How to Use Content Marketing and Email Marketing to Increase Sales

Several times in recent years so called marketing experts have run the death knell for email marketing – and yet it still remains one of the most popular; and most effective, methods of getting your message across.

In this article, we’re sharing our comprehensive guide on email marketing for small businesses.

Why Email Marketing for Small Businesses ?

That’s a really good question – and one which deserves an answer.

Email marketing for small businesses has a number of great benefits, including:

• Flexibility – You can get your message across any way you choose – and without any pesky character count
• Staying power – Recipients can keep an email in their inbox unlike social media posts which are fleeting
• Professionalism – An email doesn’t fall victim to the informality of social media
• Trust – Studies show that people trust well-written emails more than they do social media

The Guide to Email Marketing for Small Businesses

We’ve answered the why, now it’s time to move onto the how. In this section, we’re sharing tips on how to make your email marketing work for you and your business:

Watch Your Language

These days social media has kind of seduced us into an informality of language and, while this might be fine while chatting with friends, it’s not great for business.

When composing business emails, your tone should be friendly and interesting, but professional at all times. “Avoid some jokes and controversial topics. If your business partners lack a sense of humor, it’s their loss, but they can be your loss if they feel offended and opt out from the deal.” – adds team lead at MakoLab

A Sticky Subject

Every business email needs a great subject line – and this is probably the trickiest part of the whole endeavor.

Your subject line needs to tell the recipient what the email is going to be about while, at the same time, being enticing enough to get them to open it.

Also, be aware of avoiding certain phrases which Google marks as spam.

The Do’s

• Do make your subject line grabby
• Do personalise
• Do make good use of questions
• Do spellcheck your subject line
• Do use FOMO
• Do use imagery if appropriate

The Dont’s

• Don’t be tempted to use sensationalism – as in “you NEED to read this” or “Make MILLIONS from this email” – this is tacky and will often be confused for spam
• Don’t use punctuation if you can avoid it – a short pithy sentence always works best
• Don’t use emojis unless you’re targeting teenagers
• Don’t use the word “hey”. Ever.

Tell ‘em what you’re gonna tell ‘em

Your email should begin with a short introduction to yourself and your business along with a brief precis of the content of the email.

This is your chance to grab attention and ensure that the recipient reads on to the content of the email.

Cracking Content

This is, of course, the nuts and bolts of your email and so you should take the time to make sure that you get it right.

Explain the product or service that you’re selling and how it may benefit the recipient.

Again, avoid aggressive or salesy language and maintain a friendly and informative tone.

Where possible, infuse a little of your own story here to allow the reader to visualize themselves using your product or service.

A Killer Call to Action

We probably don’t need to tell you that the end of your email is just as – if not more – important than its beginning when it comes to email marketing for small businesses.

Your email should end with a clear and concise call to action which leaves the reader in no doubt as to what you want them to do.

This is not a time to get too clever as this may confuse the reader.

Whether you’re asking them to click a button, reply to your email, make a call or visit your website, this needs to be made crystal clear.

Where possible, avoid including a link in your call to action as this may be ignored for fear that it’s a phishing attempt.

Email Marketing Calendar: Simplified

An Email Marketing Calendar is a great tool for small businesses to keep their email campaigns organized and consistent.

A calendar helps keep your emails regular and engaging. It aligns your content with your goals and key dates like holidays and sales, and it lets you track and improve past campaigns. Plus, it keeps your team coordinated.

Start by setting clear goals for your emails. Then, mark important dates on your calendar, like holidays or sales events. Plan your content themes and the types of emails you want to send. Schedule when to send each email and assign tasks if you have a team.

Be flexible and adapt your plan as needed. Test different approaches to find what works best, and regularly review your calendar to see how your emails are performing.

Using an Email Marketing Calendar makes connecting with your audience easier and helps you achieve your business goals.

Nailing the Mailing

Composing business emails is an art – and one that you can learn with a bit of practice.

The objective is to concisely convey who you are, what you do and how you can help the reader. While a little about yourself can be useful, the recipient doesn’t have the time – or the inclination – to plough through your entire life story; save that for your blogs.

