10 Great Benefits of Email Marketing for Small Businesses (with ideas)

As a small business owner, are emails still one of the best channels for marketing your small business?

One might think this tool is outdated, because people don’t use email as much as they used to.

However, this is not the case.

In fact, email remains one of the most effective marketing channels because it has a higher return on investment than any other marketing channel.

The return on investment (ROI) for email marketing is the highest of all marketing forms, averaging £33 for every £1 invested.

Because of this high ROI level, it’s no wonder that companies large and small still rely on email marketing as one of their powerful marketing strategies.

It’s not just ROI that makes email marketing worthwhile. You can reach customers in a place most people visit every day with email marketing, because it’s an effective solution that’s easy to implement.

We changed how we communicate with one another forever when the first email was sent in 1971.

Since then, the email industry has seen rapid growth thanks to creative content innovations and automation tools.

It can be easier than ever to set up and manage an effective small business email marketing campaign.

Our post below will outline the critical aspects of email marketing, which make it a valuable tool for small business owners. You’ll understand the benefits of email marketing for small businesses for 2022, and the tools you need to make it work for you.

Email Marketing: why it’s important

As a marketing workhorse, email marketing is essential for small businesses.

Not only does it help you stay in touch with people who want to hear from you – keeping you in their minds – but it also helps you educate your readers, drive traffic to your site, collect feedback, share updates, make announcements, etc.

It is clear that email marketing offers small businesses various opportunities to reach potential customers. It is still a direct mail channel or any marketing strategy with the highest return on investment with the highest ROI.

There is no doubt that email marketing is important for small businesses. I would like to share with you the reasons why email marketing is so effective.

10 Great Benefits of Email Marketing for Small Businesses

1. Email is still being used worldwide

Those who understand email marketing recognise that email is far more powerful than social media or any other online marketing strategy. It is one of the most commonly used applications in the world, with over 3.8 billion users.

In addition, the number of email users is expected to grow to 4.6 billion by 2024.

People use email not only to contact their loved ones, but also for work, shopping, and other purposes. It’s become an essential part of our lives. It’s become one of the most powerful marketing tools.

Other email marketing statistics you might find interesting are:

• Email marketing is used by 64% of small businesses to reach customers. (Campaign Monitor, 2021)
• Segmenting email subscribers (78%), personalising messages (72%), and automating emails (71%) are the most effective email marketing strategies. (HubSpot Blog Research, 2021)
• 26% of marketers send emails multiple times per month, and 33% send emails weekly. (Databox, 2022)
• According to 41.5% of brands, email marketing plays a very important role in their business success, down from 78% in 2020. (Litmus, 2021)
• Click-through rates are highest for marketing emails announcing new products and features in B2B industries. (HubSpot Blog Research, 2021)
• Unique mobile clicks can be increased by 15% by launching a mobile-responsive email design. (MailChimp, 2021)
• Marketing emails influenced 59% of respondents’ purchases. (Salecycle, 2022)

2. Email is easy to design and implement

There’s nothing like an immediate strategy that enterprises can deploy to their target audiences. After all, companies want to see results as quickly as possible. It’s better to use a readily available and easy-to-reuse tool.

One such strategy is to use emails.

Emails allow you to create and send messages quickly, and personalise them to cater to the specific needs of your target audience. For instance, you can segment your mailing list to send relevant information to those who will find it helpful.

3. Email vs Other Marketing Channels

When used correctly, marketing channels are successful in their own way. But for immediacy and efficiency, email is unmatched. After all, it allows businesses to reach their target audience quickly and easily, without breaking the bank.

Social media is an excellent platform for connecting with your target audience and building customer relationships. However, the problem is that these platforms are heavily cluttered. Your message could be forgotten in the shuffle, and it might take a while before your targeted audience sees it.

Paid ads are another choice, but they can be expensive. And if you’re not careful, you might waste money on ads that don’t perform well.

