As a company owner, you are always striving to increase your brand’s impact and exposure. What better approach to boost the efficacy of your marketing strategy — and the outcomes of lead generation — than with the tried-and-true method of inbound email marketing?
By contacting your clients personally and reminding them that they represent a pivotal role in your organization, you could increase your marketing strategy’s lead generation initiatives while also increasing brand awareness.
Learn about specific tactics for tech companies in our guide on Effective B2B Inbound Marketing Tactics for Tech Companies.
Improve your social media strategy with this guide on Social Media Inbound Marketing Strategy.
What is Email Marketing?
Email marketing is the practice of delivering a statement via email to a group of individuals. Email marketing may be defined broadly as any email delivered to a prospective or present consumer. There are a number of ways to use email marketing effectively. One way is to use email marketing to build relationships with potential and current customers. This can be done by sending out regular newsletters or special offers. Another way to use email marketing is to send out targeted emails to potential customers. This can be done by segmenting your email list and sending out emails that are relevant to that particular segment. Email marketing can also be used to increase your brand awareness or drive traffic to your website.
There are four categories of email marketing:
- Newsletter emails: These emails are sent on a regular basis to subscribers and usually include updates on company news, new product offerings, and other information that would be of interest to the reader.
- Acquisition emails: These emails are sent to potential customers in an effort to acquire new business. They typically include information about special offers or discounts.
- Promotional emails: These emails are sent to promote a specific product or service. They may include a coupon or other type of incentive to encourage the recipient to take action.
- Retention emails: These emails are sent to existing customers in an effort to retain their business. They may include information about new products or services, special offers, or simply a reminder that the company values their business.
Is Email Marketing Inbound or Outbound Marketing?
Outbound marketing has a rather limited set of ploys, such as advertising, direct mail, subsidiary marketing, etc. Usually, emails can only be sent to a contact when the latter inputs their email in a form or subscription box. Another way that companies can get people’s email addresses is through “enter your email to get a 15% discount” sort of thing. This is all ethical.
However, our world today is filled with paradoxes – some companies claim that they care about the customers, but then do something like this: buying other companies’ email contact list This thus gives the former less-ethical means of acquiring mailing lists. Because these people are not necessarily interested in the product or service advertised in the emails they would subsequently receive, the sender’s strategy would result in low ROI.
Email ought not be deemed outbound because the foundation of email marketing is a subscriber freely providing you with their details. Their contact information is being forwarded to your organization.
Inbound marketing seeks to generate organic consumer interest before distributing emails with promotional material to prospects who have subscribed. It largely exploits unpaid routes such as social media, search, and content channels to develop attention.
Both Inbound and Outbound marketing strategies use email campaigns, but the devil is in the details. Where outbound email marketing sends mass emails to many groups of un-segmented audiences, inbound email marketing sends specific emails to specific segments of prospects who would be interested in the email’s content.
Therefore, specific email marketing campaigns are a type of inbound marketing. Because inbound marketing is a process that attracts leads to your company. Similar to the aims of email campaigns, it is a method of generating leads, rather than seeking them out.
What is Inbound Email Marketing?
Email is one of the most effective tools for inbound marketing, as it allows businesses to send targeted content directly to customers and prospects. It involves creating email campaigns that target specific audiences, and then using email to drive traffic to your website or landing pages. Once on your website, visitors can take action such as signing up for your newsletter, downloading a white paper, or making a purchase.
Inbound email marketing is done after behavioral marketing studies are conducted and market segmentation is complete. In brief, behavioral marketing is an effective method of gathering data on customer behavior in order to precisely segment and target customers. This marketing strategy focuses on individual patterns of contact and activity in order to understand the specific motivations, interests, and demands of the target market.
Market segmentation is the process of categorizing prospective customers into groups or segments that have similar needs and responses to marketing activity. Market segmentation enables firms to target different sorts of purchasers who value various products and services differently.
Click here to know more about behavioral marketing and segmentation, which is also referred to as behavioral marketing segmentation.
