If you are just starting out with your online business, you’ll notice that competition is fierce. The moment you start signing up for Social Media networks, you’ll find hundreds or maybe even thousands of similar online businesses just like yours.
If you want to stand a fighting chance, you’ll need to entice your readers to come back.
You see, it’s not about the initial sale. It’s about the sale after the first sale. To do that, you’ll want to engage with your customers every step of the way.
You want your readers/customers to know who you are and what you present the moment they hear about your brand name.
As an online business, you’re probably not going to have a physical storefront for customers to physically show up. Instead, you should use email marketing to entice your customers to revisit your website/store.
Do you have an email list set up already? If not, you can learn how to build an email list with AWeber here.
Why Email Marketing Is Relationship Marketing
It’s quite simple, email marketing enables you to contact your subscribers (who hopefully subscribed because you enticed them with the right reason).
It’s also extremely cost-effective compared to the common PPC Method where you pay for traffic.
The problem with PPC is that, if you don’t capture a method of contact (email address), you won’t be able to reach out to this customer again without spending more money on advertisements.
Here’s some research information for you:
- According to Venture Beat, email has an average ROI of $38.00 for every dollar spent.
- Email marketing is nearly 40X more effective than Facebook and Twitter combined.
Do keep in mind, email marketing is just a marketing strategy. How you implement it into your business is going to determine the outcome.
The reason why email marketing is so effective at building relationships is because it gives you to connect with your customers regularly.
So let’s say you decide to do some email marketing. Everything went well and you collected some leads. It’s not going to do you any good if you’re not reaching out to your leads.
How To Effectively Build A Relationship Through Email Marketing
Just because someone signs up to your email list, it doesn’t mean you’re in the clear. They can still unsubscribe at any time or simply ignore all of your emails.
Your job actually starts the moment they sign up to your email list. It is your job to earn their trust and that can be very challenging.
Getting one sale does NOT mean you are successful. True success comes after you’re able to get your customers to come back to buy more.
Tip #1. Use Email Marketing As Part Of Your Content Marketing Strategy
People who subscribe to your email list are extremely interested in your blog and what it has to offer. And that’s why email marketing is a great way to promote your content to your subscribers.
Yes, you are giving away free content without charging a dime, but that’s okay. It’s not always about the money. In fact, your goal is to provide amazing value to your subscribers to build trust.
Once you build enough trust with your subscribers, they might even share your content on their social platforms which bring in more potential subscribers.
Let me ask you a question: Would you buy from someone you don’t know or someone who you trust?
And that’s why email marketing and content marketing works hand in hand.
Tip #2. Don’t Buy An Email List
I know it can be tempting to just buy an email list. It saves a ton of time without having to get them on your own. However, the problem with this approach is that these people never gave you permission to contact them.
Which means, you are potentially violating the CAN-SPAM Act.
Let’s say you don’t get in trouble for the CAN-SPAM Act, but because these people never gave you permission to contact them. They’re probably not going to open or respond to your emails.
If people mark your emails as spam, you may end up getting blacklisted by your email marketing service provider. Which can result in account terminations?
Buying an email list is the worst way to go if you want to build a relationship through email marketing.
Learn how to build an email list the right way with AWeber.
Tip #3. Don’t Overdo It With Sales Pitches
You’re trying to operate a profitable business and generating sales is the key. But don’t overdo it with sales pitches.
In fact, if you want to build a relationship with your subscribers, providing helpful information is going to get you closer to that goal.
By trying to pitch in a sale every time you send an email. Your subscribers will find it less trustworthy because you will be viewed as a salesperson instead.
Offer a good balance of helpful information as well as promotional offers.
The best way to approach this is by letting your subscribers know in advance. During your welcome email, you can include what they’ll be expecting from you going forward.
And always give your subscribers an option to unsubscribe.
Tip #4. List Segmentation
Segmenting your email list is a great way to nurture your leads. By segmenting your list, you can send targeted email campaigns based on where your prospect is in the sales funnel.
For example, someone who already knows about you and your brand should receive different offers than a new lead who just subscribed to your newsletter.
Tip #5. Personalize Your Emails
Remember, people who are on your email list is not just names. They are real people who want to hear from you. That’s why I recommend you to personalize your emails.
If you have a massive list, it’s far too much work to personalize something for individuals. But what you can do is use the codes provided by your email marketing service providers to automatically fill in information such as first and last names.
By addressing your subscribers by their full name, it feels much personal.
In Conclusion
Email marketing is a great way to build a relationship because people who subscribe to your newsletter is taking an extra step showing interest in you and your company.
In return, you should provide extra value to your subscribers such as valuable content and promotional offers that actually benefits them.
If you only view your subscribers as customers, you’re going to have a hard time building any form of long term relationship.
Show your subscribers that you care about their best interest. Show your subscribers that you are here to help them as a friend.
In the end, people who trust you will be the ones who visit your website more often and will likely be some of your repeat customers.
I hope this was helpful! If you need help with anything else, please let me know by leaving a comment down below.
Kind Regards,
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