We’ve all heard the headlines…
“Email is king!”
“Email is dead!”
“Email, the most addicting drug on the planet” “How to handle inbox overwhelm” And on,
and on they go.
In the blue corner you have “Expert #1” claiming social media is the way of the future.
And email is obsolete and ineffective.
And in the red corner you have “Guru #2” stating that email is the ONLY channel you
need to use.
And that it has been, and will continue to be the most effective form of digital marketing
available.
So who’s right?
Well…
Neither (but the edge in this argument goes to Guru #2).
Which is why in this episode we’re talking all about email marketing, and why it’s
more important than ever.
Hello and welcome, my name is Adam Erhart and you are watching the Modern Marketing
Show.
Where we take different marketing tactics, tools, tips and strategies and break them
down into bite sized actionable clips that you can use to immediately take your business
to the next level.
So is email marketing important?
Does it work?
And most importantly, Is email marketing something you should invest your businesses precious
time, money, and resources into?
To answer this, let’s look at a few simple facts.
Fact #1, Email marketing works.
Email is 40 times more effective at acquiring customers than Facebook or Twitter.
What makes this fact so impressive is that Facebook and Twitter (when done right) are
actually pretty effective tools for acquiring new customers.
So imagine multiplying that by 40, and you start to see the real power of email marketing.
So what makes it just so darn effective?
There are a number of reasons but they all boil down to a couple simple things.
One, We all use email for both personal, and professional.
This means an email from your Mom is likely to appear right beside a new promotion to
a store you subscribe to.
This adds trust and credibility.
And two, Email is a medium that allows the development of a relationship by telling longer
stories, including videos, and getting your customers to take action with embedded links.
This means you aren’t limited to 140 characters (with Twitter) or the choice between photos,
video, or posting a long and detailed story (like with Facebook).
Pro Tip: Use social media ads like Facebook and Twitter to drive traffic to your email
list, so you can follow-up and continue the relationship there.
When you combine social media marketing with email marketing you get a powerhouse combo
Fact #2, email is everywhere.
92% of online adults use email.
I’ve always wondered about the other 8% that don’t use email.
Who are these people?
I mean, Even my grandparents who are 85 years old have (and use) email.
But Moving on.
Most of us use email.
Most of us need email.
And we tend to trust (at least to a certain extent) the quality of the information we
receive there above other places.
Which is perhaps the biggest reason it works so well.
Email is an integral part of our everyday personal and professional lives.
And it is for your customers as well.
It’s fast.
Convenient.
And customers actually prefer receiving promotional material via email over social media.
This means it is OK to sell with email.
As long as you do it tastefully, respectfully, and keep it relevant, you have your customers
permission to do so.
Fact #3, A message is 5 times more likely to be seen in an email than through Facebook.
If you thought your email inbox was overwhelming, just take a quick look at your social media
feed.
Chaos!
It’s like a high school talent show with everyone trying to get attention and be heard
above the noise.
You also have a limited time to grab your prospects attention, make your point, and
get them to take action.
Of course this can be done (and is something we do everyday in our agency) but it’s a
lot more challenging to do it in a few short words than with an email where you can include
story, imagery, video, links, and more.
Email adds some “fudge factor” and ensures that even if you’re not a copywriting pro
– you can still get your message across.
Fact #4, show me the money.
Email marketing has an ROI of 3800% And I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that an ROI
of 3800% is HUGE!
(Some statistics show the ROI is as high as 4300%) Regardless, That’s a whole lotta
return on your marketing investment.
Especially when compared to average ROI’s in real estate (12% )… Or the stock market
(7%)…
Or even that “super incredible deal” your Uncle Lonny offered you a few years back to
invest in his Llama Farm with the potential for an 80% ROI…. (that came bundled with
a 100% chance of loss when positioned against uncle Lonny’s previous business “opportunities”)
No thanks!
But I’ll take the 3800% ROI every day of the week.
And I suggest you do too.
So here’s how to make it all work.
First, you’re doing to need an email service provider.
This is what’s going to allow you to add subscribers, send emails, and keep everything
on track.
I’ve tried a bunch, and now use – and recommend – only one.
Drip – which I’ll link to in the show notes below.
Forget Mailchimp (which has pretty limited features) and ignore Aweber (which is kind
of a dinosaur in the marketing world that I happily abandoned awhile back.
Save yourself the headaches, and go with Drip.
It’s simply the best one out there right now, and even has a 100% free plan if you’re
just getting started.
Next, you’re probably going to need just a little bit of training on how to write amazing,
revenue generating emails.
I’ve taken more email marketing courses than I can count.
And 1 course stands head and shoulders above all the others.
It’s called AutoResponder Madness and it’s amazing.
I’ll make sure to link to it in the show notes as well.
It’s relatively fast (can do it in an hour a day, or jam it all into a weekend) It’s
fun (Andre, the creator is a funny guy!)
And it works.
(The advice in the course is what others use when creating their own courses and advice.
It’s absolute GOLD) Drip is great, and AutoResponder Madness is great.
And when you combine the two you get a killer combo.
And a secret cocktail of marketing goodness.
One of the biggest obstacles to getting started with email marketing is this: “What am I
going to write about?”
Fear not!
You don’t need to be a modern day Hemmingway to write effective emails to your customers.
In fact, in today’s age, authenticity and transparency are far more important than good
spelling and grammar.
Add value where you can, be you, be real, and just write.
You also don’t need to come up with a 50,000 word email sequence.
No, 3 simple emails to get you started will do just fine.
For email #1 Solve your customers biggest problem or answer the #1 question you get
in your business.
For email #2 Introduce yourself, your business, and your story.
For email #3 Introduce another problem, explain it in a little more detail, and the describe
how your product or service solves that issue.
Done!
Congratulations, you’re now an email marketer well on your way to more leads, a better relationship
with current and potential customers, and an 3800% ROI.
So thanks so much for watching.
If you enjoyed this episode be sure to subscribe to the channel, give it a thumbs up, and if
you have any questions, comments or suggestions for a future video, be sure to leave them
in the comments section below.
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strategies that I don’t share anywhere else.
Take care for now, and I’ll catch you next time on The Modern Marketing Show