Recently many online gurus have been identifying email as the next big thing, but it has really never gone away. Social media still has its place, but ultimately, it’s something that you rent because they can completely change the game on you at any moment. Email is something you own—even with algorithms sorting you into different inboxes you can still get through to the right audience if you’re careful about your approach.
Today on the Real Food Brands Podcast, we’re looking back at Ep #19: Using Email Marketing to Build Your Brand, where host and Brand Strategist Katie Mleziva sat down with Anna Sonnenberg, Owner of Sonnenberg Media, to talk all things email marketing. If you’re newer to the Real Food Brands podcast we wanted to make sure you didn’t miss this excellent episode, and even if you’ve heard it before, Katie adds some tips at the top of the podcast to build on what they covered the first time.
It’s Not Just a Numbers Game
It’s easy to think of email marketing as solely a numbers game, but it’s important to keep in mind that the quality of your list plays a vital role in the success or failure of your marketing campaigns. Some businesses will even scrub their lists to make sure that everyone on there has the open rates they’re looking for because quality is so important.
Another way to get more engagement with your email list is to offer some sort of value to your audience. While many people try to use discounts to achieve this, there are other ways to add perceived value, like an eBook of recipes featuring your product. You can also use these for cross-promotions, social media, pop up boxes to get signups, and so much more.
Thinking Creatively
If you ship through Amazon, you might not have access to email address of everyone who makes a purchase from you. Instead, if you are shipping your Amazon orders, try including a coupon in your shipment to give you a shot at getting them directly to your website when they’re looking to buy again, or buy different products in your lineup.
At markets, you can have a sign up at your booth. If they’ve physically shown up and enjoyed your brand so much that they’re willing to give you their email address, they’re probably pretty warm leads who want to hear from you again.
No matter what you do, you should make your email list feel like it’s an exclusive club and focus on really offering people value for continuing to remain subscribed.
Tune in to hear all of the 101 and 201 level insights Anna shares with Katie. And then join both Katie and Anna in the Real Food Brands Marketing Roundtable Facebook Group. If you’re not already a member, join today so you can continue the conversation.
Now, let’s go shake up shopping carts!
In This Episode:
- Why quality is so important for an email list.
- Creative ways to offer value to your subscribers.
- Why email is an important part of your integrated marketing strategy
- Why email is the perfect place to share your brand’s story
- How email can be used to drive sales both online and in brick and mortar stores
- How to use email to solicit customer feedback
- How feedback helps your customers feel invested in your brand
- Why email gives you more ownership over your audience than social media
- How often you should email
- How to balance the types of content in your emails
- Why you should link ecommerce with your email marketing service
- Ways to use automated emails
Quotes:
“It doesn’t matter how big your email list is, every email you send has the power to tell your customers and your subscribers more about your brand.” — @SonnenbergMedia
“Email is your space as a brand to communicate exactly what you want customers to know and how you want them to think about you.” — @SonnenbergMedia
“You can get a ton of value from email marketing, you just have to start the conversation.” — @SonnenbergMedia
“When you’re sending messages that matter, customers are going to like and trust your brand more.” — @SonnenbergMedia
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