Email marketing is the cornerstone of automation for most entrepreneurs online.
It is an inexpensive and efficient way to market to your target audience to increase your profitability.
One way to achieve this is by giving them a tremendous amount of value continually over time. However, In order to do this, you have to understand what type of information is valuable to them.
Identifying the value your target audience wants from you can be very rewarding. It will ensure that you are sending the highest quality of information to the highest qualified leads.
I’m talking about true marketing efficiency here. Sending the real good stuff to those prospects who have raised their hands to receive it while not bothering the rest on your list.
How would you feel if you received an email that read “ If it is your birthday this month…HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”. I bet you wouldn’t feel special at all. But, I see entrepreneurs take this brute force approach to email marketing all the time.
Most entrepreneurs don’t realize this approach will actually do more harm than good. They end up sending out a newsletter to their entire list about information that only pertains to a few.
Hopefully this post will put an end to it in your business and get your marketing back on point. Lets see how to remove this “shot-in-the-dark” marketing approach…
Introducing Segmentation
The more targeted you can be with your marketing the more conversions you can expect. This is the role of segmentation.
Segmentation provides a means of identifying exactly who is doing what in your funnel and what type of information they want from you. The more you segment your list the more specific you can get with your call-to-action.
The most specific call-to-action is asking for the sale. So if you want to get more sales out of your email marketing, segmentation is the key.
Segmentation can be broken down into 3 message groups. Understanding what you can expect out of these 3 groups will go a long way in your marketing efforts.
1. Everybody Messages
This is where everybody starts but it is crucial that you do not to stay here. When you first begin building your list you’re probably offering something like a newsletter or ezine as weekly content.
Information like this is good for your entire list. However, it isn’t very targeted. Meaning your call-to-action cannot be very specific since it is going out to such a broad group.
The goal with these types of messages is to educate, display expertise, and build trust with your prospects.
2. Special Interest Messages
The next level in your marketing funnel is identifying what interests your prospects may have. When someone opts in for your main offer it is often times a good indicator that there is other content of yours they are likely to be interested in.
This is why, eventually, it is recommended that you create more than just a single offer to build your list. Inviting someone to get a weekly newsletter simply isn’t enough.
For instance…a fitness coach may have an offer on how to workout without weights. Then to identify the special interests of his prospects they may have an offer about healthy eating or workouts you can do at home.
The point is to dig deeper with your marketing. The more you can figure out about your prospects wants and needs, the more effective you will be as a marketer. Multiple offers will make this process a bit easier.
3. Action Based Messages
This is where the magic happens. Action based messages are messages sent on behalf of an action your prospect has taken in your funnel. I also refer to this as Behavioral Based marketing.
It’s based on the premise that people may not always tell you what they want, but they will always show you. You just have to know how to interpret their actions.
The strongest action someone can ever take in your business is to purchase your product. However, there are actions that lead up to the sale that you will want to measure and adjust your marketing to.
For instance…someone may opt in to your original offer. Then later you may have realized they started following you on multiple social media platforms. They may have also downloaded other resources of yours. Finally, they attend a webinar or live training of yours.
No matter what they say (or don’t say), you can tell by their actions that they are a hot lead in your funnel and are hungry for more content from you.
Your marketing should reflect that.
Your Takeaway
It’s easy to get started in email marketing, but it takes more strategy and intention to be truly successful at it. The more you know about your prospects and customers, the more accurately you should be marketing to them.
Sending broad messages to your entire list leaving it up to them to filter themselves out will never produce massive results in a short amount of time.
Make a point to learn all you can about the interests of your list. Measure the actions they are taking. Then show them you respect their inbox by sending them valuable content that you know they want to read.
UPDATE:
How fitting…I found an infographic that confirms the effectiveness of targeted email marketing. Check it out…
Monetate Marketing Infographics
