Email Marketing Leads: How to Win Your Customers Through Email

Email marketing is one of the most underrated forms of digital marketing. Often considered a relic from another era, email marketing is still as powerful and effective today as it was when first introduced to consumers in 1983. 

With recent developments such as automation tools that make email more valuable than ever before, it remains a crucial part of any modern marketing strategy.

Email marketing also has the unique ability to support other aspects of your online marketing efforts. For instance, you can create email campaigns to promote your blog posts, social media content, videos, or any other type of digital asset.

Fun fact: Did you know that the first email in the world was sent in 1971?

After all that time, however, email remains one of the most difficult marketing strategies to master.

But get it right, and email marketing is a gold mine of growth, leads, and conversions for any business.

Digital Delane’s expert email marketers have prepared this beginner-friendly guide to help you:

• Understand the basics of email marketing

• Discover the secrets to an effective email lead generation strategy

• Learn what can make your email campaign fail, and how to avoid it

• And more!

Finally, this guide is perfect for:

• Email marketing beginners
• Anyone whose email marketing campaigns are not bringing the desired results and leads
• Business owners interested in adding email to their digital marketing toolbox
• Veteran email marketers who want to stay updated on current best practices

Let’s dive in!

What is email marketing?

Email marketing is the process of using email to promote a business.

The goal is to create an ongoing relationship between customers or prospects and your business, and ultimately, inspire them to buy your products or services.

Important Terms to Remember

• Email marketing campaign

All email messages sent out as part of one set, usually to a defined audience or list

• Email leads

An e-mail address that is collected by a company for the purpose of sending information via email

• Email marketing list

A collection of e-mail addresses, aka leads, to which messages are sent. Lists can be compiled manually or with the help of an email service provider; lists should always comply with spam laws

• Opt-in

Requesting and accepting e-mail messages from another person or organization. Opting in grants permission to send future communications – also known as “subscribing”

• Opt-out

Unsubscribing from receiving emails from another person or organization

• Email service provider (ESP)

Companies such as MailChimp and Constant Contact that provide services to email marketers

Hard-To-Deny Benefits of Email Marketing

• It has an enduring impact on the customer’s decision process.

Specifically, open rates are still at their highest levels in 15 years with over 18 billion emails sent every day.

• Email marketing is cost-effective.

E-mail marketing requires less upfront investment than other channels, such as TV ads, printing flyers, etc., which makes it perfect for those with limited budgets such as a startup or small business.

• Email is the most accessible form of digital communication.

Email has an 84% open and click rate over social media or mobile devices.

• It’s a direct and personal way to reach your target market.

The “to” field in an email address tells you exactly who will open the email, making it easier than ever to tailor each email to its recipient’s interests.

• Email allows for quick response times to potential leads.

For example, if someone downloads your ebook from Facebook but doesn’t subscribe, it’s easy to email them later and ask if they have any questions

• Email lets you collect detailed information while generating leads.

You can then use this data for customized follow-up emails or future marketing efforts for potential and existing customers.

• Email is a great way to build relationships with your leads.

For instance, if you email someone an article about something they’re already interested in, it will encourage them to keep getting information from you.

• Email marketing helps customers feel understood and appreciated.

If someone has already purchased something from you, emailing them regularly with updates on new products can make the customer feel more part of the company.

But here’s the catch: these benefits only show up when you have a high-quality email marketing campaign.

Send thoughtless, spam emails to your customer base, and you’ll lose leads faster than you can hit send.

What are the 4 types of marketing emails?

Email marketing can come in several different forms, including email newsletters, email blasts (also called mass email), email drip campaigns, and autoresponders.

Let’s take a closer look at each one:

• Email Newsletter

Email newsletters are typically a brief recap of the previous week or month at your business, with links to recent blog posts you’ve written as well as products that customers may be interested in. 

This type of email is an excellent way to keep your leads updated on the latest company news and engage with them by asking for their opinion or feedback.

• Email Blast

An email blast is a single email message that’s sent out to everyone in your email list at once, sending an important announcement (such as announcing a new product) or sharing information about an event you’re hosting.

• Email Drip Campaign

An email drip campaign is a series of emails that are sent to your email subscribers over time (typically days, weeks or even months). 

This type of email marketing can help encourage engagement by sending an email with content like a blog post, podcast, or video every day for the next 30 days.

At the end of the email sequence, your email subscribers will feel like they’ve been a part of something and have received valuable content from you.

• Autoresponder

An autoresponder is an email list that sends out messages automatically to email subscribers based on what actions they take with their subscription 

However, the list doesn’t end there. There are many other emails you can send to your customers, each one designed for a specific purpose, such as:

• Welcome E-mail

Welcome e-mail messages are typically used to welcome a new e-mail subscriber, and they usually include information about your company or small business.

• Product Update Email

Product updates are typically used to send your leads an email with a new product or service that you’ve launched, and let them know about its features.

