How to Grow Leads With Email

By: Caryn Terradas

Email is critical. It is the difference between owning and renting a lead. If you are only using social media, you are taking a risk. Social media can shut down at any point, so you need people’s email addresses. In this blog, you will learn why email is important and how to get started with email marketing.??

Why Use Email Marketing?

Studies show that 99% of people want to see promotional emails. It can be hard to believe, but you are most likely just as guilty as everyone else. Do you love to get coupons and notifications about sales from your absolute favorite brand? Most people do!

91% of US consumers read emails every day. Every email subscriber on your email list will bring in $1 per month on average. This means if you have 100 people on your email list, they will bring you $100 each month. This is a national average across all industries. As long as you are consistent with your emails and use a call to action you are likely to get $1 per email.?

For every dollar you spend on your email marketing plan, you will make $42 on average. You might spend money paying a team, setting up emails, or sending them out, but it is worth it. This is one of the largest ROI rates of any digital marketing out there.?

64% of decision-makers read emails. If you are a business-to-business company this applies to you. There is no reason to be concerned that these statistics don’t apply to your business because statistics show that they do.?

98% of consumers will not buy the first time they visit your website. You have to build trust with customers to make sales. You need to touch contact more than once, and this is where email comes in.?

A message is five times more likely to be seen in an email than it is on Facebook. 70% of email readers will open an email from a brand because of an offer, sale, or deal. Email marketing converts three times more than social media.?

If you haven’t started your email list, start today. If you don’t start today, the next best time to start is tomorrow. Having an email list is a must for your business.?

Getting Started

If you don’t have an email list and getting started seems overwhelming, that is okay. Everyone has to start from somewhere. The first thing you should do is gather and clean your email list. If you have a customer base where people give you your email for communication, you can pull from that list. If you use QuickBooks, you can download emails from there. If you use Calendly you already have customer emails. You can get emails from anywhere that people have pre-agreed to receive communication from you. Remove AOL email addresses because they are notorious for spam. You should also remove duplicate email addresses.?

Don’t Buy an Email List

We often have people ask us why they can not simply buy an email list. Companies that advertise this don’t allow you to buy the list. Instead, you rent it from them. They send out emails for you. When you are done with your email campaign you can not see any of the emails you sent. You will also have a much smaller chance of gaining any kind of lead from these kinds of email lists. It is a very expensive lesson in cultivating your email list.?

Lead Capture

You need to have a lead capture in place to get more traction from email marketing. It can be a simple download, access to a video, a free infographic, a checklist, or any other small thing relating to your business. When people sign up with their email they will get something free from you. There has to be a reason for people to give you their email.?

Don’t Say Newsletter

No one wants your newsletter. The word has a bad connotation. It sounds like more boring spam in their email which we all have enough of. You must offer people sales, tips, education, or entertainment through your emails. Deliver what you promise to give them, and don’t use the word “newsletter.”

Why You Need a Great Download

The better your download is, the more emails you will get. If your download is easily accessible elsewhere, people are less likely to give you their email for it. If your offer is confusing or people don’t understand why they need it, they won’t sign up for it. Any kind of confusion will kill your chance of getting an email.?

Choose a Platform

After you get your email list, you need a platform to upload it to. We love MailChimp, but you are free to use any service that you find fit. Most providers allow you to send a couple of thousand emails for free. You do not have to start paying for the service until you get over 2,000 subscribers.??

Growing an Email List With Social Media

You can grow your email list with social media, all you have to do is ask. Of course, you want to offer something for free when you ask for emails.?

For example, you can say “If you sign up for our email list, we offer a free checklist download.”?

It’s your social media platform, so why not promote your email??

Subject Lines

If you plan on sending emails, you need to practice your subject lines. People will not read your email if they can not get past the subject line. Avoid fillers, make the subject clear, and get to the point. Questions work well. It takes practice to learn what works.?

Great Content

Your emails won’t work if you send the same thing over and over. Your content needs to be diverse and interesting to your audience. Have content that is interactive and engaging. If your emails are consistently boring people will stop opening them.?

Call to Action

People do not know what you want them to do. If you want someone to sign up for your Facebook page, tell them in the email. You can tell people where to click to watch a video or access a coupon. You can use incentives, or just tell them what to do.?

Analyze and Correct

The last step is figuring out what is working for you. The average open rate for all industries is 16.9%. The average click-through rate is 20%. If you have an average open rate of 80% but your click-through rate is 4%, you know something is wrong. If you have a list of 1000 people, but only 8 open your email, you need to work on the subject lines. Looking at your analytics can tell you if you have issues.?