Email is an economical way to reach your target audience when used correctly. You don’t have to worry about your message getting lost in the shuffle, because it will go straight to your target audience’s inbox.

Furthermore, tools can nurture relationships by providing helpful information and sending follow-up emails and vouchers for promos, especially when using some of the more advanced features offered by tools like MailChimp, ActiveCampaign, Campaign Monitor and Klaviyo, to name just a few.

4. Email saves money

Coupled with the fact that there are so many great tools available today for both scheduling and sending out content, there is the potential to reduce costs compared to other marketing channels. In some cases, getting a better return on investment is possible than through many channels.

For example, an average return on investment (ROI) of 20-30% can be achieved using email marketing, not social media marketing (benchmark figures say a 3-10% ROI is achievable).

Another advantage is that you’ll notice a difference in response rates, click-through rates, conversions and performance… with an average of 2-5% of your database making a purchase, as opposed to the 0.2-1% you might get with a social media campaign.

5. Email is a trusted form of communication

According to the Pew Research Centre, 85% believe it is important to use email to maintain contact with friends and family.

With this in mind, it becomes easier for your customers to warm up to your brand reputation through email marketing.

The right kind of communication can significantly impact customers’ satisfaction. Therefore, be sure not to send too much irrelevant information or marketing messages without knowing if the person receiving that message is interested in what you have to say.

6. It’s more personal than other forms of communication

According to 74% of Baby Boomers, email is the most personal channel to receive brand communications, followed by 72% of Gen X, 64% of Millennials, and 60% of Gen Z.

This means that email marketing can be much more personal than any other channel, allowing you to create a direct line of communication between your brand and your customers.

So, if you want to start a conversation about their interests, this can make the difference between a sale or not; you’ve got nothing to lose by being personal!

7. Email allows you to build upon existing relationships with your customers

In today’s world of social media and hyper-connectivity, many businesses feel overwhelming competition. Suppose a business has a customer who previously purchased from them. In that case, it is more likely to gain repeat business from that person than from someone who hasn’t.

But with email marketing, it is possible to introduce yourself and your service to the person without having to be too pushy about it. Of course, you must be careful not to send anything irrelevant. If you can do this, the opportunity for a sale will be high.

8. Email is an effective way to build awareness in your Industry

Advertising through email marketing will bring your business to the attention of a wider audience, which can be beneficial to both your sales and brand awareness.

There are many vital ways to use this tactic to help your small business gain exposure:

• Use market analysis tools to identify gaps in the market.
• Find out what messages customers find relevant, and target them with promotional material.
• Use surveys and focus group research to show you how well you perform (and what areas need work).
• Look into social as well; there is potential here in terms of advertising!

9. You won’t need a lot of money up-front

As previously mentioned, there are many great tools that you can use to set up and manage your email marketing campaigns.

For example, you can choose from various email templates; you can schedule automated content…and if needed, you can even find some free options!

Don’t just limit yourself to the features for scheduling and sending content.

Tools like MailChimp, ActiveCampsign, Klaviyo or Capsule’s email service Transpond enable businesses to grow through segmentation tools, social media integration, and the ability to manage unlimited lists. This makes them powerful tools in their own right.

10. Email allows your customers to tailor their experience with your brand or store

To remain as relevant as possible to your customers, it can be advantageous to offer this option.

Here’s how you do it: Segment your customers based on their history and preferences. This can be age, gender or any other relevant factor (including geographical location). Once you’ve done that, you can send targeted messages and offer deals pertinent to the individual.

Remember that segmentation is an excellent tool for customising a customer’s experience with your brand. It is also an effective way to keep track of groups of customers who might need bespoke/tailored solutions and offers.

For small business eCommerce sites, tools like Klaviyo have many ways to segment your small business marketing lists.

Segments are groupings of contacts based on certain conditions, unlike traditional subscriber lists. A static email list grows as people subscribe or are manually added.

