Email marketing is an integral piece for a successful sales funnel. The biggest benefit of email marketing over social media is that you own your list. On social media, you can get shut down at any time. You wake up one day to find that your whole page is unpublished and you have no idea what to do next. Email marketing is different. Yes, you still have rules, emails can bounce, and you can even get a domain blacklisted, but the rules are easier to understand (be kind, don’t spam people are the basics) and your list is yours forever and always. You know exactly who you are talking to, who read the email and who clicked on your links. You are building a two-way relationship that you can nurture and grow.

But (you knew there would be one, right?) email takes more time.

You have to come up with ideas, designs, and contact lists before you can even start to schedule. And from there, you need to build your customer’s journey with calls to action and perhaps drip campaigns… and STOP! Let’s not fall down a rabbit hole here. Let’s go back to the first step and break that into bite-size pieces.

Ideas for your email marketing campaigns

The Onboarding Email

This is the first email you send out when you have a new client or a new subscriber. It’s a basic hello email. Now, I don’t want to make you nervous, but this is the email where you establish your rapport with your customers. The voice you use – formal, casual, fun – is the voice your customers will expect from you. We always recommend casual as it’s the easiest way to build a relationship, but it all depends on your audience. I wouldn’t be too casual if I was writing for a funeral home, but a staffing firm could add in a joke or two!

The Review/ Testimonial Email

This could be an email where you request a review from your customer or it could be the email where you encourage a sale by sharing a really good testimonial. My recommendation: don’t ask a client for a review until their project is complete or they have worked with you for at least three months.

Product Launch/ Product Sale/ Person Joined

The news email boosts credibility and gives your clients an opportunity to reach out to you. Proving you’re alive and growing might seem like a silly reason to email someone, but you’d be amazed how many contacts we receive after sending out an update.

The Invitation

Are you hosting a game of virtual bingo? Are you sponsoring a movie premiere? Are you simply going to a networking event? Why not invite a client?

The Lesson (ie the blog)

This is probably the most common email sent out. We send out emails to let our followers know that there’s a new blog, or a downloadable resource. After all, the end goal of your job is the same as mine and the same as every other person’s: we are all here to help someone.

The Event

Something happened. We reacted. Here’s how that affects you. This is the email that companies scrambled to create in March 2020 when we all started working from home, in bubbles, with masks and a daily shower of sanitizer (a.k.a. COVID-19).

The Value To You

The value to you comes soon after the onboarding email and should make a recurrence every now and then. Every company at some point attempts to write its value proposition. This is a huge endeavor (I know because I’m asked to write it at least once a year), where everyone who’s anyone at the company gets to give their two cents on the company’s main value to clients. Here’s a little secret: making a big deal of this task will make the task exponentially more difficult.

You know your value. So, soon after your introduction email, explain it to your new contact. Then, show them how this value worked out for another client. Be specific – use graphs and stats – but, keep it light as well. This one is a more difficult, but vital email. If you need help, reach out to us for a quote: https://abaskmarketing.com/quote/

The Holiday

It’s a holiday! Let’s email people! Let’s send them a cute little email to say we’re all celebrating together.

(Also include any special offers or dates you’ll be closed)

Your birthday!

It’s your connection’s birthday! This couldn’t be a more perfect time to send an easy and personalized message! Check out niftyimages.com to set up personalized messages each time.

Loyalty Rewards

At Abask Marketing, we love to set up loyalty programs for our clients. Doesn’t matter what business you’re in, we can create one for you! We have created loyalty programs for staffing firms, healthcare companies, cruise lines, and insurance agents. This list it as one email, but with a loyalty program, we actually have hundreds of new opportunities to email clients.

Want to know more about setting up a loyalty program? Get in touch here: https://abaskmarketing.com/contact

We noticed…

You’re following your client on social media, right? You have Google Alerts set up for each customer, right?

So, when you see an update, you have an email topic:

• “Congratulations on your new office!”
• “You had a baby? Congrats!”
• “You are sponsoring a golf tournament? How do I get involved?”

My Recommendation To You

This is a tricky email to create. To send a recommendation for someone’s business, you really need to have the right tone. You are pointing out an area in which they could improve, but written poorly, it could come across as if you’re putting them down. I like to word it in a way that says, “I see how fast you’re growing! It must be hard to keep up with everything. I noticed that your website hasn’t been updated in a while. If you are overwhelmed, we could help with that.”

So, there you have it! A quick rundown of 12 of the emails we send out each year. I’d love to hear what you think. Leave us a comment below.