When Your Leads Aren’t Ready to Buy
Our last several blogs focused on driving site traffic and generating leads. Now, we want to focus on those leads and continue the conversation with people who have shown an interest in your products and services. It’s important to remember that not all leads are ready to buy immediately. As a result, it’s critical to stay on these prospects’ radars by offering value as they move through the sales cycle toward the ultimate goal: converting into a customer.
One of the best ways to keep in touch with prospective and current customers? Email marketing.
Email Marketing Delivers Proven Results and Impressive ROI
Think email marketing is dead, outdated, and obsolete? Guess again. In today’s culture of all things social media, email strategies often get a bad rap for being a more (gasp!) traditional marketing strategy. However, there’s a reason why email has earned its status as a classic resource for enterprises across every industry.
In fact, many entrepreneurs are surprised to learn that email campaigns continue to be the primary driver of customer acquisition and retention. Email marketing also outpaces many other marketing strategies based on sheer return on investment. Recent reports show that an email campaign’s average ROI is $36 for every $1 spent, providing beyond a doubt that it has earned its place in any marketing mix.
Create Marketing Emails That Keep The Sales Cycle Moving Forward
When sending a marketing email, keep these tips in mind:
Get Specific
Marketing emails typically deliver the best results when they focus on a particular product/service or a particular offer/special. You should also segment your list to create a campaign that best resonates with different demographics. For example, if you offer a product for men and a similar product for women, you should consider sending a separate email to each of these audiences.
Don’t Over Send
Sending too many emails increases the chances of a lead unsubscribing completely from your campaigns. As a general rule of thumb, try not to send more than a maximum of two emails per week.
Solve Problems
Remember, just like other digital campaigns, marketing email content should focus on solving your readers’ problems. You don’t always have to be selling something in the email. Providing the leads with helpful information is a good way to get their attention. The content offer discussed in a previous blog is an excellent example of solving a problem and re-engaging a lead.
Experiment
Test different subject lines. Your leads will only read your email if they are interested enough to open it. Try sending alternate subject lines to a smaller group (25% of your list), choose the best performing option and send that to the rest of the list.
Automated & Follow Up Emails Can Also Help Convert Leads
Add every generated lead to an automated sequence (3-5 emails, spaced out every few days) that provide value and a call-to-action that directs them to the next step you want them to take.
Pro Tip
Always make sure that leads who do continue to the next stage of the selling process are removed from the email sequence.
You’ll want to automate an abandoned cart email if you have an eCommerce site. We’ve all gotten distracted in the middle of placing an online order — an automated email delivers an easy nudge reminding them to complete the sale.
Finally, consider sending an upsell or additional services email after a completed sale or a completed project. Even current customers may not know about everything you offer, so this is a good opportunity to offer them additional solutions.
Get Your Email Campaign Started Today
Green Tulip Design creates and implements effective digital marketing campaigns. Contact us today to learn more about leveling online marketing strategies for your business.