In contrast, segments are dynamic, meaning they grow as people meet their conditions and shrink as they stop meeting them. Additionally, segments update in real time.

Compared to unsegmented campaigns, highly segmented email campaigns generate more than three times the revenue per recipient. Here are some examples of how segments can be used to identify different audiences:

• You can monitor the segment’s growth after a new product launched by customers who purchase it
• A email list of inactive subscribers who haven’t opened an email for at least 6 months
• Those who have made at least X purchases or spent over Y amount of money are considered VIP customers
• Those customers likely to become VIPs in the future and have a high customer lifetime value (CLV)

The email contacts in your account will be pulled into the segment when you build it with a set of conditions. If you plan to email a certain segment, remember that segments do not necessarily require opt-in criteria.

For better email and SMS performance, use these 7 key segments:

1. Cross sell segment
2. Location-based segment
3. Item and brand-specific segment
4. Engagement tier segment
5. Churn risk segment
6. Average order value (AOV) segment
7. Holiday shoppers segment

Why email marketing works

With email marketing, you can ensure that your customers stay in touch with you consistently. It can be an effective way to show your customers that you care by sending them an email with a simple “Thank you for subscribing,” a warm “Welcome on board,” or a sincere “Happy Birthday”. Customers appreciate it when a business treats each customer as an individual, rather than just treating them as just another number.

Your emails should provide value to your target audience, and the more value you provide them with, the more likely it is that they will be looking forward to receiving your emails in the future. The benefits of email marketing are mutual for you and your customers.

We’ve recently helped and taught one of our smaller clients, Cheryl Wimperis at Life On Pointe, how to implement a monthly and weekly email newsletter to her contact list. 

Her last two email campaigns (see screen shots below) were sent to a small list of less than 200 subscribers. 

Yoga and Anxiety (practices to help you through anxiety)

Sent 23 Sep 03:02 PM – 138 emails sent, 1 bounced email, just 7.4% viewed the email, and 6.6% engaged with the email. My advice to Cheryl for her next campaign is to send the email around 1 pm to see if that affects the open rate, with her subscribers in comparison to her first newsletter email, which was sent at 1:40pm. It can be trial and error until you find the best time for your readers.

Breathe Into September and Feel Renewed!

Sent September 09, 2022 01:40 PM – 151 email sent, 11 emails bounced, 69% viewed the email, and 9.3% engaged with the email, meaning they clicked on one of the buttons.

Make the most of email marketing for your small business!

Communication should be maintained regularly between your company and your customers and prospects. In today’s world, it is expected that businesses will do exactly that. With the help of email marketing, you can create mutually beneficial relationships between your business and your subscribers that will benefit both parties.

Having learned why email marketing is so important, you can now learn how to use email marketing terms that help you achieve your goals. A major benefit of email marketing is that it can help you build your brand, achieve your marketing goals, establish yourself as an expert, and grow your business revenue, all without having to break the bank.

Stop thinking about it, and start your small business email marketing campaign as soon as possible. There is no doubt in my mind that you will be glad that you did.

Email marketing ideas you can try

Marketing through email is a strategy for promoting products and services while building relationships with customers. Subscribers may receive newsletters and updates on the company’s discounts and sales promotions through email marketing.

Here are a few email marketing ideas you can implement:

Final Thoughts

Email marketing will continue to be essential to any marketing strategy in 2022 and beyond. It’s an effective way to reach and engage customers, and can be a cost-effective approach to promoting your small business. This email marketing strategy can help you achieve your small business goals and build customer loyalty with the proper process.

There are a huge range of email marketing tools available for you to try and get started with, as well as tools you can migrate if you want to improve segmentation or marketing automation features.

Dynamics Tech is a small business email marketing agency. We partner and provide email marketing services using email marketing software ActiveCampaign, MailChimp, Klaviyo, Capsule and GoDaddy.

For help and advice, contact us today for more information!