Organic Marketing Strategies: Email Marketing
Did you know that email marketing often has the highest return on investment compared to other marketing efforts? Current estimates report that for every $1 spent on email marketing, it generates an average return of $36. If you are a small business owner, this can be extremely appealing, especially if you have a limited marketing budget.
Why is email marketing so effective? If you think about your email inbox right now, there are likely a number of emails from businesses looking for you to engage with their message. If you are interested in the business (or their subject line entices you enough) you will open their email on your own time and typically engage with the copy or any call-to-actions displayed.
By interacting with the email, which will likely bring you to the business’s website, you are engaging in what is called organic marketing, as there were no external factors, such as paid advertising, to influence you to interact with it. Despite the business needing to spend money to create the email, the traffic that comes as a result of it is free (also known as organic marketing).
Personalized content is extremely popular in email marketing – including the customer’s name and speaking directly to the audience segment they are in can help. Reports have found that 91% of consumers are more willing to do business with companies that can deliver relevant offers to them. Meanwhile, emails that have personalized subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened by consumers.
Being relevant and timely can lead to the greatest organic marketing results. Since organic marketing eliminates the power of spending, it is important that your emails are personalized to the individuals you are sending them to. In other words, there needs to be a strategy behind your email marketing; if it can’t grab the individual’s attention, it won’t entice them to click.
So, what type of emails should you be sending? It has been found that the read rates of welcome emails, which are the emails that are immediately sent to users who opt-in, are 42% higher than other types of emails. Email newsletters are also a great way to showcase the products and services your business offers. However, the key is to be conversational through your emails, as that will help readers feel like the content is for them, rather than a mass email that can lack personality.
One of the luxuries of a small business is email marketing can be more direct to the consumer, and as a result, more personalized. By sending emails signed by you, the owner, it can make the consumer feel better connected with your business so that when they do open the email, they are more likely to engage further. Many email clients allow you to create newsletters with dynamic elements that will change depending on the recipient, such as displaying their name or including links to products they’ve purchased in the past.
Creating a consistent email strategy takes some work to accomplish. First you need to build a subscriber list and look for ways to constantly grow it. It is important to keep in mind that when you are developing your organic marketing strategies, there will be some time, effort, and often money to produce the digital content, including the copy and graphics you will include in your emails. However, if the consumer decides to engage with your content, they are self-motivated to do so, thus increasing the likelihood of greater conversion.
Paid strategies, in comparison, while extremely effective at times, are often presented to consumers without them needing to engage – think advertisements, promoted posts, billboards, etc. With organic marketing, the intention is what motivates users to engage, making them highly qualified leads.
Read more from our blog series on organic marketing:
Supporting your small business with The UPS Store
Email marketing can be a great way to reach out to your customers and spread more brand awareness. But don’t forget print marketing remains a great opportunity for your business as well! Check out one of our locations near you today and find out how we can help support your small business with services like posters, banners, personalized stationery, menus, flyers, and more!