Main Elements of Inbound Email Marketing
Audience:
Your audience is your first priority when creating an inbound email marketing campaign. When thinking about your audience, consider who you are trying to reach, their needs, and how your product or service can benefit them. Make your emails personal to your audience. You can do much more than inserting a first name into a generic message. To do so, take into account any information you have about your subscribers. You could for instance include the reason why they signed up to receive your emails. Keep these things in mind when creating your email list and developing your content.
Engagement:
Engagement is key to the success of any email marketing campaign. You want your audience to be engaged with your content so that they are more likely to open and click through your emails. There are a few things you can do to increase engagement, such as personalizing your emails, using images and videos, and offering incentives.
Content:
Your content is what will ultimately determine the success of your inbound email marketing campaign. Your content should be relevant, engaging, and valuable to your audience. It should also be aligned with your overall marketing goals. Before sending out emails to your subscribers, try to let them know what you will be sending them and how often they can expect to hear from you. This way, they know when to expect your email and they can prevent it from getting automatically sent to their spam folder.
Speed:
The goal of inbound marketing is to attract an audience that is interested in what you have to say. Content, such as blog posts, social media posts, and emails is meant to draw in potential customers. This process takes time. It can take months and years to build an email list of thousands. However, when it does reach your audience, you will be marketing to them with their consent, making it way more efficient than other ads.
How can email marketing fuel your overall inbound strategy?
Salesmate explains that because effective communication is essential to a prosperous marketing strategy, inbound email marketing is the right method for businesses of all sizes. Inbound marketing, as opposed to other marketing methods, relies on targeting, attracting, engaging, and delivering exemplary user experiences all throughout the buyer’s journey.
Emails are used in an efficient inbound marketing plan to raise brand awareness, attract potential customers, and close purchases. The following are some examples of how email marketing will help your entire inbound approach:
Reach your target market
Below are a couple reasons why inbound email marketing remains among the most successful methods of reaching your target audience:
- Most people regularly check their emails, sometimes multiple times a day, so you will remain on your prospects’ or clients’ radar.
- Inbound emails are usually personalized, so your recipients would feel unique.
However, many people open their emails (high CTR) but don’t interact. Thus, personalizing a follow-up email and restating your claim while including a powerful CTA will revamp your strategy and thus increase the probability of the recipients engaging with your brand.
Esteem your dedicated clients
Recipients who do open your emails and interact with you are categorized as loyal clients, and are thus highly-valuable contacts. A Salesmate article explains that clients who have been steady in their purchases and subscriptions must be given special consideration.
Email marketing to these individuals will enhance your client retention and sales. You could utilize email marketing to let devoted clients feel appreciated, which increases the likelihood of them referring others to your brand.
Rekindle your relationship with idle followers
As we’ve already mentioned, some people open the email you sent them but don’t interact with it. At times, these people are unknowingly waiting for a small push to take action – following your personalized emails and CTA buttons that should be strategically placed. Reach out to inactive followers with a personalized email and encourage them to re-engage with your brand by offering a promotion or sharing your brand’s latest news.
Convert abandoned shopping carts into profits
According to a study backlinked by Forbes, around 70% of online shoppers abandon their carts for a variety of reasons. Shoppers who abandon their cart at the penultimate moment may require clarification in order to complete the purchase. It has been proven that using inbound email marketing strategies to persuade the customer who has abandoned their cart to reevaluate their judgment is quite effective.
Boost web traffic
This mustn’t be a surprise. When your email is personable and appealing, people will want to know more about who you are and what you do. Today, one of the things that consumers care most about – whether they realize it or not – is feeling like they’re more than just a number on a list.
Inbound marketing aims to place your brand where it will be noticed by those who are focused on your offerings. Companies can use emails to send customized announcements to their target audience, informing them of deals that will be helpful to them. Using emails to bring your audience up to date on relevant content will enhance the regularity with which they visit your website.
