Using Email Marketing to Grow Your Business in 2013

If you've read my blog post about re-branding myself then you'll know that although I will still be taking on projects involving copywriting for websites, brochures, flyers, etc I'm going to be focusing the business on email marketing and e-newsletters.

With this in mind, this January I'm having a specific emphasis on email marketing and e-newsletters on this blog. So let's kick off 2013 with how you can use email marketing to grow your business.

The whole point of email marketing is to build a relationship with your subscribers so that when they need the product or service you supply they think of you first, in this way you can grow your business. But to get your subscriber to do that there's a few things you need to think about.

Focus on building your list
People will unsubscribe from your mailing list, it's a fact of life. So you need to constantly focus your energy on growing your databases, particularly when you consider that on average between 15 ' 30% of database contacts will unsubscribe during the year. That's just 1.5-2% unsubscribing with each monthly email you send out.

Make sure you're making the best of opportunities for people to subscribe include subscription forms on your website and Facebook page. Put links in your day-to-day email signature, and e-newsletter and if you do a presentation use the feedback form to allow attendees to opt-in.

Make your content relevant
If you want to develop relationships and get your subscribers to take an action then you need to fill your emails with good well written content. This will help build a rapport with your subscribers which in turns develops relationships and leads to click throughs.

Stop selling or talking about yourself all the time and deliver value such as hints and tips, run a survey, listen to what your subscribers are telling you about what they want to know and write about that.

Get the basics right
If you want people to open and read your emails then you need to grab their attention in their inbox. So it stands to reason that the two main areas you need to get right straight away is the From name and the Subject Line.

The From name should be someone who the recipient knows and trusts, this is likely to be either your name or company name. Think about which is more appropriate/how do people know you? Always be consistent and use the same one every time.

The subject line needs to entice the recipient to open your email. You have lots of freedom to get really creative with your subject lines but don't try and deceive your recipients; they won't thank you for it. If you're struggling to think of something try asking a question or stating a benefit.

Your turn
How are you planning on growing your business in 2013? Will you be using email marketing? If not, what else will you be doing? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

P.S. If you found this post to be helpful, I'd be grateful if you would tweet, share and like!

photo by: opportplanet