Last Updated on July 29, 2024 by Chief Pajama Officer

On October 4, 2021, the world went dark and everyone lost their minds. Facebook was down and businesses could no longer communicate with their followers. Cue in the businesses who had an email strategy. Billions of dollars in online sales weren’t made that day. Because many businesses failed to implement email marketing. So what is email marketing?

Email Marketing 101?

Email marketing is a form of direct marketing via email. It allows you to promote your products and service your customers.

However, it should not be looked at for just that. These emails can also be used for brand awareness, increasing customer trust and communication in general.

Let me share with you an example of how email marketing works…

  1. You collect an email (via social media, in person or through a landing page).
  2. You put them into your list. This triggers an autoresponder sequence (Set of prepared emails).
  3. The first email is sent that is a welcome email that introduces yourself and your business.
  4. The next few days, emails are sent informing them of your product.
  5. At this point, your customer will know your product and may purchase.
  6. An email is sent to congratulate them on their purchase
  7. An email is sent a few days later to follow up.

So all you needed to do was write those emails and add that email to your list. Automation at its best. Do you see the value of this?

On top of this, you can create newsletters that you can send at anytime to provide relevant information, communicate future offers and to stay top of mind.

Email is one of the foundational pieces of the internet. It is not going away. And people will continue to check on their emails hoping to find your offer.

What Do I Need to Start?

You need an email marketing service provider like GetResponse or AWeber. There many others like Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign and ConvertKit to name a few.

Each email marketing service provider should provide at least the most standard features like list management, email templates, being able to send newsletters, and automating emails via an autoresponder.

Many platforms are looking to be more competitive and have features like split testing, segmentation, third party integrations or their very own landing page builder where you can create pages to capture emails. Having a built in landing page builder makes it more cost effective for you as a business owner as that means one less tool to have to purchase and manage.

Tips

DO NOT EVER buy an email list. Work on building your list through free or paid traffic strategies. Social media is a great way to have your audience opt-in to your list. Endorsed Email Traffic or Solo Ads is another way to quickly build your list.

Be aware of email regulations that exist as it is your responsibility to know which laws apply to you. In the United States there is the CAN-SPAM Act. In Canada there is the Canadian Anti-Spam Law (CASL). The European Union has their own called the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Don’t just use it as a selling tool. Communicate with your customers letting them know that you appreciate them. Provide value with relevant information or suggestions to help build your relationship with the customer. Engage with them so that they reply to your emails and provide feedback that could help your business in ways you never thought of.

Summary

By implementing email marketing, you will have an additional channel to build trust with your customers and also add increase revenue generation. And when Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or any other social platform takes a dunk, you’ll still be able to communicate with your people.

There are many platforms to choose from. But the one that I recommend and use daily is GetResponse as this is what I use today with many of my campaigns.

But, if you are you are just starting out, I have been hearing great things about AWeber. This platform allows you to use its host of features for free until your list hits 500.

You can always move your email list to another platform or email marketing service provider by exporting and importing via CSV.

I hope this has been informational for you. If you aren’t already, join our Facebook Group and I’ll see you inside.