow up messaging. Imagine if you had an ever growing email list, with a growing click through rate and segmented and engaged lists! The sky is limit. If you grow your reach to pre-qualified leads, you grow your business. It's simple.
One thing that we work for at Hey! Digi is to use all avenues to reach, engage and retain your customer base. Email Marketing is just a piece of that puzzle, but it's a great piece!
Bobby Harris
