More than half of small business owners say that email marketing is their primary tool for driving sales. Depending on your needs, you can leverage this marketing tactic to generate leads, raise brand awareness, or expand your reach. It’s also a cost-effective way to educate and entertain your audience.

Financial Post reports that companies have an average return of $42 for every $1 spent on email marketing. That’s significantly higher compared to other advertising channels. Plus, you can personalize your message to reach the right customers at the right time.

The biggest challenge lies in finding email marketing ideas that resonate with your target audience. Ideally, you want to use a mix of promotional content, video content, news, freebies, and informative posts. Make sure you also send regular updates about your latest projects, deals, and business changes that impact customers.

Not sure where to start? Below are five email marketing ideas that can take your small business to the next level. But first, you must assess your needs and plan things out.

Create an Email Marketing Plan

Like most things, email marketing requires some planning. You can’t just send a bunch of emails to your subscribers and expect them to take action.

First of all, define your target audience and its needs. Use your website and other sources to collect relevant data. Polls, interviews, focus groups, and surveys can all provide valuable insights into your customer base. Consider your marketing and business goals, too.

Next, segment your audience into smaller groups so you can send them personalized emails.

For example, if you’re targeting gym-goers, you can segment your customers based on their preferences, such as weight lifting, CrossFit, or Pilates. After that, you’ll create different messages for each group.

Once these steps are completed, decide on the type of content you want to write. What do you want to say to your customers? What action do you expect them to take?

Each and every email should have a purpose and resonate with your target audience. Brainstorm email marketing ideas related to your business and then determine how often you want to reach out to potential buyers.

Let’s see a few examples:

• Messages from the CEO
• Industry-related news
• Product updates
• Deals and promotions
• Insights into your company’s culture and values
• Recent award nominations
• Transactional emails
• End-of-season emails and deals
• Invitations to exclusive events
• Tips and tricks
• Freebies (eBooks, white papers, reports, coupons, etc.)
• Follow-up emails
• Thank you messages

Your imagination is the only limit—just make sure you’re not coming off as intrusive or overly promotional. To avoid these issues, create a content calendar and stick to it.

Ready to give it a try? Check out these email marketing ideas for inspiration!

1. Email Newsletters

Email newsletters appeal to a broad audience, making it easier to keep your subscribers engaged. If, say, you operate a fitness apparel store, you can send the same email to everyone on your list.

This type of content isn’t intended to sell. Sure, you may include a few links to your products, but your main goal is to inform and engage readers. What matters most is to write newsletters that align with your brand voice and provide value to those who read them.

So, what should you write about? Here are some ideas to help you out:

• Breaking news
• User-generated content
• Case studies
• Round-ups of popular blog posts
• Listicles
• How-to guides
• Behind-the-scenes photos or videos
• Product information
• Recent survey results

For example, small businesses looking to take a stance on something happening in their industry may want to share letter-from-the-editor-style newsletters. This type of content can be anywhere between 200 and 2,000 words.

2. Welcome Emails

Welcome emails allow you to touch base with potential clients and introduce your business to new people. Generally, they have higher click-through rates than standard emails.

Consumers read welcome emails 42% more than promotional emails. Yet, only 75% of retails create and share this type of content.

Sending out welcome emails will not only increase engagement rates but also boost conversions. This approach can pave the way to a lasting relationship with your clients and leave them more receptive to future communications.

3. Abandoned Cart Reminders

Another way to leverage email marketing is to remind customers about the products or services they wanted to buy.

Sometimes, people get busy or change their minds and abandon their shopping carts. When that happens, you can send a friendly reminder to get them back.

Better yet, offer them a special discount or free shipping. Chances are, they’ll return to your store and take another look at the products they’re interested in.

4. Dedicated Emails

Stand-alone emails, or dedicated emails, inform subscribers about one specific product, service, or event. They’re actually quite similar to a landing page. The content revolves around one offer that provides value to your target audience.

With this approach, you can pull information from your landing page into an email template instead of writing from scratch. Remember to add just one call-to-action and keep your message clear.

When you’re done, you can easily measure the response rate, conversions, page views, and other metrics.

5. Re-Engagement Emails

Last but not least, you can send emails to inactive subscribers to re-establish contact. Ask if they are still interested in your products or services and whether they want to keep receiving your messages or unsubscribe.

Re-engagement emails can offer valuable insights into consumer preferences. It’s a simple, effective way to ask for feedback so you can improve your processes and deliver better customer experiences. This type of content can also reduce churn rates and turn inactive customers into buyers.

Get the Best Email Marketing Ideas to Grow Your Business

These email marketing ideas can make it easier to engage your audience and drive sales. Depending on your business goals, you can also send out lead-nurturing emails, brand story emails, webinar invitations, end-of-season reminders, and more. The key is to focus on building genuine relationships with existing and prospective customers.

Interested to find out more? Browse the rest of our blog for other email marketing tips. If you’re ready to create your first email, register for a free trial to get the tools you need to build powerful campaigns!

© 2022, Chris Duncan. All rights reserved.