In 2015, the typical corporate email user sent and received 125 emails a day. If you’re like most people, you often feel overwhelmed when looking at your inbox. Either you have client requests that need attention, news updates that need checking, or spam that needs sorting.
We understand that email may not be the most alluring type of user experience, but it has the potential to build stronger connections with clients and prospects and touches on a more personal level than other types of marketing. Emails can be highly-personalized, express vulnerability, and allow service professionals to stay in touch regularly.
Personalizing Your Emails
It shouldn’t surprise you that customers prefer personalized products and services. This is the driving force behind your business- you have personal interactions every day with your clients and they trust you and your business. But how does this personalization translate to email?
Thanks to current technology, you can segment your email lists into a variety of categories, such as what step your prospects are in their client journey, their age or location, or the type of product they signed up for when they gave you their email. This segmentation allows marketers to send personalized emails to those groups of people that address exactly what they are looking for. Here is an example of a personalized email we might send to a service professional:
Subject: Hello From Craig
Hi [Customer Name],
Thanks for tuning into our most recent Live Video Broadcast, 10 Things To Do Every Day on LinkedIn. I hope you found value in our presentation and are inspired to take the next step with your marketing.
If you don’t mind me asking, what aspect of marketing is the most intimidating for you? Maybe social media posts, or blogging? I would love you sharing what’s holding you back with your marketing strategy (I read every email that comes my way!).
I look forward to hearing from you,
Craig Faulkner
CEO of FMG Suite
PS- Here’s a link to some of our previous broadcasts, in case you’re interested: https://fmgsuite.com/insights/branding-labs/
Although this email is still lead generating, it is more personal to the user and inspires them to take direct action. There are countless ways to personalize emails that make your clients and prospects feel included and cared for.
Emails Can Express Vulnerability
One way that email marketing is more vulnerable than other forms of content marketing is that it can be responded to directly. For example, if you send out an email advertising your most recent blog post, you can ask for reader feedback (both good and bad). Not only does this feedback help you with future posts, but it also reminds your readers that you care about producing content that they enjoy.
Another way vulnerability can play into email marketing is by emailing to apologize for a mistake made. For example, we just got some emails from a content marketing agency apologizing for a mistake they made in their previous email. It was humble, apologetic, and fun. We all make mistakes, and email lets you professionally own up to them.
Constant Contact with Email
Unlike social or blog posts, which are mainly one-way conversations and single interactions, email can go back and forth between service professionals and their clients for extended contact.
Imagine if you sent out an email similar to the example above. You reached out and asked some of your prospective clients what they would like to achieve financially in the next five years. An individual replies and says that recently they’ve been thinking a lot about retirement planning. From there, you go back and forth and eventually schedule a time when they can come in to speak with you. Although this interaction could have taken place over social media or another platform, email provides the comfort of a simple conversation between two people.
Email marketing is a great way to reach out to prospects and clients and foster real relationships with them. By sending a personalized email showing that you are a real person capable of mistakes and able to have a conversation, you will soon become the marketer they turn to.