Exceptional ROI
Prior to inbound marketing, firms implemented a variety of outbound techniques to communicate with the outside market, including cold calling, trade exhibitions, seminars, posters, cold emails, and the like. Outbound marketing tactics are expensive and can have a negative impact on a company’s financial performance and ROI.
In contrast, inbound marketing is extremely cost-effective. According to several statistics, inbound marketing tactics cost 61% less than traditional means of marketing. Email is an important element of inbound marketing since it helps to enhance ROI by concentrating on a specific audience and hence lowering the expenditure on lead generation.
Inbound Email Marketing Cost
There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, as the cost of inbound email marketing can vary depending on the size and scope of your campaign. However, as a general rule of thumb, you can expect to pay anywhere from $500 to $5,000 for a comprehensive inbound email marketing campaign.
Smart Tips for your Inbound Marketing Email Campaigns
Personalize your emails.
Your subscribers will appreciate receiving emails that are personalized to their interests. Use their name in the subject line and in the body of the email to make it more personal and catch their attention when they see your email in their inbox.
This will make it more likely that users open your email and actually read it!
Use compelling subject lines.
Your subject line is the first thing your subscribers will see, so make sure it’s catchy and interesting. Use actionable words, emojis, or shocking facts that will make them want to open your email. The more interesting your subject line is the more likely they will open it.
Your subject lines can look something like this:
- “Don’t miss out on our limited-time offer!”
- “Exclusive access to our new product line”
- “Join us for a free webinar on [topic]”
- “Introducing our newest [product/service] – [name]”
- “[name], are you still not using [product]?”
Use images and videos.
Images and videos can help your email stand out in a crowded inbox. While your customers might receive many loaded text emails, your email will be the most interesting to read. Images and videos can also help explain your message, make it more engaging, and convince your reader to take action.
Don’t forget to add the source of the images you include!
Use a strong call to action.
Your call to action should be clear and concise. It should tell your subscribers exactly what you want them to do, such as click on a link or buy a product. If you leave the readers with a vague call to action, they might lose interest and skip taking action all at once.
Here are some examples of direct call-to-action sentences that won’t confuse your reader:
- “Sign up now to get access to [x] through your email”
- “Click the link in our bio to learn more”
- “Click here to get started”
- “Enter your email to try it for free”
- “Add to cart”
Automate your email marketing.
Now that you have a list of subscribers and have been sending out great content, you need to start thinking about automating your email marketing. Email marketing automation can help you save time and money while making your marketing more effective. You can use email marketing automation to send out regular emails with new blog posts, send out special offers, and more. You can also use email marketing automation to segment your list so that you only send relevant emails to the right people. For example, you can set up a segment for people who have not opened an email in the last four weeks. This will help you target them with a different offer or some other type of email that is more likely to get them to engage with your business.
Test your email campaigns.
Email marketing is a great way to connect with your target audience and build relationships with them. But, if you don’t test your email marketing, you won’t know what’s working and what’s not. You should test different subject lines, send times, and email content to see what gets the best results. You can also test different segments of your list to see what works best for each group. Testing your email marketing will help you fine-tune your campaigns and get the best results possible.
Analyze your results.
You can’t improve your email marketing if you don’t analyze your results. You need to track your open rates, click-through rates, and unsubscribe rates. You should also track how many sales you generate from your email marketing. This will help you see which emails are performing the best and which ones need to be improved. Analyzing your email marketing will help you fine-tune your campaigns and get the best results possible.
Final Thoughts
Among the most successful ways to contact your prospects and loyal clients is through inbound email marketing. It promotes open communication and gives you numerous options for displaying the products and services that you would like the targeted buyer to encounter. Inbound email marketing will continue to flourish as a game-changing marketing technique, with email fueling the overall inbound strategy.
If you need help with your marketing strategy and feel like an inbound marketing approach will benefit you, don’t hesitate to contact us! We’ll be happy to hear from you and delighted to help you grow.
