A Simple Email Marketing Plan that Generates Leads and Sales

You already know that email marketing is powerful. And you know that you can generate more sales from your email list than social media.

The question is:

Do you have an email marketing plan to turn subscribers into customers? 

If you’re building an online business, you need a system to follow up with subscribers and get them excited to buy your products and services.

Follow these steps to create an email marketing strategy that makes sales:

1) Choose the right email marketing provider.

If you want to elevate your personalization efforts, choosing the right email marketing service is crucial. Think about the features you want in your email marketing software, including:

• Integrations. Some email marketing providers give you the ability to export and use important customer data. Having easy access to your subscriber’s name, purchase history, and location will simplify your email marketing plan.
• Ready-made templates. Choose an email provider that has a wide range of mobile-responsive and customizable templates. Building an email should be quick and efficient, and templates are the first step to this end.
• List segmentation. An email provider with intuitive segmentation enables you to quickly create different campaigns based on subscriber data you’ve collected. This will allow you to send relevant emails to your subscribers.

When deciding which email marketing service to use for your brand, keep in mind there is no perfect choice. It all depends on your budget, the different functionalities you are looking for, and the number of emails you want to send.

2) Optimize your signup forms.

Try to gather as much information as you can about your subscribers when they opt-in. This way, when you segment your list (step #3 below), you can tailor your content and offers.

Here are a few tips to help you create effective signup forms:

• Use double opt-in. Send emails to new subscribers to confirm their subscription. Double opt-in forms prevent invalid email addresses from appearing on your list.
• Keep it simple. Simple forms are easier for people to complete and sign up. Only ask for name, email, and any other information you really need.
• Include a call to action (CTA). Use persuasive call to action buttons instead of inline links. Make sure your button copy focuses on the benefits and avoids selling. For instance, say “Get the Templates” instead of “Buy the Templates”.
• Multiple signup forms and free offers. Give website visitors plenty of opportunities to subscribe. Place signup forms on several pages of your website, including the Home page, About page, and Blog page. Create multiple lead magnets and place them in your blog posts as content upgrades.

Bonus: If you want, you can use this Lead Magnet Checklist to create high-converting opt-ins. Click the image below to download.

3) Segment your list.

Through a combination of time, hard work, and sheer force of will, you’ve been able to build a sizable email list. Now it’s time to create segments based on what your subscribers opted in for.

All effective email marketing plans use segmentation. You’ll be able to send personalized content, offers, and updates to help subscribers take the next step and close the sale.

You can also create segments based on:

• Gender
• Location
• Age
• Past engagement
• Purchase history

Depending on your type of business and the products or services you offer, you can also segment based on a subscriber’s job title. The important thing is that you leverage the data you captured during signup.

Related: A Killer Facebook Ads Strategy for Your Email List and Products

4) Personalize your emails.

Did you know that personalized emails are six times more effective than generic emails. Once you’ve segmented your list, it’s time to start getting personal. Here are a few ways to add personalization to your email marketing strategy:

• Email copy

In an age when technology rules, customers look for more and more personal communications. From the subject line to your core message, make sure you speak to your subscribers in a friendly, conversational tone.

Including their first name in the body of your email can improve your open rates by 26%.

• Your offers

To encourage subscribers to make purchases, personalize your offers. If you sell sporting goods and a male customer purchased a tennis racket from you, send him a personalized offer for men’s tennis shoes.

• Sender name and email address

Make your customers feel like a real person sent the email by using the name of an actual person within your business (e.g. kate@mybusiness.com). Avoid using email addresses like sender@mybusiness.com or email@mybusiness.com. Email addresses like these not only make your messages seem impersonal, they also trigger spam filters.

Personalizing your messages is one of the best ways to make customers feel like you care, maintain the relevancy of your campaigns, foster customer loyalty, and increase conversion rates.

5) Automate your email campaigns.

Your email list is made up of hundreds or thousands of subscribers divided into a wide variety of segments. This makes it impossible for you to craft and personalize individual messages for each subscriber.

This is what email marketing automation was made for.

Simplify your email marketing strategies by taking advantage of automated sequences that send emails to subscribers based on their behavior.

For example, when a website visitor subscribes to your list, send an automated welcome email that contains an exclusive personalized offer.

Here’s another example:

A customer makes a purchase on your website. This action can trigger an email with a personalized product recommendation email to be sent after a certain amount of time has passed, say 60 days.

To automatically send these emails, you just have to craft them in advance and set up the specific workflows through your email provider. Whenever customers meet the triggers you define, your provider will automatically send them the email according to their action.

Once you’ve created all the possible automated journeys for your subscribers, you no longer have to worry about spending a significant portion of your day just sending emails. You can focus on other, more important tasks, like growing your audience and creating new programs.

Wrapping it up

When you put in the hard work of building an email list, you want maximum results. Email marketing tools will help you automate campaigns so you can free up your time to focus on other things, knowing that you are generating sales on autopilot.

Just choose the right email marketing service and follow the steps above, and you will see a huge increase in your engagement and conversion rates.

Ready to build your email list? Click the image below to download the free Lead Magnet Template Pack.