Most people tend to neglect email communication in favour of newer, trendier platforms. Unfortunately, for those who underestimate the power of email marketing, it still reigns king of the communication jungle.

Did you know that email marketing users have a reported ROI ratio of 30:1? This means they make R30 for every R1 spent. And if that hasn’t convinced you, there’s plenty more where that came from!

Keen to learn more about the world of email marketing? Keep reading for the ultimate guide to email marketing for small businesses.

What is Email Marketing?

Email marketing is all about using emails to get your business out there. It’s a helpful tool that’s often used for several marketing purposes such as:

• Promoting products and services
• Incentivising loyal customers
• Promoting lead generation
• Improving brand awareness

One of the most sought-after benefits of email marketing is that it allows you to target specific groups of people, making it easy to connect with customers, stakeholders, potential leads and others you need to engage with.

5 Steps to Kickstart your Email Marketing Journey

Look, we get it: all this jargon about email marketing can get a bit much. So, that’s why we’ve compiled 5 simple steps to get you going (without needing a dictionary to figure it out).

1. Consider your email marketing goals

Imagine setting out on a journey with no destination. Understanding your goals will help you navigate the way you end up achieving them. Your objectives will guide several key components such as the type of campaigns you create, the type of content you curate, who you target, and ultimately, how you measure success.

Here are some of the goals you could aim to achieve by using email marketing:

• Generating traffic to your site
• Driving sales
• Communicating effectively with your audience
• Creating a strong community/customer base

Looking to give your marketing efforts a boost? Check this out for 6 ways to market your online business!

2. Start building your email marketing list

There are several ways to build your email list. It all boils down to using the current platforms you use to engage with your audience to make them aware that you send out promotional emails, newsletters with tips, or any other type of email communications.

Some of the most popular ways to do this include pop-ups with calls to action on your website and reminders on your social media platforms with links to sign up.

Sometimes, a reminder just isn’t enough to build your list. Remember, people like incentives. You can also consider offering a discount, voucher or prize to convince potential subscribers to sign up.

3. Choose the types of email marketing campaigns you’d like to try

There are quite a few types of email campaigns to consider. These include newsletters, marketing offers, announcements, event invitations, etc.

Here’s a brief overview of different campaigns to try:

• Newsletters: To keep in touch with existing customers
• Marketing offers: To drive sales
• Announcements: To keep existing customers informed about your latest products or services and anything else concerning your business
• Event invitations: To connect with your regular customers and share details of upcoming events
• Thought leadership: To share interesting developments in the industry

Remember, the key to deciding which types will work for you is understanding what you’re aiming to achieve with a specific campaign.

4. Start creating your first campaign

Creating your first email campaign can be a little intimidating, but with the help of email templates and a quick run-through of what the ideal email campaign looks like, you’ll be well on your way in no time!

Here are some key tips to remember when creating your email campaign:

• Your headline, subject lines and preview text should be succinct and attention-grabbing
• Keep it light: Your emails shouldn’t be text-heavy
• Adding visuals is your ticket to engagement success!
• Structure your email with easy reading in mind
• Always include a call to action

Not sure where to start? Have a look at these resources to get your hands on some cool templates for mahala!

• Campaign Monitor
• HubSpot
• Totango

It’s showtime! Hit publish when you’ve perfected your email campaign and get ready to see how well it performed.

5. Measure your progress

Lastly, you’ll need to measure and monitor your campaign’s performance. Remember those goals you set out in the first step? Now it’s time to determine whether you’ve achieved them. A lot of people tend to neglect this step because it can get a bit technical. To accurately measure email performance, you will need to use your email marketing or web analytics tools. It's also a good idea to secure your emails with email authentication protocols such as DKIM and record them with the appropriate tool.

Most tools will give you detailed reports that include information like:

• Emails not opened
• Bounce rate (how many subscribers the email couldn’t be delivered to)
• Open rate (percentage of subscribers who opened the email)
• Click-through rate (percentage of subscribers who clicked on a link in the email)

Ready to Level Up Your Small Business with Email Marketing?

If you haven’t been able to wrap your head around email marketing, we hope this simple guide has made things easier to understand and implement.

Looking for more marketing tips? Check out this Small Business Guide to SEO Marketing.