Keep your tone friendly but not over-friendly for the best results and, always always, perform tests to figure out what’s working and what’s not.

When contacting or updating customers, email can be your new best friend as long as it's used properly. Always remember that this is not social media and these are not your friends and you shouldn’t go too far wrong.

If you want your sales to boom, you need to get your brand noticed and make people talk about it.

This truth was well-known to anyone since ancient times.

From leaflets and public announcements to digital marketing technologies, marketing has always been changing to target specific groups of customers better.

However, it’s the content that matters.

The catchier and more informative it is, the more visitors you’ll convert into customers.

That is why content marketing and content creation are booming in the era of e-commerce.

Finding a great web content writer is not, however, a piece of cake.

For example, you can be sure that you can find a great essay writer online if you go to EssayWritingService website.

But skilled content writers are quite hard to find.

Content marketing, which consists of many subfields, drives sales up better than any other trigger.

That’s why this field is worth studying if you want to shape your content strategy and make the most of it.

Use Content Marketing to Increase Sales

Here is what you should know about content marketing for it to increase your sales:

 

Content Marketing Strives to Inform Readers

Far gone are the times when you could simply approach a potential customer with a great call-to-action.

The customers of today are more demanding than ever.

Website visitors tend to study the product you offer before actually making a purchasing decision.

This is where your content helps.

By creating great content, you help your customers find solutions to their problems.

The more consistent and detailed you are in your blog, the more inclined they feel to buy from you.

Quite often, the quality of your content matters more than the price of the product.

People may buy from you even if the competitor has a cheaper offer.

Content Marketing Makes Your Website Appear in Search Engines

You must have heard of SEO techniques, otherwise, you wouldn’t be wondering about content marketing that much.

Indeed, content marketing specialists make your website more optimized according to search engine algorithms. This also includes resolving 403 status code issues, optimizing images, removing broken links, and more.

That means it appears higher and more frequently in search results, should someone type relevant keywords.

SEO optimization is required for every company interested in developing its online presence.

If its web content doesn’t meet the requirements set by Google or any other search engine, it will never acquire a customer.

Content Marketing Helps to Convert Readers

Still, you need to hook your customers when explaining the value of products that you offer.

Content marketing experts know exactly how to add a call-to-action so that it doesn’t read as if you are trying to upsell them.

For example, “buy XYZ” is not a correct way to convert your reader today.

Best content marketing practices suggest that you finish your article with an interesting CTA that doesn’t distract them in any way.

A subtle link to your product listing with a carefully selected pun will do better.

Content Marketing Is More Than Just Written Content

It’s wrong to assume that content marketing deals with written content only.

On the contrary, content marketers also prepare guides and video tutorials to catch your customers’ attention even more.

People love to put faces to businesses, so having someone show and discuss the best features of a product you offer will definitely help to convert some visitors into customers.

Such videos, despite being ads, are informative and comprehensive enough and help clients make up their minds about buying.

Content Marketing Helps Customers Navigate Reviews

Another great aspect of content marketing is customer interaction.

The Customer Testimonials section on your website not only makes clients see how others feel about your product or service but also creates a perception that they belong to a brand community.

Again, customer feedback can help you fish clients out of the pool of visitors.

For example, every client review can go with a message like “Get Your Own” or “See More” to convert a visitor into a customer.

Even if 10% of those who visited the Testimonials page buy something, that’s a big achievement already.

Content Marketing Diversifies Your Content

Product pages are not the only content that is covered by content marketing.

Actually, there is a lot more information you should convey on your website to make it interesting and appealing to customers.

If you want your business to be successful, make your intention to sell as subtle as possible.

Content marketers work on landing pages, blog posts, social media presence, and many other aspects that don’t specify product details but help you sell.

They try to tell how clients’ problems can be solved while subtly mentioning the products you offer.

Final Words

Turn content marketing into your strength and you’ll see how your sales volumes boost.

If your content catches the attention and your information provides valuable insight, you are likely to enjoy your business growth in no time.

After all, it’s always communication that matters.

Now, however, this communication is being mostly done online.