What's Email Marketing?
E- mail marketing is the process of incorporating the use of e- mails in small business marketing strategy. It’s essentially the same thing as sending out mailers, newsletters and coupon books through mail. The only difference with the other forms of marketing is that this marketing strategy occurs through electronic mail. Since most people around the globe use e- mail as a form of communication, it is ideal that you come up with an effective strategy that will see you as a small business owner communicate with your clients via e- mail.
Basically, there are numerous ways that you can use- mail marketing techniques to market your firm as well as your services to your consumers. For instance, you can use this form of marketing to reach potential consumers or you can use it to market your business in different public venues.
Types of Email Marketing
There are three general types of e- mail marketing strategies that you can use to market your small business. They include;
1. Direct E-mail:
Direct e- mail refers to the practice of sending direct promotional advertisements and messages to the customer’s email account. Generally, these messages may often be announcements of great deals, sales or even special offers.
They may be used to spread the news concerning new services your firm is offering or the new locations that it can serve.
These e- mails will normally have a call to action included in them that encourages the consumer to take some sort of
action in order to receive promotional deals being offered by a particular company. The call of action can include asking the viewer to visit your business’s home page, signing – up for a service or making a phone call. Direct e- mails are also meant to tell customers about what is happening in a particular business.
2. Retention E- mailing:
These types of e- mails are usually designed to inform the customers about a business. They are important marketing strategies since they can help you create long term relationships with the customers. Despite retention e- mails providing advertisement and promotion options; they can also offer content that may be very valuable to the readers.
Retention e- mails have got content which will inform, engage and entertain the readers, so that they’ll feel a connection with the business being advertised or promoted.
The most common form of retention e- mails used in e- mail marketing techniques is newsletter.
3. Straight- up E- mail Advertising:
This is a type of e- mail marketing strategy that allows a person to use content created by another person. This means that with this type of e- mail marketing, you can be in a position to attach your business advertisement to a newsletter or e- mail that has been created by another firm. Let’s now have a look at how e- marketing can benefit your small business.