Email marketing for small & medium size business (SMB)

In the fast-paced world of digital marketing, small businesses often find themselves trying to compete with larger businesses that have massive marketing budgets. This is where organic marketing strategies like SEO and email marketing comes into play. Not only are they cost-effective but also super efficient.

We’ve already talked about SEO in the past, and in this blog we’ll talk about email marketing and how it can be helpful for small & medium-sized businesses.

Benefits of email marketing for SMB

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) face unique challenges when it comes to marketing. Typically operating with limited budgets and resources, SMBs need marketing strategies that offer the highest ROI while consuming less time and other resources.

This is where email marketing shines and benefits SMBs a lot in various aspects. Here are some of the benefits of email marketing for SMBs:

1. Cost-effectiveness: Email marketing is one of the most cost-effective marketing channels that doesn’t require a high budget. If you are just starting, then you can simply use a free email marketing tool like EmailOctopus and start sending marketing emails in no time.
2. High return on investment (ROI): One of the standout features of email marketing is its high ROI. Research consistently shows that email marketing delivers an impressive return on investment, often outperforming other digital marketing channels like paid ads. Email marketing is a clear winner for SMBs looking to maximise the value of their marketing spend.
3. Direct communication with your audience: Email marketing allows you to establish a direct line of communication with your audience. When subscribers opt-in to receive emails from you, they express a genuine interest in your products or services. This helps you to share valuable information, promotions, and updates with an audience already engaged and interested in your business.
4. Segmentation for targeted messaging: Segmentation is super important when it comes to marketing, and email marketing has all the bells and whistles needed for it. By dividing your email list into different segments based on characteristics like purchase history, location, or interests, you can send highly targeted emails. This personalisation increases the relevance of your emails, leading to higher engagement and conversion rates.
5. Measurable results: Most email marketing tools like EmailOctopus allow you to measure the performance of your campaigns with the help of in-built analytics. You can easily track metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and much more. This helps you keep improving your email marketing plans by using real-time information.
6. Enhanced customer relationships: Building strong and lasting relationships is important for SMBs. By sending relevant content, personalised recommendations, and exclusive offers, you can create a sense of loyalty and trust among your subscribers.

Types of marketing emails for SMB

There are several types of marketing emails that small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) can use to engage their audience effectively. Let’s explore some of the most common and impactful types of marketing emails:

1. Newsletter

Newsletters are a cornerstone and most common type of email marketing for SMBs. They provide a consistent way to keep your audience informed and engaged.

Here’s why they are so effective:

• Content delivery: Newsletters allow you to share valuable content with your subscribers. Whether it’s industry news, how-to guides, or company updates, newsletters deliver information directly to your audience’s inbox.
• Building authority: Consistently delivering valuable and helpful content helps you become an authority in your niche. This builds trust and credibility among your subscribers, making them more likely to choose your products or services.
• Engagement: Newsletters are also a great way to encourage engagement by using interactive elements like polls, surveys, and social media links.

Here are some newsletter email examples:

1. This newsletter email example from Google is all about Bard, showing all the new Bard updates, behind-the-scenes at Bard, marketing buzz around Bard, etc. Just like this, you can also share such content with your users via email.

2. This email from Butter has a crisp and to-the-point content, just sharing essential information with users.

3. Brightscout’s this email is a mid-year email that contains everything they wanted to share with their users.

2. Promotional Emails

Promotional emails are designed to drive sales and conversions. These emails are a great way to showcase your products or services to your subscribers and motivate them to make a purchase.

Key points to consider here:

• Product highlight: Use promotional emails to showcase your best products or services. It lets you highlight unique features and benefits to convert subscribers.
• Limited-time offers: Emails also let you create a sense of urgency with limited time promotions and offers. Phrases like “limited stock” or “exclusive offer” can motivate subscribers to take action quickly.
• Clear call to action (CTA): Every promotional email should have a clear and compelling CTA. Whether it’s “Get Early Access,” or “Claim Your Discount,” making it easy for subscribers to take the desired action.

Here are some promotional email examples for SMBs:

1. This email from Buoy is sharing with customers about their 20% off offer on all products. You can also use such emails to promote offers or products among your subscribers.

2. Vimeo is promoting its campaign “Outside the Frame” by sending this email to its users.

3. In this email, Frontman invites its customers to focus on skincare in spring.

3. Review/Feedback Emails

Reviews and feedback are great tools for marketing, along with social proof. They provide essential marketing materials and can be repurposed as marketing material.

Things to keep in mind:

• Simplify the process: The first and most important point that needs to be kept in mind is that the feedback submission process should be effortless for your subscribers. Having a complex flow would cause a lot of drop-offs.
• Motivate your customers: If you want to run a successful feedback collection campaign, then it’s essential to motivate your customers by offering something in return. This could a something like a credit or a gift card,

Here are some review or feedback email examples for SMBs:

1. In this example, Grammarly is asking its users to leave a review if they liked the product, saying their opinion counts.

2. InVision, in this email, asks its subscribers to fill out a survey, so they can use the data in their Trend Report.

3. Here, Mack Weldon emailed its customers who’ve recently made a purchase from them to ask them to fill out a survey. It will help them understand whether they liked the product.

Conclusion

Email marketing is a great tool to help small and medium-sized businesses get attention from their target audience and even increase conversions.

You can include different email types in your marketing strategy to achieve a well-rounded and effective approach. By delivering valuable content, promoting your offerings, and leveraging segmentation, you can build a strong and loyal customer base.