• Event Invitation

If you’re sending your subscribers an invitation to a live event, it should be short and sweet. It doesn’t need much content besides who’s hosting it, what time and date it starts (and how long it lasts), where people can RSVP online, and maybe a photo or two from previous events for good measure.

• Co-marketing Email

Co-marketing e-mail messages are used to promote products, services and brands by different companies who work together.

• Retargeting Email

Retargeting messages are typically used to send people an e-mail who have already visited your website. 

You might use retargeting to promote a new product you launched, a sale going on in your online store or just because someone forgot about something they wanted and clicked through from another site.

• Confirmation Email

Confirmation emails messages are used to confirm a purchase.

They might also include an order number, shipping information or any other important details for that particular transaction.

• Form Submission Kickback (Thank-You) E-mail

This one is usually sent after a form submission, and it’s typically used to thank the sender for filling out your form.

• Lead Nurturing E-mail

Lead nurturing e-mail messages are used to maintain contact with someone who’s shown interest in your products or services. 

You might want a customer service email sequence that encourages people to share feedback, request more information about the product and so on.

• Gift Giving E-mail Sequence (Holiday)

This is usually sent before holidays like Christmas Day, and it’s typically used to remind subscribers that the holiday is coming up.

These are just some of the most common campaigns and types of e-mails you might run for your business.

Does email marketing still work in 2021?

To answer that, let’s look at a few numbers first:

• E-mail generates outstanding returns at an average of 3, 600% ROI, which is $36 for every $1 spent (Litmus.com).
• If a potential customer has already viewed a certain product on your website, sending them an e-mail with a 25% discount offer will help you convert them and make more sales (Keap.com).
• At least 99% of consumers check their e-mail on a daily basis, and most do it several times a day (OptInMonster).
• People who receive e-mail offers spend 138% more than those who do not receive such offers (OptInMonster).
• Over 40% of marketers report that email marketing is the most effective strategy for generating leads and sales (Keap.com).

In short, yes, e-mail marketing remains important in 2021. 

And we’re confident it will continue to do so, because businesses and consumers are shifting more aggressively towards the digital space.

Now, before you can send any type of email, you need a list.

This is called lead generation, and it’s so much more than just getting a bunch of email addresses, hitting send, and hoping you make some sales.

What is email lead generation?

It’s the process of generating leads, aka e-mail addresses or subscribers, for a company’s email list.

In turn, that email list can be used to gather data, connect with your audience, promote products or services, create sales, and generate revenue through email marketing campaigns.

Is email marketing good for lead generation?

Yes, and e-mail marketing might be one of the most effective ways to generate leads:

• Your lead generation efforts never sleep.

One reason is that e-mail is an evergreen channel. It doesn’t matter whether you send them in the morning or at night, your e-mail will still be delivered to subscribers and come across their screens. 

• Reach more potential leads by linking to the rest of your digital marketing channels.

In addition, e-mail marketing is a great way to go build your brand. You can use it to share content that you publish on other platforms, such as YouTube or Facebook by linking back to the original post in the e-mail.

• Once the leads are generated, nurture them into sales and loyal customers.

It’s also terrific for lead nurturing. For instance, after sending a successful lead generation email, you can continue to engage these subscribers by offering value through content, discounts, offers, webinars, exclusive deals on your products and services, and more.

• Boost your lead generation efforts by tracking the performance of your e-mail campaign.

Lastly, e-mail has many advantages when it comes to being able to measure performance. 

You can track e-mail opens, click-throughs and other data and metrics that you might not be able to do as accurately with a different channel such as social media.

In other words, email marketing is one of the best ways to generate high-quality leads for your business.

But how do you generate those leads in the first place?

How to Build a Powerful Email Lead Generation Strategy

Optimize your e-mail marketing efforts by using lead scoring.

To be effective, an e-mail campaign should be able to push the right message to the right people at the right time. 

This gives you the best chance of turning those leads into actual customers.

Therefore, a short e-mail list with high-quality prospects is more valuable to your business than a long e-mail list bloated with low-quality leads.

To do this, you need to understand lead scoring:

• Lead scoring is the process of assigning a numerical value to e-mail leads that helps you identify the best prospects.
• Leads will be scored based on how much they have interacted with your company’s e-mail list, website or social media channels before e-mailing.
• The scoring system typically ranges from one to five and is calculated by multiplying contact points (eg., website visits x e-mail visits x social media interactions) by a weighting factor.
• Typically e-mail leads are assigned a higher lead score than website and social media contact points because e-mail has the ability to deliver multiple messages at once.

Getting an e-mail from a person or customer who has already shown interest in your company is a much more valuable opportunity than e-mail leads that might never convert. 

To make sure you are talking to the right audience, it’s important that lead scoring is something you implement into your marketing strategy as early as possible.

Make your e-mail subject line impossible to ignore.

The subject line can literally make or break your e-mail campaign– if it’s not interesting enough to your audience, you can bet it’s going straight to the trash folder.

