Using email marketing to build a powerful audience? Did you know that 4.33 billion people in the world have access to the internet and 3.93 billion of them use email? This is enough to shut down the argument that comes up regularly about how email marketing is dying.
It’s not and it’s not going to die anytime soon because email still remains the best platform to interact with your clients. Over 90% of U.S. adults use email. Of which about 61% of them check and send emails frequently.
This shows that there’s a mouthwatering opportunity for e-commerce business owners in email marketing.
The first step to launching your email marketing campaign is to find subscribers you can put in your email list. There are several ways to do this. You can start with the existing client emails you already have. Ask them what they’d like to see more of.
If you don’t have clients yet or if you want to increase your list of email subscribers, you can add free giveaways. Value added materials such as ebooks, step-by-step guides or check sheets will be appreciated. Then ask for their emails to send it to them.
Our first giveaway was an ebook. It had no image or perceived value attached to its cover. Duh! After a phone conference with an online consultant, we added those two elements. We’ve also updated the ebook over the years to reflect the changes in the beauty industry.
If your business sells acne products, your free give-a-way might be on “How to Clear Facial Acne in Three Weeks.” It will definitely impress the customer base of a skincare brand with an acne product. They won’t mind signing up to your newsletter or submitting their emails to you. You can also run a paid ad and create a landing page where you will ask visitors to sign up. We’ll talk more about paid advertising and landing pages in future articles. Keep in mind that most people won’t sign up if they’re not getting anything in return.
Once you have an email list, you should start studying your subscribers to understand their personalities. You will use the information you gather to categorize them into groups based on whatever deciding factors or parameters you see fit. The factors can include age range, geographic location, preferences, body type, etc. One of the methods you can use to determine your subscribers’ personalities is by conducting A/B testing.
A segmented email list will make it easier to send out personalized marketing messages your subscribers can relate to. To make it more personal, address each one of your subscribers by their first name. This is done with simple coding on the back end.
The next step is to create a good design template for your email. You can use tools like Canva for your newsletter template, design one from scratch yourself or hire a graphics designer to do it. Now, your email template must reflect your brand — the color, font, logo, etc Everything about your emails must be congruent with your brand identity. This is crucial. It tells your clients and potential clients they’re in the right place.
Don’t make the design of your email template too complex. Your targeted audience will get distracted by the design. Next, create a friendly message with a punchy or exciting subject to go with it. There’s a good chance that people won’t open your email if the subject doesn’t immediately catch their attention. We get too many emails every day, most of which never get opened. Therefore, it’s a good idea for you to always create headlines lines that will stand out.
The body of your email should be written with warm language so that the email doesn’t read like a threat. Also, try to keep it simple. Don’t write a long text of words expecting your subscribers to read it. Be precise with your message, and always include a call to action (CTA). We’ll talk more in detail about call to actions (CTA’s) in another article.
You can always include pictures in your email. Not too many, they can be distracting. Make sure they are high-quality images that can be accessed via mobile devices and desktop.
Email marketing is not about the number of times you send out emails. It’s more about the quality of the message as well as the impact and results of your email campaigns. Your A/B testing should also tell you the best time to send out your emails.
A/B testing is a method used to compare two versions of a webpage, or email against each other and determine which one performs best based on your desired actions.
In fact, to get your desired results, it will be better if you send out the emails following the time preferences of the different categories of your subscribers. If they get your emails at a time that is convenient for them, they will be more willing to click and carry out the desired action you want them to.
You definitely won’t have time to create email after email every day. Even if you’re a genius it won’t make sense. It will be a waste of time considering that you have a business to focus on.
You can automate your emails with email automation tools, there are many of them in the market. Mailchimp, Customer.io, Constant Contact and Drip are automation tools used by many.
Email automation tools will also help with building a relationship with new clients right off the bat — you can automate your welcome and “thank you for the purchase” emails as well as other email messages you’d like to automate.
You’ll be able to monitor your email campaign performance. Using marketing tools such as Hubspot or Active Campaign will make it easier. Don’t rush this process. You will learn as you build your email list for your beauty business online. There are automation tools to help you build your list.
● It is Easier to Keep in Touch With Your Customer Base
Customer acquisition and follow-up are well supported by email marketing. With emails, you can curate interesting content that’s not always about sales. You can deliver them to your customers’ inbox, just to maintain the relationship you have with them.
● You Can Reach Mobile Customers
It also makes it easier to reach mobile customers. Social media may look like it’s the best way to reach mobile customers. However, this is not always correct. You can’t segment your customer base into categories and that means that you are technically not targeting anyone. Email marketing comes with a natural personalized feature, that you don’t even have to go the extra mile to achieve it.
Usually, people who own smartphones, which is a whole lot of people, always have it on them. Smartphone users can see emails immediately, therefore, they can decide whether to open it. Social media doesn’t have that feature. Business owners would have to hope for some customers to turn on their notifications.
This article only scratches the surface of what email marketing can do for your beauty business. In future articles and trainings, we’ll delve deeper into how email marketing can help you build your audience and business.
Feel free to let us know what you’d like to see more of as we help you build your business online.
As always …
We’re Dedicated To Your Success
Juliette & Robert