Therefore, it’s important to make a good impression and “hook” them in with an attention-grabbing subject line.

How to create catchy e-mail subject lines:

• Keep e-mail subject lines brief, no more than 50 characters
• Add intrigue and suspense using words like “secret,” “special” or “urgent”  and “free” to spark interest in the content.
• Make sure the subject line is relevant to what’s being sent: if it’s a sales email, use phrases such as “new product launch,” “new arrivals” or “limited time offer.”
• Make email subject lines engaging by including “you” and your prospect’s name in the e-mail. This personalizes their email experience, giving them a sense that you are talking to them individually.
• Personalize email subject lines by writing them in a different tone or style than the email’s text. It can help to be creative and entertaining with email subjects; don’t take it too seriously.
• Don’t use cliches in your email subject line: “Please read,” “important message” or anything that will leave readers thinking “here we go again.”
• Add urgency with phrases such as, “time-sensitive email,” or “deadline approaching” to make email recipients want to act on the email quickly. This way they’ll know if it’s a time-critical message and will be more likely to read your email.

The subject line is powerful and should be given a lot of thought; if you don’t have an interesting one for your email campaign, chances are no one will read it at all!

Keep your emails clear and concise.

In other words, do not bore your subscribers with long text, or overwhelm them with flashy designs on the page.

No one will read them, period.

Worse, your business may come across as unprofessional.

Instead, keep your email succinct and to the point. Emails are not meant to be longer than 200 words in length, or ideally, less than a 1 min read.

If you have something important to say, then put that at the very beginning of your email – make it concise!

Next, reinforce your message with imagery, but not too much, as that can be distracting from what you really want them to focus on. Keep the graphics to a minimum, and make them high quality.

Also, make sure there are no spelling errors or grammatical mistakes in your e-mail content; this will reflect poorly on both you and your company.

Always include a strong call-to-action (CTA).

A CTA or call to action is usually in the form of an offer you send to your email list.

Use CTAs to make your emails more interactive and engaging. They offer an opportunity for subscribers to learn about exciting promotions, discover new products or services, enter contests for a chance at winning prizes, take advantage of exclusive discounts/sales, and request information from your business that they might not have seen before– the possibilities are endless.

Tips for crafting the perfect CTAs:

• Provide CTAs that are relevant to your email’s content and the interests of your subscribers. 

If you send a thank you email, for example, include an offer for a discount on their next purchase or free shipping over $100.

It should be something that will be meaningful to them based on what they just received in their inbox.

• Tailor CTAs to your email list.

Your strategy should vary based on the interests, demographics, and life stage of each subscriber group you’re targeting. 

For example, if they respond better to different kinds of promotions or offers in their inboxes, then do what works best for them!

• Encourage subscribers with a deadline or limited time offer.

If you are emailing a group of subscribers about an upcoming event, include a countdown timer or deadline date for the promotion to encourage your email recipients to take advantage of these offers before it’s too late!

• Make CTAs compelling and interactive.

Use videos, images, animations–anything that will make them more enticing and help them stand out. In addition, consider email CTAs that are outside the box, like in a GIF or animated email! 

This is an easy way to make your email marketing more fun and exciting for subscribers–no matter what they’re interested in.

But again, make sure not to overdo it.

• Test CTAs to see what works best for your campaign.

Track which ones are more successful than others and optimize based on these results.

Just because a certain type of CTA doesn’t work well with one subscriber list, it might be perfect for another one.

Experiment with email CTAs by using email marketing best practices and always be on the lookout for new, innovative ideas to keep your campaigns fresh!

Use email automation.

Email marketing automation is the process of using software to automatically send messages to your leads based on specific triggers.

For instance, you can set it up to send out emails when someone views your newsletter, abandons their cart, requests information from you, subscribes to a service, or opts into your email list.

Email marketing automation tools are a game-changer because they cut down on the amount of manual labor and time it takes to send out emails

They also give you a better understanding of who your leads are, what they’re interested in, when they became active subscribers, etc.

Digital Delane: Transforming Email Into a Marketing Powerhouse

Email marketing is definitely a powerful tool for any business, but it’s also time-consuming and difficult to manage. 

Digital Delane’s email marketing services make it easy for you to create, grow and manage your email lists so that you can focus on growing your business. 

We offer complete email marketing services including: 

• Crafting engaging e-mail content
• Creating beautiful newsletters for your audience
• Designing eye-catching templates that look great on all devices (even smartphones) 
• Setting up and executing your e-mail campaigns
• Building landing pages 
• Setting up marketing automation
• Managing your subscribers to help you generate more leads
• Tracking and data analytics
• Even delivering our emails through a professional ESP like MailChimp or ConstantContact so we don’t spam anyone’s inboxes!

In addition, we can also integrate your email campaigns with the rest of your online marketing plan, such as SEO, paid social, local SEO, website development, social media, and more.

Grab your FREE consultation today, or call us at 323.524.990 to spark a conversation!